What a gorgeous summer we have had, full of fun memories outside in nature, and meaning-making inside ourselves and our communities. We’ve been connecting with a lot of you throughout the summer, building community in summer camp and in RE. We’re so proud of our youth who traveled to overnight sleep away camp, and of our teen counselors who helped lead our amazing Art Community camp right here at East Shore. As we turn our attention to fall, our programs are on a mission, and we need you!
Our 2023-2024 Kids and Youth programs support your families faith development, lift up kids and youth voices in our community, and engage families in our wide array of spirituality, social-emotional, and justice making ministries.
Classes run from September to June and we want you to sign up! Whether you come every Sunday, some Sundays, or are just checking us out, registering your kiddos helps connect you in a safe and supportive way to our lifelong community.
Registration
Register children and youth (ages 0-18) online. Once you register your kids and youth in our programs, you’ll stay connected to class details, volunteer opportunities, family events, and more. This rolling registration form helps our kids ministry work to keep your kiddos safe and well-served at East Shore UU. Register your kids once annually so we can stay up-to-date with you, and you can stay up-to-date with Sunday programs, special events, volunteer opportunities, and more. Register here
Little UU’s: RE Kids Nursery/Preschool
Discovery Year: RE Kids Lower Elementary
Stepping Stones: RE Kids Upper Elementary
Yes-UU: Youth Exploring Spirituality – Jr High Youth Group
YUUP HS Youth: Young Unitarian Universalist Project – Sr High Youth Group
Family Covenant Circle: monthly parent/caregiver community circle, UU childcare provided
Volunteer
Fill out our Volunteer Application Form at forms.gle/QmW1fxdNksMRCZWH7. Our programs are led by volunteers in the congregation. We’ll discuss faith development and mentorship, safety in our congregations, team building for your groups, and take a curriculum deep dive. Help us craft a community for moving forward!
All volunteers can attend the RE Kids Volunteer Training on Saturday, September 9 from 9:00-11:30 a.m.
Additional training for Youth Advisors working with junior and senior high youth will take place Saturday, October 28 from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
All parents/caregivers will be invited to contribute 4-6 hours of RE Volunteer time in the 2023-2024 year. We’ve restructured some of our programs this year to create more opportunities for parents and volunteers outside of worship time. Our goal is that volunteering to serve in the children’s programs will connect our community and inspire leadership and organization in a way that nothing else can. We want you to feel more a part of this work! As you see volunteer opportunities published, be sure to reach out and connect.
We want to thank you so much for your support and interest in East Shore’s year-round programs to make community connections and get kids and families connected to spirituality, joy, and justice. We hope to see you in the Sanctuary and classrooms soon!
by Amanda Alice Uluhan, Director of Religious Education
We’re introducing this new section for our Beacon newsletter! We want to help connect you (our RE kids) to the Beacon! This will be a section with lots of fun, facts, and activities for you to do at home with your family or by yourself. For this edition, we’re gonna talk about music. And by music, we mean singing, and instruments, and even…dancing!
Most Sunday mornings before church, in RE class, we’ve been practicing a hymn: Over My Head! (#30 in the grey hymnal). This song has power to signal, to comfort, to communicate, and has been sung for generations of African Americans.
Online engagement has tried and tested our group! We miss the excitement and joy that comes from being in person. Since last spring, HS Youth has met for several months twice a week online, offered a virtual Youth Worship service, and had a wonderful virtual youth bridging ceremony. This fall, we’ve had a weekly Friday meetings, with a prominent Dungeons and Dragons group forming and some success with conversations around social justice, including homelessness and voting. We’ve also participated in several virtual UUA events for youth.
We also know that many of our youth want to “do” and not just “talk” about the world around them! And we love that. Living out our values happens in the real world, with one another when we’re trying new things, connecting to nature and community, and when we’re challenged and enjoying our selves in a deep and meaningful way. Be sure to read on for an introduction to key organizer, Mark Norelius, to learn more about his passion for the outdoors and his role as volunteer with youth.
On the last Saturday of every month, in February, March, April and May, join us for outdoor Saturday youth adventures. Each month will feature a different activity at a different location. And, on the second Sunday of each month, from 6-7pm, there will be an online planning session with volunteers and participants to get ready as a team. We ask that all interested youth attend the planning session. We’ll talk about equipment requirements, transportation, location, meals, and such. These events are open to any youth in our immediate and extended community, so you can invite a friend whether they’ve been to East Shore forever or haven’t been yet.
Although the events themselves are free, sometimes the activities will require appropriate gear and clothing. And for that, we have funds available! Please get in touch with DRE, Amanda Alice, to help make sure you’ve got the money you need to cover the costs.
