Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church - Unitarian Universalist

Walking the Spiral Path

One thing I know for sure is that our congregation is full of generous souls. I am reminded of this truth every Sunday when I see so many people helping in a multitude of ways to support the life and work of our congregation. Whether you are greeting, ushering, making coffee, running the sound system, teaching in our RE program, giving a ride to a church member who needs a lift, or helping out in another way on a day other than Sunday… the sharing of your resources (time, energy and talent) almost stops me in my tracks with a feeling of overwhelming gratitude.

To me, our church community is a blessing to all of us as well as the wider world and the truth that we all pool our money together to support its existence is a sort of miracle. As our Stewardship Campaign launches this month and you are asked to make your financial gift to sustain our beloved community, I hope you will reflect deeply on what you can give and that you will, as our beloved Gordon McKeeman always counseled us, “give until it feels good.”

Your act of making a financial commitment to our shared religious life is important and no matter the size of your contribution, your gift is valued and appreciated. Let us join together, combine our resources and commit anew to our continued support of the church we love.

With appreciation,

Leia Durland-Jones

Director of Religious Education

Organization Membership at CNE is for You!

Did you know that TJMCs Adult Faith Development Committee purchased an organizational membership with the Center for Nonprofit Excellence in Charlottesville? This means You now have access to CNEs website which includes job postings, professional development opportunities around the state and articles/resources that might be helpful to you in your church leadership and/or your professional life. The CNE office has a library of materials available for members to borrow. In addition, they offer workshops, brown bag lunch seminars, trainings and classes you can register for at a reduced rate under our organizational membership. The Adult Faith Development Committee encourages everyone to take advantage of the many resources available now to our congregation through the CNE. For more information, call CNEs Membership Manager at 244-3330 or visit the CNE online at thecne.org.

Adult Faith Development (AFD) Winter/Spring Semester

The AFD semester begins in February. Watch for announcements and registration information in the Friday Email, This Sunday in the Sunday order of service, the bulletin boards outside the Social Hall and the church website. Upcoming classes include:

w Working with The Body’s Subtle Energies: An Approach to Spiritual, Emotional, and Physical Self-Care

w Harvest the Power-Leadership Development,

w World Religions,

w Teens Taking Action: Teen and Parent Summit!

w Parenting Tweens with Smarts and Heart

w What is Spiritual Direction

w Little Altars Everywhere

w Serving with Grace

w Parenting Young Children

w Jesus: Teacher, Guide, Companion

w A Unitarian Universalist Prayer Practice

w Midweek noontime labyrinth walk, Wednesday Wonderings

w The Black Empowerment Controversy

w Beans and Rights

w a Taize service

w Planning for Life’s Final Journey: Helping Loved Ones Prepare.

Mid-Year Feedback Appreciated

The committees that make up the Lifespan Faith Development Council (Children’s RE, Youth Programs and Adult Faith Development) invite your feedback on how things are going for you, your child(ren) and family.

How is it for our littlest UUs on Sunday? Do you like the UU Stars format? Are you happy with Spirit Play? Would you like more social activities in addition to Sunday morning RE classes? What is your impression of how things are going for our children and our youth? What Adult Faith Development offerings would you like to see made available?

The committees serving these programs meet monthly and we always appreciate hearing from participants with concerns, compliments or suggestions. To offer your feedback, contact Patricia Millman, Lifespan Faith Development Council Chair,  pmillman3@comcast.net; Cathey Polly, Children’s RE Committee Chair,  catheypolly@yahoo.com; or Margaret Gorman, Youth Programs Committee Chair, gormanmargaret@hotmail.com.

PJs, Pancakes & Bingo!

Do not miss this super fun event for all ages on Friday, February 3, at 5 PM in the Social Hall. The Children’s RE Committee sponsors this annual all-church pancake dinner where wearing PJs is optional and having fun is not! After a delicious dinner of pancakes, sausage and other treats, we will play Bingo with our fabulous Bingo machine.

