With the much-anticipated start to the new church year behind us, things are settling down a bit, but not the energy of it all! And while everything we do at UCE is faith formation, let me lift up all that is happening in my area of our community.

Our new adult program, Meeting Our Interfaith Neighbors, began with a 3-session introduction to the program. Each session was recorded so that anyone can watch them before participating in exploring any of the six faith traditions we’ll be learning about during the year. You can watch the first session here using Passcode: .w6N$k$U, session 2 here with Passcode: W7.v4yRH, and session 3 here with Passcode: &nQscB22.

On November 5, we will begin our exploration of Judaism with Rabbi Andrea London as our guest speaker. We will follow this by attending Shabbat services on November 8 at 6:30p. Then on the 19th, we will gather again at UCE for a time of reflection and sharing.

Our Young Adult group has started up again with Kiley Korey and Kevin Barrow taking the lead. Although Eileen and I are no longer considered young adults (gasp!), we have been invited to participate in their gatherings on the third Friday evening of the month. Speaking for myself, I still feel young at heart and being with the group keeps it that way.

For our youth, the high school youth group has resumed and will continue to meet on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. They are looking into the topic of environmentalism for their Youth Sunday worship service this spring. They are also using the Crossing Paths curriculum from Soul Matters this year that will lead into the Bridging Ceremony for the seniors.

Our new middle school group if off to an awesome start. They are making their new space in room 10 feel a bit more their own. Last Sunday, they painted the orange walls a dark teal. They hope to do a mural on a bulletin board too. Using a design concept presented by Gillian Lawrence, they’ll add some new pillows, a rug, and floor lamps. The adults will want to use the room more often now!

Many of our young people in grades 4-6 will be participating in the Our Whole Lives Sex Ed (OWL) program on Sunday afternoons for five weeks beginning on October 27. This year, we have partnered with Lake Street Church to run this program. We have 16 young people participating, and four facilitators, two of whom are from UCE: Kendall (Lake) Matias and Christine Peters.

For all ages, plans are underway to finish the playscape area on the south lawn with input from interested parents and young people. For phase one of our plan, we ordered some chairs, benches, and a climbing structure for toddlers. We are also blessed to have an aspiring Eagle Scout, Enzo Wallin, who will be building some wooden pieces to add to the space. We plan to have a mulching party next spring to lay the foundation for this new equipment. Phase two will be a bit later on and includes a tetherball pole that can also be used as a maypole in the spring.

As you can see, we have a lot of awesome things happening here to help people of all ages connect with each other and create a caring and thriving community. Feel free to join in whenever and wherever you can!

In Faith,

Kathy