I'm thinking about two kinds of connections--huddling and mixing--familiar terms. We huddle on the football field. We mix cake batter ingredients. But, huddling and mixing as kinds of connections?…hmmmmm….Might we huddle at church rather than on the football field, and might we mix people rather than ingredients?
Mixing and huddling…Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Adult Programs Director, Gail Forsyth-Vail, uses these terms to describe the ways we need to connect members of our congregations. David Savoie, Chair-Elect of our Adult Religious Education Committee, and I participated in a weekend workshop on Adult Faith Development, led by Gail.
We huddle. We circle up with our cohorts to share our life stories and the meaning we make of them. We circle up with our cohorts to find sustenance and the nudge we need to grow into our fullness and to be faithful to our ideals. We circle up to know others and to be known, to gather strength for our days…and our nights.
We mix. We come together to live into our multi-cultural, multi-generational vision of an inclusive and just world. We come together to celebrate this multilingual liberal religious faith that is Unitarian Universalism. We come together because we learn the most from those who are different from us. From them, we glimpse the world through new lenses and gain perspectives we had not yet considered...or had forgotten.
Huddling--building and strengthening connections with our ORUUC “peeps”, those with whom we find ourselves most at home, those who have chosen to come together for a common cause or common experience in church life.
Mixing-- connecting with the wider ORUUC congregation--Gen Xers and Silent Generation folks, pagans and humanists, morning people and night owls, those with time on their hands and those who need more hours in each day, those whose service to the church is to sing anthems in the choir and those who serve by singing lullabies in the Nursery.
So, how does “huddling and mixing” inform my work as your religious educator?
I work, in partnership with you, the congregation, to build and nurture strong “Home Groups,” circles of people who know each other well over time, where each member of the group has a strong sense of belonging. “Home groups”--circles of people who take care of each other, learn and grow, and serve the church and others together. Some of our existing groups already function as ‘Home Groups”—the Welcoming Congregation Team, the Religious Education Committee, and our Youth Group, to name a few. Other groups in our church might grow into home groups simply by being more intentional about service to the church or by taking time to reflect on the good work they have done together. I work, also, with Membership Coordinator, Gina Grubb, to make certain that every ORUUCian who wishes to belong to a “Home Group” is invited to do so.
I work, in partnership with you, to build and nurture opportunities that bring us together across boundaries…events such as “Everybody’s Birthday Party.” But, also quieter opportunities…This past weekend, Abbie Moore shared her passion for card-making, using stamps. She guided our Spirit Play children in creating greeting cards, using resources she donated to the group. The Spirit Play children are now the church’s official “Caring Committee Card Creators.” In a few weeks, Judy Van Winkle will join Spirit Play to share her stories of how the cards the Caring Committee sends are part of living out the church’s mission…"We care.”
Mixing and Huddling…Caring, Serving, Learning...May connections abound!
In faithful partnership,
Tandy
Mixing and huddling…Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Adult Programs Director, Gail Forsyth-Vail, uses these terms to describe the ways we need to connect members of our congregations. David Savoie, Chair-Elect of our Adult Religious Education Committee, and I participated in a weekend workshop on Adult Faith Development, led by Gail.
We huddle. We circle up with our cohorts to share our life stories and the meaning we make of them. We circle up with our cohorts to find sustenance and the nudge we need to grow into our fullness and to be faithful to our ideals. We circle up to know others and to be known, to gather strength for our days…and our nights.
We mix. We come together to live into our multi-cultural, multi-generational vision of an inclusive and just world. We come together to celebrate this multilingual liberal religious faith that is Unitarian Universalism. We come together because we learn the most from those who are different from us. From them, we glimpse the world through new lenses and gain perspectives we had not yet considered...or had forgotten.
Huddling--building and strengthening connections with our ORUUC “peeps”, those with whom we find ourselves most at home, those who have chosen to come together for a common cause or common experience in church life.
Mixing-- connecting with the wider ORUUC congregation--Gen Xers and Silent Generation folks, pagans and humanists, morning people and night owls, those with time on their hands and those who need more hours in each day, those whose service to the church is to sing anthems in the choir and those who serve by singing lullabies in the Nursery.
So, how does “huddling and mixing” inform my work as your religious educator?
I work, in partnership with you, the congregation, to build and nurture strong “Home Groups,” circles of people who know each other well over time, where each member of the group has a strong sense of belonging. “Home groups”--circles of people who take care of each other, learn and grow, and serve the church and others together. Some of our existing groups already function as ‘Home Groups”—the Welcoming Congregation Team, the Religious Education Committee, and our Youth Group, to name a few. Other groups in our church might grow into home groups simply by being more intentional about service to the church or by taking time to reflect on the good work they have done together. I work, also, with Membership Coordinator, Gina Grubb, to make certain that every ORUUCian who wishes to belong to a “Home Group” is invited to do so.
I work, in partnership with you, to build and nurture opportunities that bring us together across boundaries…events such as “Everybody’s Birthday Party.” But, also quieter opportunities…This past weekend, Abbie Moore shared her passion for card-making, using stamps. She guided our Spirit Play children in creating greeting cards, using resources she donated to the group. The Spirit Play children are now the church’s official “Caring Committee Card Creators.” In a few weeks, Judy Van Winkle will join Spirit Play to share her stories of how the cards the Caring Committee sends are part of living out the church’s mission…"We care.”
Mixing and Huddling…Caring, Serving, Learning...May connections abound!
In faithful partnership,
Tandy
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