Bingo begins at 6:30 PM and Bingo cards are $2 each or three for $5. For more information or to find out how you can help, contact Leia Durland-Jones, DRE, at 293-8179 x 6# or leiadj@embarqmail.com.

Coming of Age Class Marketplace: Helping Our Youth!

Stop by the Social Hall after services on Sunday and get in on these great deals while supporting our upcoming Coming of Age class as they raise funds for their June 2013 pilgrimage trip to DC.

· Attractions Coupon Books – more than just restaurants

· TJMC UU T-shirt orders

Our youth (and their parents) thank you for your support!

Save the dates:

1 Wed    Youth Programs Committee Meeting, 7 PM, S1

3  Fri       PJs, Pancakes and Bingo

5  Sun     Four year-olds–Fifth grade Chinese New Year Celebration

8  Wed   A Conversation about “Grace,” 7 PM, CP

12 Sun   RE Classes, Stars Story Sunday

19 Sun   RE Classes

22 Wed  Children’s RE Committee,

7PM, S2

Walking the Spiral Path

Parents often share with me the desire to have their children actively engaged in the life of our church. They want their children to have a solid understanding of what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist, to have a place to identify, explore and express our UU values. They want their children to feel connected to people of all ages in our congregation. They want their children to know what it means to be part of a church community and to understand the privileges as well as the responsibilities this entails. They want their children to have practice naming, experiencing, and honoring a connection to something larger than ourselves – what some of us call God or Spirit (or a 1000 other names). I too want all these things and more for the children and youth of our church.

The good news is that what we dream of for our children is possible! It is possible when, as parents, we make commitments and follow through on them. When we commit to coming to church regularly, we teach our children and youth that church (and all that church means and is) is important. It is a priority. When we commit to coming to church regularly, we create the opportunity for our children to make connections and build friendships not only in their religious education classes but also with others they encounter on Sunday morning. When we commit to coming to church regularly, we model for our children the importance of attending worship service as a spiritual practice, a way to feed our souls. When we commit to coming to church regularly, it helps us discover other ways to become involved in the life of the congregation, perhaps with IMPACT or PACEM, all church game nights, community dinners or covenant groups. Our children see us involved and engaged and know that things of value, importance and meaning happen here.

As we enter the new year, I warmly invite you to consider making the commitment (or recommitment) to have your family attend church regularly. And, if there is anything I can do to help make your family’s participation in church more fulfilling, satisfying or meaningful, please do not hesitate to be in touch with me.

For the women of our congregation, I want to extend a special invitation to you to our second annual Women’s Dream Quest. The Planning Circle for this year’s Quest chose January for the very reasons I mention above, the slowing of pace and restorative grace. We want you to come sing, dance, pray, breathe, cry or just “be” with us, your sisters, on our congregation’s beautiful canvass labyrinth. The Dream Quest also includes opportunities to work with expressive arts as well as small group sharing. Experience with “dream work” is not necessary. Some participants do think about, work on or share from their dream life but the focus is not on dreams per se.

The whole Dream Quest experience is like being in a wakeful dream! The Quest includes an overnight in the church building with participants sleeping (or not) based on each woman’s personal needs. The labyrinth is available for walking all night long and there is something exquisite about sitting in our Sanctuary in the silence of midnight and candlelight. The registration fee is $75 with financial assistance/work scholarship available. Space in our Dream Quest is limited to forty women and many of these spaces are already taken. Please contact me immediately if you would like to register. I would very much like you to be able to attend.

As we greet the morning sun and the lengthening of the day’s light, each one of us has much to look forward to in this New Year. My wishes for all of us are peace, happiness and health.

With appreciation,

Leia Durland-Jones

Director of Religious Education

Subscribe to the Weekly Lifespan Faith Development Update

This free email update is full of the latest information about children and youth RE classes and events as well as announcements and information particularly of interest to parents. If you would like to subscribe please contact leiadj@embarqmail.com.

