“Now is the moment of magic,
when people beaten down and broken,
with nothing left but misery and candles and their own clear voices,
kindle tiny lights and whisper secret music, and here’s a blessing:
the dark universe is suddenly illuminated by the lights of the menorah, suddenly ablaze with the lights of the kinara, and the whole world is glad and loud with winter singing.” Victoria E. Safford
In November, we meet for a Friday Night Kids Night Out. On November 7, from 5:00-8:00 PM, we meet for fun, games, and art, and you drop the kids for a night off. Open to church members and friends ages 2 through 15. Sliding scale fee from $10-$20. Register at esuc.org!
In November, we also start work on our “Kids Winter Pageant” I want to gather information on who is interested in participating in the Winter Pageant this year. The Pageant will take place on Sunday December 14, 2025. This will help us determine how many parts to write! Rehearsals will be during RE on Sunday morning December 7 and Thursday evening December 11 from 5pm-7pm. Please fill out this form.
Our RE classes are one small part of each families experience; we hope our time with your children encourages discussion and ignites curiosity. We have great resources on the web for Unitarian Universalist families as they navigate this bright and blessed time of year. The following website is a great start: https://www.uua.org/worship/holidays
Through the Holiday season, there are especially so many ways to give, many of them right here at East Shore. There is no greater time to teach our children about aligning values and actions than during the Holidays. Many children want to give gifts to express their love to others. They know the joy or receiving and gift and want to offer that gift to others. How beautiful to let our children know that giving is not just a moral practice, it is a spiritual practice. When we give to others we are making a visible sign of the relationship and interdependence that exists in our world.
One of the first lessons of giving is that it doesn’t matter how much and that giving of your time and talent are just are meaningful as money. We can help our children put loose change in the offering or have them help fill out the Pledge card and Form for our Generosity Pledge Drive. Another idea is to have them play an imagination game; if we have 300 families at East Shore and every person gave one dollar we would have $300!
For the Giving Tree, we can teach your child how to knit or sew fleece scarves and hats, or buy special gifts for those who need extra care from the community. These treasures keep a child warm and provide time for meaningful conversations about generosity and stewardship.
Lastly, on our Christmas Eve Family Service at 4:00 PM we gather for a worship for the whole family. Hear the Christmas Story and join in singing to celebrate the most festive time of the year. The 4:00 pm worship service is a traditional Unitarian Universalist Candle light service. There will be no child care or RE available and we encourage you to participate in the service by volunteering as a reader or another worship associate role. We also take up the offering for the Minister’s Discretionary Fund to be distributed among congregants requesting financial assistance during emergencies (rent, utilities, groceries, etc.), a wonderful way to share with others in the East Shore community!
I wish you all a tremendous fall.
by Amanda Alice Uluhan, Director of Religious Education