We are starting our new year in our Religious Education program at UUCC this Sunday, and I would like you to consider volunteering. Not every Sunday, that is what people assume volunteering means, but just a few times over the course of this year. I shared some reasons why volunteering is such a meaningful way to get involved at UUCC in service this Sunday, and I want to share them again here in case you missed it. Or you can skip to the end to find out how to get started volunteering!
- Do it for you! Volunteering with our kids is so much fun and so rewarding. The children of our program are AMAZING. Any time I am feeling despair about the state of the world, spending time with these kids renews me. They are joyful, curious, wise beyond their years, each one a wonderful unique person unfolding. Getting to be with them year after year as they grow toward adulthood is an incredible experience. You also get the opportunity to work with and get to know a team of extraordinary and inspiring volunteers.
- Do it for the children! Intergenerational community is transformative, and it doesn’t happen in many places in our society. My own children have had so many people who have touched their lives here. A moment this summer that reminded me how much this community means to them: my theater-loving son auditioned for his first grown up show this summer and he was pretty nervous about it. When he came home and I asked him how it went. He said “that guy Todd Iveson from church was there and he was really nice to me.” I want that for all our children wherever they turn, a constellation of caring adults that make growing up into this sometimes overwhelming world a little less scary.
- Do it for the parents! I really want people volunteering who don’t currently have kids in the program. Parenting right now is really hard, and keeps getting harder. It is even harder for younger families now than it was for my family ten years ago, and it felt hard then. We have new families arriving at our church, with parents exhausted, hungry for community and spiritual renewal. How nice would it be it be for us to be able to say, sit, replenish your spirit in service, we aren’t asking you to volunteer today. It is your turn to rest, and for us to take a turn.
- Do it for the world! Volunteering in R.E. ties to everything we do here at UUCC, to our mission of social justice and care for this world. One of our OWL instructors said that in the face of rising fascism, it was this volunteering that felt like the most important work they could be doing, teaching children that all bodies are sacred and teaching them to care for each other, what could be more radically liberatory? Giving children the tools to put their values into action in the world is just incredibly meaningful work. I am especially excited this year as we have hired a new social justice coordinator for our R.E. program, Aitriona Peterson-Ramey, I have promised her that this is a congregation that cares deeply about social justice and our children and that she will have an amazing team of volunteers to back her up, so lets make that happen!
How to Volunteer in R.E.: You can sign up as a teacher or as an aide assisting the teacher at our class sign ups at our sign-up page. We have different age group classes two Sundays a month, and a group service project at our once monthly Service Sundays. You are also invited to attend our R.E. Team Building and Training from noon-3 pm on Sunday, Oct. 4. Let me know if you are planning to attend and if you will have children who need childcare during the event.
With love and gratitude to this beautiful community,
Jamila