A Conversation about Justice

Rev. Erik Walker Wikstrom and Leia Durland-Jones, DRE, invite you to explore the idea of justice, our worship and faith development theme during the month of February. What does justice mean or look like to and for us as Unitarian Universalists? How can this theme enrich our spiritual lives? How might we bring the work of justice-making more deeply into our own lives? Come take advantage of this opportunity to deepen your knowledge and understanding on Wednesday,      January 18, from 7-9 PM in the Parlor.

RE Wish List

w Help with repairing a broken rolling dry erase board

w Rolls of blue “painters” tape

w Fun sticky note pads

Save the dates:

Jan. 1     NO RE

Jan. 4     Youth Programs Committee

Jan. 8     UU Stars Story Sunday

Jan. 15   Lifespan Faith Development Council meeting

Jan. 18   A Conversation about Justice

Jan. 25   Children’s RE Committee

Jan. 29   Congregation fundraiser luncheon 11:30 AM

Religious Education Contacts:

Leia Durland-Jones, DRE:    293-8179 x 3#

leiadj@embarqmail.com. Usually available Sundays through Thursdays, and by appointment.

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

The sUUper Sunday Summer Camp begins May 29, 2011 for 4 year olds through rising 6th grade and will feature games and activities based on Dr. Seuss stories. To register click here.

The Children’s RE Program is collecting items for care packages to send to the men and women serving in our armed forces.

We’ll be collecting items from now until April 24.  Please donate travel sizes only, non-aerosol, and nothing that will melt.

Please place items in the brown wooden box in the Edgewood Lane Hallway. Thank you for your support!

We are collecting:

• Baby wipes
• Single Laundry soap or tablets
• Liquid, bar or waterless soap
• Travel size shampoo
• Travel size conditioner
• Travel size tube of lotion
• Travel size liquid body wash
• Travel size hand sanitizer
• Travel size sunblock or aloe vera gel
• Travel size roll-on or gel only deodorant
• Travel size non-Aerosol shaving cream
• Eye drops
• Saline spray/drops
• Travel packs q-tips
• Feminine Hygiene products
• Disposable razors
• Moleskin
• Baby powder, foot powder
• Individual pack Kleenex
• Chap stick
• Dental floss
• Games
• Puzzles
• Writing paper, pens, envelopes,
• DVDs and CDs
• Individual servings of powdered drinks: tea, coffee, hot chocolate, apple cider, crystal
• light, kool aid, country time,
• Magazines
• Tooth Brushes
• Mouthwash
• Body Spray
• Pringles
• Crackers
• Cookies
• Beef Jerky
• Comic Books
• Gum
• Lifesavers
• Hard Candy
• Travel Size Games (chess, checkers)
• Deck of Cards
• Pictures From Home
• Thumb Tack (to hang the pictures)
• Blue and Black Pens
• Notebooks
• Fly Paper (some areas where the soldiers live have lots of flies)
• Crossword Puzzles, Word Searches, Soduku
• Jelly beans
• Disposable camera
• Altoids or mints
• Beef jerky
• Nuts
• Long-distance phone cards
• Little Debbie’s snacks
• Ziploc bags (for keeping things airtight, watertight, and fresher)
• Jaw breakers
• Dice
• Inflatable pillow
• Dominoes
• Footbag/hacky-sac
• Spices (crushed red pepper), salt, pepper
• Smoked oysters and sardines
• Pringles chips
• Individually-wrapped licorice
• Microwave popcorn
• Ramen noodles
• Cereal bars/granola bars M&M’s
• Koozies to keep water bottles and cans cool
• AA batteries
• D size batteries
• Air fresheners
• Stress relief squeeze balls
• Sewing kit
• Shoe laces for gym shoes and boots
• Air activated heat wraps for sore muscles
• Foot massager
• Icy hot patches
• Foot powder

March 2     Youth Programs Committee Meeting

March 5     Coming of Age Lock-in

March 6     YRUU “OWL” Class

March 12  Riddle & Mystery Class Lock-in

March 13  UU Stars Story Sunday

March 13  YRUU “OWL” Class

March 23  Children’s RE Committee Meeting

March 28  Adult Faith Development Committee

March 30  Youth Programs Committee Meeting