Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF) Ashland, OR

Sun, Dec 18. This RE Committee-sponsored project collects cold-weather clothing for those in need. This year, clothing for Infants-21 yr olds will be given to the Maslow Project which serves the needs of homeless youth in the Rogue Valley, and clothing for those 22+ yrs will be given to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Cash/check donations will be divided evenly between these two organizations. Dec 18 is deadline to donate. Make our tree colorful with your donations.

We will gather in the Emerson House immediately after the multigenerational service.
Magical suprises are in store!! Don’t miss it!!

Programs we will use this year to guide religious explorations with our children and youth:

Ages 4-7
Around the Church -- Around the Year: Unitarian Universalism for Children Kindergarten to Grade 2
Through this curriculum, 4-7 year olds become acquainted with their own Unitarian Universalist community -- the people, buildings, rituals, and celebrations and the basic tenets of Unitarian Universalism.

Ages 8-12
Love Connects Us (LCU) By Michelle Richards and Rev. Lynn Ungar
Love Connects Us celebrates important ways Unitarian Universalists live our faith in covenanted community. Moved by love and gathered in spirit, we embrace our responsibility toward one another and the world at large. We encourage one another's search for truth and meaning. We strive to be active in peace-making and other efforts to improve our world.

Ages 13-17
Heeding the Call: Qualities Of A Justice Maker (HC) by Nicole Bowmer and Jodi Tharan
Heeding the Call is a social justice curriculum that not only explores linked oppressions in our society, but also encourages participants towards personal growth in values that counteract the marginalization of others. Sessions on empathy, courage, abundance, joy, and other qualities ask participants to recognize how these standards can be tools for justice. Additionally, the program includes more concrete tools, such as suggestions on how to be a good ally and tips on the language of conflict resolution. True stories of courage, sacrifice and collaboration, role-plays, games, and justice projects will feed youth’s rising realization that as people of faith we are all called to love justice—not just with our words, but also with our deeds.

We will also use Heart Talk for Kids with Ages 4-12. Heart Talk for Kids teaches underlying values from Nonviolent Communication and UU Principles.

Come experience the wonder of childhood and the energy of youth as we honor and celebrate our Religious Explorers, their families, our Religious Exploration Teaching Team and Volunteers. Join us as we say HUZZAH...Hooray for all they have learned and accomplished this year! This will be a multi-generational service for all ages.

Order of Service

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I Believe...I Act...; Rev. Leslie Becknell Marx

Sun, Jun 6, 10:30am. “Roots and Wings: Exploring the Wonders of Nature”
Coordinator/Teacher: Marla Dentino
Team Teacher: Jane Excell
When: Jun 6 – Aug 29 during the Sunday service (except Jul 4)

Using a “garden curriculum” Marla and Jane will lead a 7th UU Principle-based summer program filled with delightful activities for children 3-5 years old.

Nursery care will also be available for babies and toddlers.
For more information: call 541-301-8517 or email: dentino.marla@gmail.com

Come Join Us as We Weave a Tapestry of Faith!

This year we will use the following UUA Tapestry of Faith programs to guide our explorations with our children and youth.

Preschool (ages 3-5): Wonderful Welcome
Welcome. Welcome in love. Welcome in friendship. Welcome in faith. How do we welcome? We welcome by sharing intangible gifts, those positive qualities that we all have inside us such as kindness, love, invitation, covenant and empathy. This program helps children understand and practice other values central to Unitarian Universalism such as friendship, hospitality, and fairness. Each session begins with a Wonder Box that contains a symbol of the session's theme. The Wonder Box engages the children's curiosity and encourages a spirit of inquiry and reflection.

Grades 1-3: Faithful Journeys
Children embark on a pilgrimage of faith, exploring how Unitarian Universalism translates into life choices and everyday actions. In each session, they hear historic or contemporary examples of Unitarian Universalist faith in action. Stories about real people model how children can activate their capacity to act faithfully as Unitarian Universalists –in their own lives, and they have regular opportunities to share and affirm their own stories of faithful action. Through sessions structured around the Unitarian Universalist Principles, Faithful Journeys demonstrates that our Principles are not a dogma, but a credo that individuals can affirm with many kinds of action. Over the course of the program, children discover a unity of faith in the many different ways Unitarian Universalists, including themselves, can act on our beliefs.

Grades 4-5: Windows and Mirrors
Mirrors in which they can see themselves, windows in which they can see the world. — Lucille Clifton, African American poet, writer and educator
Unitarian Universalism views our members' multiple perspectives as a blessing. Windows and Mirrors nurtures children's ability to identify their own experiences and perspectives and to seek out, care about and respect those of others. The sessions unpack topics that lend themselves to diverse experiences and perspectives—for example, faith heritage, public service, anti-racism and prayer. The program teaches that there are always multiple viewpoints and everyone's viewpoint matters. The metaphor of windows and mirrors represents the dynamic relationship among our awareness of self, our perceptions of others, and others' perceptions of us.

Grades 7-12: Exploring Our Values through Poetry
Poetry can be an accessible and profound tool in our spiritual practice as we journey toward becoming more conscious as human beings and as Unitarian Universalists. Poetry asks the big questions. So do youth: How do we live? What do we love? What deserves our faith? Who are we, and where do we fit in this universe? How do we keep our hope alive? Both poetry and youth are tireless seekers—of sense, justice, meaning, reason, hope, and sometimes just the plain old company of a good laugh. This program utilizes poems from all over the world and represents different cultures, cosmologies, genders, races, and times in history. Youth will learn how to sponsor a poetry slam in their congregation or community.

Come and join the fun as we make Garden Prayer Flags for our RVUFF Community Garden! All materials will be provided by the RE Teaching Team including fabric, water-based paints and cut veggies to make prints. Christine Norton-Cotts will be on hand to help as needed. Don't miss this opportunity to contribute your creative energies to the RVUUF Garden. Come join us after the service to hang the flags and celebrate all things growing in the garden! Contact Louise Paré for more information.