full week faith: a sample week
Our contemporary challenge is to provide examples and opportunities for our people to bring the learnings and insights they share in more traditional religious education settings to the rest of their weeks; to integrate their minds, bodies and spirits in work as well as worship, in soccer playing as well as Spirit Play-ing. How is Unitarian Universalism relevant to where I shop or how I pack my school lunches? How can my faith help me navigate my teen’s – or my own – social media use? What lessons from Tapestry of Faith follow me into the boardroom or behind the cash register at work? How might I speak to my cousins at the upcoming family wedding if I imagined they were part of my covenant group? Professional religious educators and ministers occupy an exciting role akin to midwifery, easing our people into self-realization as people of faith, not just members of congregations. What follows are some concrete examples of what a Full Week Faith might look like in the week of a real congregation.
SUNDAY
Multigenerational worship on the theme of “Being Home/Belonging.” The responsive reading this morning has a simple response – “I belong here. You belong here. We all belong together.” This is a theme that will be revisited throughout the month.
There is a video meditation, “Wholetime in America,”[1] created by UU seminarians, available on YouTube, also running on a loop during coffee hour, and shared with the Youth Group in the evening. Before leaving the church on Sunday, the Minister will post a link to the video on the congregational Facebook page, with a brief pastoral message inviting members to reflect on a particular question inspired by the video or the morning worship service for members and friends unable to attend.
After the multigen worship, the DRE leads a one-room schoolhouse activity for children and tweens that reinforces the message of belonging. Before leaving on Sunday, he communicates with the Youth Advisors. Tonight, the Youth Group will be asked to design a Wayside Pulpit message on the theme “We are all loved beyond belief!”
The Chair of the RE committee writes an email that will go out to the Faith Formation listserve with a suggested weekly mealtime Grace that families are invited to practice together this week. He uses a subject line that references “Love Beyond Belief!” from the Wholetime in America video, and includes a link to find it online, for those families who could not be at church this morning.
MONDAY
The Administrator checks the church’s Facebook page for the message the Minister posted after church yesterday. She makes sure to “like” all the responses from congregants.
If there are questions or comments from the Facebook page that might need follow up, she’ll make a note for the Minister, pastoral team, or board president.
The Music Director posts a link on the church Facebook page and website to a favorite recording of one of the pieces she played on Sunday, with a brief reflection about why it inspires the stirrings of her heart, and its connection to the theme of belonging.
The Music Director sends an audio link to the Minister and DRE who will be at the church potluck tomorrow night. It’s a simple to teach hymn that members of all ages can learn pretty quickly and connects to this month’s ministry theme.
TUESDAY
The social justice committee has asked the local library for recommendations and agrees to use the children’s book Who Belongs Here as their recommended source of study and reflection. It connects to the worship theme and also to our UUA’s immigration justice work.
The pastoral care team has followed up appropriately with questions and concerns on the church’s Facebook page and left the Minister a message about what they learned.
The Administrator has posted the Sunday sermon on the church website and updated the service times on Yelp. She’s also checked into Foursquare. She’s aiming for Mayor of the church this week.
WEDNESDAY
The Minister and DRE attend the weekly Family & Friends Pizza & Potluck faith formation event from 5:30 – 7:30. The church buys pizza, and families bring what/if they can. All ages together say grace, using the words some of them practiced yesterday at home. After dinner, youth and young adult tutors help younger children with homework. The Minister shares a story on the monthly theme from Tapestry of Faith with the preschoolers.
After dinner, the DRE leads a conversation with adults, sharing a reading or poem inviting people to reflect on the first time they felt they truly belonged to this faith community. What changed for them at that moment? How might they invite newcomers to experience that same sense of belonging? How can we share the blessings of belonging in the world?
The Parenting on Purpose group, which pairs young parents with grandparents, takes some time over dinner to talk about the pitfalls and the privileges of raising UU children, as UU parents. Tonight’s conversation includes cutting sandwiches into chalice shapes and sending your kid to the bus stop with one of the seven principles instead of “Have a nice day!”
THURSDAY
The Minister writes a brief blog post (2-3 paragraphs) for the church website (and provides a link to it on the church’s Facebook page) describing an interaction at last night’s potluck. It ends with a reflection question or an idea for sharing Spirit’s love at work, school, or home.
