Help the Animals!

From the Explorer's class:

This Sunday, The Explorers will be wrapping up their efforts to help save a variety of earth's creatures including Chinchillas, Dogs, Cats, Wolves, Tigers and Panamanian Golden Frogs. Thanks to many of you for stopping by
the Religious Education table during coffee service to sign petitions and offer monetary donations. This will be the final week to bring in donated items (gently used okay) for BARCS (supporting cats and dogs) and Small Angels Rescue (supporting chinchillas).

Click here for the BARCS wish list.

Click here for the Small Angels Rescue wish list.

In celebration of Summer Solstace, the Explorers will be making their own
pocket sundials in class this Sunday.

Coming of Age Service 2009

Our biennial Coming of Age program concluded last Sunday with a glorious celebration as the youth who had completed the program led worship for the entire First Unitarian Church community. In addition to leading our regular worship rituals such as chalice lighting, hymn singing and a "time for all ages," each youth shared a Faith Statement as a snapshot of their beliefs as they are right now. The minister, mentors and parents all shared blessings for the youth and the Coming of Age adult leaders led a Declaration of Coming of Age at the end of the service.

To listen to audio portions of this service, please visit the concluding posts of our Coming of Age blog here.

Congratulations to all the Coming of Age youth!

Flower Communion, Sun. June 7

The First Unitarian Church of Baltimore will celebrate the annual tradition of Flower Communion this Sunday, June 7 during worship at 11:00 am. Our service will be intergenerational and all children are welcome to participate in worship alongside the youth and adults. No RE classes will be offered during the service, but childcare will be available.

In addition to this meaningful ritual, we will also celebrate some of the joys of our community, including recognizing new members, installing the new Board of Trustees, and recognizing with deep gratitude the service of Religious Education volunteers.

Unitarian Universalist Congregations all over the world celebrate Flower Communion in the late Spring or early Summer. Flower Communion is a ritual created by Norbert Čapek (pronounced CHAH-pek), the founder of the Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia. In Čapek's congregation in Prague, there were many members who had left Catholicism and the ritual of wine-and-bread communion behind. Still, the idea of communion, of coming together and sharing, is a powerful one and Čapek sought a way to create a ritual that would offer a sense of communion that would fit with his congregation. He created the ritual of Flower Communion, where each congregant would bring a flower to worship and would leave with a flower brought by another. In this simple ceremony, we acknowledge the beauty and power of what we bring to community, while benefitting from the beauty and power we gain from community.

After fleeing the war in Europe, Dr. Čapek's wife, Rev. Maja Čapek brought the Flower Communion ritual to the United States in 1940. Sadly Norbert Čapek did not escape Europe and was captured by the Germans in World War II and sent to the Dachau concentration camp, where he was killed. Before he died, he wrote this prayer:

It is worthwhile to live and fight courageously for sacred ideals.

Oh blow ye evil winds into my body's fire; my soul you'll never unravel.

Even though disappointed a thousand times or fallen in the fight and everything would worthless seem,

I have lived amidst eternity.

Be grateful, my soul,

My life was worth living.

Each year, as we leave a flower and take another, let us remember the value of all life, grateful for what we have and all that is precious in the landscape of our days.

To learn more about Flower Communion, click here.

Becoming a friendly family church toward our vision of a family friendly church.

by Karla Peterson

How can my children and I get more involved and more connected in the church? There are lots of ways. Some of these suggestions are things that I have done, but others are drawn from memories of the church I grew up in or suggestions I have heard from people who have attended other UU churches. Contact Director of Lifespan Religious Education, Becky Brooks, to find out how to get plugged-in to any of these opportunities.

Things you could do that are already in place:

Stay for coffee hour once in while

Help your child find some books they have outgrown and donate them to the book store

Have your child browse at the bookstore and buy a few books (they’re cheap!)

