Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church - Unitarian Universalist

Walking the Spiral Path

As we wind up the church school year, I am full of awe at the work so many hands have done to create, lead and sustain our lifespan faith development programs. Did you know there are over 100 volunteers engaged in our religious education programs for children, youth and adults? Together, we create a community of caring and learning that enriches us all. If you worked in the lower hall or as a Spirit Play teacher with our youngest UUs, I thank you. If you guided a group of our elementary age students in their UU Stars studios, I thank you. If you journeyed with our sixth and seventh graders to explore our neighboring faiths, I thank you. If you taught our eighth graders’ comprehensive sexuality education program, Our Whole Lives, I thank you. If you were a leader or mentor for our ninth grade coming of age students, I thank you. If you advised our senior high youth, I thank you. If you taught an Adult Faith Development class, I thank you.

I also am full of gratitude to those who served on the Lifespan Faith Development Council, the Children’s Religious Education Committee, the Youth Programs Committee and the Adult Faith Development Committee. Without you, we would not have the caliber of programming we have at TJMC. Your commitment to our church and to our RE program is a gift.

With appreciation,

Leia Durland-Jones

Director of Religious Education

RE Family $CRIP Challenge

Did you know that purchasing gift cards for local grocery stores through the church earns “free money” for our congregation? It is true! We have the potential to earn an unlimited amount of money for our church-without it costing us a cent. ALL RE families are needed to join in this effort! Nowparticipating in this program is easier than ever - you can purchase your grocery gift cards (otherwise known as Scrip) using electronic banking. Your bank can automatically send a check and your scrip will be waiting in the Social Hall on Sundays or can be mailed to you directly. The challenge is on - can we get fifty RE families to commit to regularly purchasing Scrip by Thursday, July 1? The economy may be down but we can use this smart way to give money to the church we love.

To Preorder:

• a. Go to: shopwithscrip.com,
• b. Register as a TJMC member using our enrollment code 5BCFD27A2L439,
• c. Use the ‘Shop’ menu to order your GiftCards.
• d. Orders placed by midnight Monday will be available for pickup at the Scrip table the following Sunday.
• e. You can use ShopWithScrip’s PrestoPay debit service to pay online or pay with a check when you pick up your order.
• f. If you want your scrip card mailed to you or if you have questions contact scrip@uucharlottesville.org.

Summer FUUN at TJMC While formal religious education programming resumes September 19, families are invited to continue attending worship throughout the summer by participating in our child care co-op for infants through rising fifth graders. Parents take turns either attending worship or supervising children in the lower hall or on the playground. Registration is required. To sign up or for more information, contact RE Assistant Robyn Fogler at 293-8179 or rfogler@embarqmail.com or stop by the RE table in the Social Hall on Sundays. Topics for this Summer:

• June 6 Cookie making
• June 13 Olympic Games
• June 20 Monster Bubbles
• June 27 Fun in the Kitchen
• July 4 Ice Cream Day
• July 11 Make a Family Tree
• July 18 Make a Volcano
• July 25 Seashell Critters
• Aug 1 Bottle Cap Craft
• Aug 8 Make Crystals
• Aug 15 Movie Day
• Aug 22 Make Slime
• Aug 29 Sprinkler Day

 Adult Faith Development Seeks Input

The Adult Faith Development Committee is soliciting ideas for our fall semester (October through December 2010.) Is there a class that has been offered at TJMC in the past you would like to see offered again? Is there a topic you would like to explore with others in our congregation? Have you ever thought about leading or co-leading a class yourself? Is there someone you could recommend to teach an AFD class (from within our outside of our congregation?) We would love to have your ideas and input as we begin our planning and preparation for the fall offerings. To share your ideas, contact Adult Faith Development Committee Chair, Holly Dilatush at 295-9716 or holly@dilatush.com. The Adult Faith Development Committee is always on the lookout for new committee members so please let us know if you would like to join us. Our next meeting is Wednesday, June 16, at 6:45 PM at the Saigon Cafe.

2010-2011 RE Registration All families registered for religious education in 2009-2010 will be receiving an email this month inviting you to register for next year’s programming electronically. Watch your inbox! We are working to create a registration process that is both simple and easy. Paper copies of registration materials will be available on Sundays in the Social Hall as well.

Important Dates:

• June 2 Youth Programs Comm. Mtg.
• June 6 Coming of Age class leads worship service
• June 12 Coming of Age Dinner
• June 13 Bridging Ceremony for graduation seniors
• June 16 Adult Faith Development Comm. Mtg.
• June 18-20 Coming of Age pilgrimage to DC
• June 23 Children’s RE Comm. Mtg.

Religious Education Contacts:

Leia Durland-Jones, Director of Religious Education: 293-8179 x 3# leiadj@embarqmail.com.

Leia is usually in the office Sundays through Thursdays, and is available to meet by appointment.