The Music Director has a short day at the office today, because it’s Third Thursday, when a small but dedicated group of young adults meets for appetizers after work for fellowship and some deep conversation to go with the deep fried mozzarella sticks. The professional staff rotate their visits. Tonight, they are talking about Music and Meaning, and whether they can in good conscience go to the concert of an artist who has been accused of domestic violence.
The DRE sends out a church wide email with a reminder that this coming Sunday, worship will include the Blessing of the Backpacks. Children, youth, and adult members who are school teachers are encouraged to bring their school backpacks to church. The Minister and DRE will share a blessing and the community will lay on hands to embody the congregation’s commitment to support each other in learning together (third and fourth principles), and to being there for each other when we need help with homework – or with anything else.
FRIDAY
In addition to all the usual Friday worship prep, the Administrator double checks the church website and Facebook pages for the correct sermon title. He also posts the hymns for those who like to look at their home hymnals before church.
This is a big football town. Every Friday night in the fall, the Minister, DRE, and Music Director bring their hot chocolate thermos and sit in the stands rooting for, well, everybody. Sometimes parents of the players sit with them. Other nights, members of the youth group stop by the bleachers and visit during a break in the action.
SATURDAY
The Helper Elves – which includes a college student, two parents, and one of their preschool daughters – come to the church to put together the art and snack supplies for Sunday School teachers. They do this on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, the weekends when formal RE classes are held. They love being able to serve the RE program in some way and are grateful it is not through teaching – something none of the adults feel called to or particularly comfortable doing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is merely an example of what a Full Week Faith framework might look like. It is intended to be descriptive and not prescriptive. It is meant to give examples of faith formation activities that can happen outside of classrooms. There is attention to the four legs of faith formation – curriculum, community, covenant and context – and that there is a role for both lay and professional leadership.
The Appendix of this paper contains several examples of Full Week Faith style activities that can be brought back to your congregation and implemented with very little disruption into existing programs. Along with a description of each activity is the faith formation goal that is being served; the role of the religious professional in implementing the activity; suggestions for parents to take the activity home; and ways the congregation might choose to take it further. They are examples of the kinds of resources, which might one day be curated and shared much more broadly across the denomination.
make glorious mistakes
The essence of the Full Week Faith experilearn is to identify good, reasonable, and faithful experiments in changing the “way we’ve always done things,” with a commitment to learning from them, whatever the outcome. In that spirit, and in the spirit of our radical ancestor Sophia Lyon Fahs, participating congregations will be reminded of this good advice from the author Neil Gaiman:
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something. So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”[1]
Amen.
May our ministries be abundantly blessed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]. theradicalspirit “Wholetime in America” (video), Feb 14, 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIhZocknKuM
[1]. Neil Gaiman, “My New Year Wish,” Neil Gaiman's Journal (blog), December 31, 2011, http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/12/my-new-year-wish.html.
Our contemporary challenge is to provide examples and opportunities for our people to bring the learnings and insights they share in more traditional religious education settings to the rest of their weeks; to integrate their minds, bodies and spirits in work as well as worship, in soccer playing as well as Spirit Play-ing. How is Unitarian Universalism relevant to where I shop or how I pack my school lunches? How can my faith help me navigate my teen’s – or my own – social media use? What lessons from Tapestry of Faith follow me into the boardroom or behind the cash register at work? How might I speak to my cousins at the upcoming family wedding if I imagined they were part of my covenant group? Professional religious educators and ministers occupy an exciting role akin to midwifery, easing our people into self-realization as people of faith, not just members of congregations. What follows are some concrete examples of what a Full Week Faith might look like in the week of a real congregation.
SUNDAY
Multigenerational worship on the theme of “Being Home/Belonging.” The responsive reading this morning has a simple response – “I belong here. You belong here. We all belong together.” This is a theme that will be revisited throughout the month.
There is a video meditation, “Wholetime in America,”[1] created by UU seminarians, available on YouTube, also running on a loop during coffee hour, and shared with the Youth Group in the evening. Before leaving the church on Sunday, the Minister will post a link to the video on the congregational Facebook page, with a brief pastoral message inviting members to reflect on a particular question inspired by the video or the morning worship service for members and friends unable to attend.
After the multigen worship, the DRE leads a one-room schoolhouse activity for children and tweens that reinforces the message of belonging. Before leaving on Sunday, he communicates with the Youth Advisors. Tonight, the Youth Group will be asked to design a Wayside Pulpit message on the theme “We are all loved beyond belief!”