Help greet people and give out the order of worship

Sign up to light the chalice as a family

Take the monthly church tour as a family

Cook for Our Daily Bread (5^th Saturdays of the month)

Donate something to the auction (a service, an event, something you can make)

Special services to look forward to and participate in:

Participate in Springfest and Winterfest

Participate in Water and Flower communion (first and last service of the church year)

Participate in the Day of the Dead Service (around Halloween)

Come to the Winter Solstice celebration

Come to one or more summer services (such as the First Fruits service)

Eating your way through the church calendar:

(All of these events need volunteers to help with set up and clean up)

Come early for the pancake breakfast before the first service of the church year

Stay for the luncheon before the Cabaret and then go to the Cabaret

Come to the Halloween party

Stay for the luncheon before the Holiday Sale and then browse the tables

Come to Christmas Eve pot luck and services

Participate in the Mystery Buddies program and come to the potluck

Attend the church auction and dinner

Participate in your Neighborhood Circle (many are potluck style)

Things that you could request:

Ask for a special family friendly church tour

Ask for a special family friendly tour of the organ (it is so cool!)

Suggest a family friendly event for your neighborhood circle

Help with grounds keeping

Ask Jeffrey what he needs help with

Things that would be more work, but would be fabulous:

Host a family friendly “40-something” event (covenant group for those beyond the young people events)

Start a new covenant group with other parents your kid’s age

Work with the auction crew to create a kids auction to be held the same time or a different time

Start a tradition of going out together for lunch after church with other families

Things you could do outside of church:

Come out for a protest, lobby day, or vigil

Visit someone who is sick or in the hospital

Send get well cards, a note of condolence or congratulations to people listed in “Happenings”

Cook for someone who is hurt or just had a baby

Invite a person or family you want to get to know better over for dinner

Sing some of your favorite hymns at home for lullabies

Light a chalice at home for dinner and share what you are grateful for

Visit other churches when you travel and bring back good ideas

Did I miss something? Leave a comment to share your ideas for families to get connected to each other and the church as a whole.

Nursery rules

As you have probably noticed, this year has seen a great increase in the number of children in the Nursery. Since so many folks are new to Nursery, I'd like to take the opportunity to mention some guidelines we have for ensuring the safety and comfort of all our littlest UUs.

• Please don't bring personal toys. Our nursery is outfitted with lots of good things to do and play with that belong to the whole community. The presence of personal toys can create unnecessary conflict between the children.

• If your child is in the midst of potty-training, please stop by the bathroom before leaving your child in the nursery.

• Please don't bring your baby in a cloth diaper. Our nursery isn't properly outfitted to deal with cloth diapers. A store of disposables in a variety of sizes is available in the nursery.

• In order to provide the best care, we strive to have at least one volunteer scheduled in the nursery each week to assist Kim Wolf, our paid childcare provider. When this isn't possible or when the number of children exceeds our expectations, please consider staying in the nursery with your child.

Stay tuned for more information about changes in our program offerings starting in the fall.

Thank you for your attention and support!

Memorial Day Break

In honor of Memorial Day and in recognition of holiday travel plans, we will not be having Religious Education classes on Sunday May 24. Childcare will be available during the service. Please pick up your children when worship is over.

Enjoy the holiday!

All Church Picnic, Saturday, May 16

Join in the fun! Come to the First Unitarian All-Church Picnic at the Swan Pavillion in Druid Hill Park, May 16, 2009, from noon to 4 pm. Bring a potluck item to share, a beverage, and whatever you need in the way of disposable paper- and plasticware.

We have a terrific location for our All-Church picnic! The Swan pavilion in Druid Hill Park is adjacent to road where you can park. No lugging your potluck items a distance! There's brand new children's playground equipment right at the location, including a jungle gym and swingset. Plenty of room to set up croquet or badminton or horseshoes or to throw frisbees. The tennis courts are about 100 yards away - first come, first served.

Click here for a detailed map or here for directions via Google. Questions? Contact Catherine Evans.

In addition to fun, games, and fellowship, we will also be celebrating Office Coordinator Mickie Grover and Bookkeeper Cybele Morgan's three years with us. Their last day at work is May 15.

See you there!