Robyn Fogler, RE Assistant: 293-8179 x 6# robynf@embarqmail.com

The following Adult Faith Development classes are available in April and beyond:

“But I don’t want to go to church.” The sound of my voice travels across forty years, all the way from the little church in Ohio where my parents were married. I remember them reassuring me that I would have fun in Sunday School and make plenty of new friends. But a whining five year old wrapped around your knees can wear down even the best parents and soon our family stopped going to church.

Instead our Sunday routine became pancakes and syrup, a long walk in the woods and a trip to northeastern Ohio’s finest lumber and hardware store of the 1970s, Forest City.

We would climb into my dad’s Chevy and head off to Forest City in search of the perfect 2×4 or a new hammer or a pound of nails or anything from my parent’s long wish list. I was a willing partner in this adventure, collecting paint samples and Formica chips, patiently waiting for my chance to ring all the display doorbells or rearrange the plastic food in the refrigerators. My parents built one house and then another. A barn, a greenhouse, another barn. Sheet rock, power tools, mulch, mortar, paintbrushes, pansies — week after week, year after year, Sunday mornings were always pleasant, always the same, so many opportunities to build, grow and improve.

I grew up with a healthy appetite for pancakes, a love of nature and plenty of questions about the world and how I fit in. So where did I go to find the answers? At twenty-three years old with a new degree and a new job in a new city, I stood in the lumber aisle one Sunday morning at the old Hechinger’s Home Improvement Store on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C., ready to build, grow and improve.

“Get your coats on kids. We’re going to church.”

What’s happening these days with our Youth Groups?

Unless you have a teenager, you might not cross paths with any of the seventy plus young people enrolled in one of TJMCs four fabulous Youth Groups. These classes meet at a time other than Sunday morning or they hold class outside the main church. Sincere thanks to Pam McIntire, Chair of the Youth Committee and the many youth advisors for providing the following updates:

The sixth and seventh graders in Neighboring Faiths have set up a Universal Shrine in their classroom at UHouse. They have studied the Seven Principles of UUism and have taken field trips to Yogaville, Congregation Beth Israel, Thomas Road Baptist Church, Ebenezer Baptist Church and Our Lady of the Angels Monastery. Still to come in their curriculum: Islam, Hinduism, Atheism, Buddhism and a visit to the Monacan Indian Nation in Amherst, VA.

Eighteen eighth graders participate in the Our Whole Lives (OWL) program at TJMC. OWL helps participants make informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health and behavior. Accurate, age-appropriate information is provided in six subject areas: human development, relationships, personal skills, sexual behavior, sexual health, and society and culture. In February the OWL class had an overnight lock-in at the church, took a field trip to Planned Parenthood and participated in a candid discussion with a group of teenage parents.

The fourteen ninth grade youth participating in the Coming-of-Age (COA) program were recently paired with volunteer mentors from the TJMC congregation. The youth and their mentors will work together over the next few months to complete a series of questions, discussions and tasks contained in their COA folders. The goal is for the youth to better understand the seven UU principles and investigate their own identity as UUs. When the folders have been completed and with your generous financial support, the COA class hopes to make a pilgrimage to the Washington, D.C., area. At the conclusion of this busy year, the youth will lead a special Sunday service in the TJMC Sanctuary and most importantly, they will be eligible to join the church as a full members.

Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) group has twenty youth registered. Their curriculum focuses on spirituality, gender roles, and racial diversity issues. This is the busiest youth group of all. Although school, sports, family and thoughts of college and their future pull these young adults in so many directions, they still found time for an overnight lock-in in February.

Religious Education Registration

All families with children and youth participating in our religious education need to register at uucharlottesville.org/education. Paper forms may be found in the Social Hall on Sunday mornings and on the table in the Edgewood Lane entrance.

Save the dates in March:

3 Youth Programs Committee Meeting, 7 PM, Summit House

6 Coming-of-Age Lock-In

7 RE Classes, Stars Studio 4, week 4

12 PJs and Pancakes, 5:30 PM Social Hall

14 RE Classes, Stars Story Sunday, Stars Studio 5, week 1

21 RE Classes, Stars Studio 5, week 2

24 Children’s RE Committee Meeting,

7PM, Summit House

28 RE Classes, Stars Studio 5, week 3

AFD Classes:

March 3: First Wednesday Film Program

March 1+8+15+22+29 Tools for Spiritual Practices

March 9  UU World Magazine Discussion Group

March 19- 20 Women Weaving Wisdom Retreat

March 21 TJMC Congregational Dialogue on Race

March 3+10+17+24+31 Introduction to UU History

March 24+31 & April 7+14 Lessons From the Light

Please email Lorie Craddock at loriec@embarq.com to register.

Religious Education Contacts:

Lorie Craddock

Sabbatical Staff

293-8179 extension 3#

loriec@embarqmail.com

Robyn Fogler

Religious Education Assistant

293-8179 extension 6#

See the prospectus-winter-20101(PDF)

View prospectus here

You will need the Adobe Acrobat reader.