All of the events require your own transportation, because of the pandemic we’re not able to coordinate that or ride share. And of course, you’ll need to bring masks, hand sanitizer, and to avoid physical contact with one another.
We know some of you aren’t able to join us outdoors during the pandemic, and we hope you’ll rejoin us when a safer time for all will come.
These outdoors programs for youth are intended to serve the community during and beyond the pandemic, providing “field” opportunities for connection and learning and to give youth who may not have connected online or in the classroom with our programs a fresh start at Unitarian Universalist youth culture. Join us to help build it here at East Shore!
by amanda alice uluhan, DRE
Hi to the youth of East Shore and your families,
I would like to introduce myself to the youth and parents who I have not yet had a chance to meet. I have served on the East Shore Board Of Trustees for the past three years and in June my term will end. As a board member, I watched Amanda Alice move into a position of leadership of the Religious Education program and am convinced she is bringing great things to the program. I have observed a few of the Youth Group on-line activities in the past few months and have briefly met a few of the youth in these sessions.
I have offered to Amanda Alice help in adding to the youth programs some outdoor activities that will provide for some events where they can have fun together without needing a screen to communicate and still stay safe. When the COVID restrictions are behind us we will hopefully have the basis for a program that includes regular outings that will be attractive.
When people ask me to describe myself I often will say that I am a kid at heart. I have 5 boys ages 19-36 and though I won’t say I can always keep up with them I would say I can hold my own :-). As a parent I ended up adding to my resume: soccer coach and Scoutmaster for my boys’ troop. I have traveled with groups of kids to soccer tournaments around the state, with scouts to Mt Rainier, Oregon coast, Yellowstone, Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, and to Florida Sea Base.
I am retired and an empty nester now but my love for the outdoors is as strong as ever. I am into skiing (snow and water), SCUBA, backpacking, windsurfing, sailing, rowing and the list goes on.
What is important for you to know is that I love sharing my love for the outdoors. I love watching and helping kids learn to love the outdoors. We live in an amazing place that allows us all to enjoy such a variety of activities.
I am hoping to meet and get to know you all at outdoor activities in the near future.
Join East Shore children and youth for our annual Winter Holidays Pageant, this time, virtual! We’re pleased to present to you all a fun-filled morning reflecting on the various wisdom traditions who celebrate year after year since time immemorial during the dark of the year. We’re even including a song from the choir!
Sign up for a role from the listed on the Signup Genius form, or find your name here to double check your role if you’ve already started your work!
Most roles must prerecord the material (audio and/or video) ahead of time, due by December 9th, and can be uploaded to a shared file system or sent via email. Instructions are in the packet.
Most roles will contribute to the December 20th Sunday Worship Service, the Annual Winter Pageant. Some parts will be used for Christmas Eve services, as marked on the Sign up Genius.
Upload your video or audio submissions into this Google Drive Folder. Click on the image above, and drag and drop. It’s that easy!
As the shorter, grayer days of winter approach, we will all need ways to connect with other humans, to keep busy, and to feel challenged and enriched. At ESUC, we are organizing a series of Game Groups to meet these needs. Here’s how it will work: a scheduled Zoom meeting will take place simultaneously with play on an online game site, so you can see your opponents’ smiling (and maybe familiar) faces, chat and be in community. Each Game Group will work out its own schedule and format.
Here is a quick list of possible games:
Mahjong
Chess
Scrabble
Bridge
Scattergories
Trivia
Backgammon
Cards Against Humanity/Apples to Apples
Topical book groups, play reading circles, and other such activities can also be organized.
If you are interested in forming a group to play any of these games or activities, and/or have others to suggest, please email Nicole.
Throughout the summer, we’ve been blessed to have a Black Lives Matter Altar just outside our Sanctuary walls for members and neighbors to deepen in reflection and mourning. For our winter months, we invite you to join us in building two: one outside and one inside!
Altar of Hope: Outside
The BLM Altar will be refreshed, this time with Hope as our theme: what wakes you up to act? Take time to share words or photos of hope you have for the future. Use this alter as a way to reflect and refresh after the election. Share photos of you voting – though please do NOT politicize this and keep the table non-partisan.
Ancestral Altar: Inside
Inside, we’ll have an Ancestor Altar that will include some of our friends and members who have passed away. Items on the altar can include photos, art, a sentimental object, something from nature, or even a piece of food. Altars are used in religions around the world to harness collective energy and intention. If you want the item returned, please make sure you put your name on it.
The outside altar will be available to enjoy throughout November and December. The inside altar will be lifted up during our virtual worship services. “The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.” ― Joanna Macy.