The Chair of the RE committee writes an email that will go out to the Faith Formation listserve with a suggested weekly mealtime Grace that families are invited to practice together this week. He uses a subject line that references “Love Beyond Belief!” from the Wholetime in America video, and includes a link to find it online, for those families who could not be at church this morning.
MONDAY
The Administrator checks the church’s Facebook page for the message the Minister posted after church yesterday. She makes sure to “like” all the responses from congregants.
If there are questions or comments from the Facebook page that might need follow up, she’ll make a note for the Minister, pastoral team, or board president.
The Music Director posts a link on the church Facebook page and website to a favorite recording of one of the pieces she played on Sunday, with a brief reflection about why it inspires the stirrings of her heart, and its connection to the theme of belonging.
The Music Director sends an audio link to the Minister and DRE who will be at the church potluck tomorrow night. It’s a simple to teach hymn that members of all ages can learn pretty quickly and connects to this month’s ministry theme.
TUESDAY
The social justice committee has asked the local library for recommendations and agrees to use the children’s book Who Belongs Here as their recommended source of study and reflection. It connects to the worship theme and also to our UUA’s immigration justice work.
The pastoral care team has followed up appropriately with questions and concerns on the church’s Facebook page and left the Minister a message about what they learned.
The Administrator has posted the Sunday sermon on the church website and updated the service times on Yelp. She’s also checked into Foursquare. She’s aiming for Mayor of the church this week.
WEDNESDAY
The Minister and DRE attend the weekly Family & Friends Pizza & Potluck faith formation event from 5:30 – 7:30. The church buys pizza, and families bring what/if they can. All ages together say grace, using the words some of them practiced yesterday at home. After dinner, youth and young adult tutors help younger children with homework. The Minister shares a story on the monthly theme from Tapestry of Faith with the preschoolers.
After dinner, the DRE leads a conversation with adults, sharing a reading or poem inviting people to reflect on the first time they felt they truly belonged to this faith community. What changed for them at that moment? How might they invite newcomers to experience that same sense of belonging? How can we share the blessings of belonging in the world?
The Parenting on Purpose group, which pairs young parents with grandparents, takes some time over dinner to talk about the pitfalls and the privileges of raising UU children, as UU parents. Tonight’s conversation includes cutting sandwiches into chalice shapes and sending your kid to the bus stop with one of the seven principles instead of “Have a nice day!”
THURSDAY
The Minister writes a brief blog post (2-3 paragraphs) for the church website (and provides a link to it on the church’s Facebook page) describing an interaction at last night’s potluck. It ends with a reflection question or an idea for sharing Spirit’s love at work, school, or home.
The Music Director has a short day at the office today, because it’s Third Thursday, when a small but dedicated group of young adults meets for appetizers after work for fellowship and some deep conversation to go with the deep fried mozzarella sticks. The professional staff rotate their visits. Tonight, they are talking about Music and Meaning, and whether they can in good conscience go to the concert of an artist who has been accused of domestic violence.
The DRE sends out a church wide email with a reminder that this coming Sunday, worship will include the Blessing of the Backpacks. Children, youth, and adult members who are school teachers are encouraged to bring their school backpacks to church. The Minister and DRE will share a blessing and the community will lay on hands to embody the congregation’s commitment to support each other in learning together (third and fourth principles), and to being there for each other when we need help with homework – or with anything else.
FRIDAY
In addition to all the usual Friday worship prep, the Administrator double checks the church website and Facebook pages for the correct sermon title. He also posts the hymns for those who like to look at their home hymnals before church.
This is a big football town. Every Friday night in the fall, the Minister, DRE, and Music Director bring their hot chocolate thermos and sit in the stands rooting for, well, everybody. Sometimes parents of the players sit with them. Other nights, members of the youth group stop by the bleachers and visit during a break in the action.
SATURDAY
The Helper Elves – which includes a college student, two parents, and one of their preschool daughters – come to the church to put together the art and snack supplies for Sunday School teachers. They do this on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month, the weekends when formal RE classes are held. They love being able to serve the RE program in some way and are grateful it is not through teaching – something none of the adults feel called to or particularly comfortable doing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is merely an example of what a Full Week Faith framework might look like. It is intended to be descriptive and not prescriptive. It is meant to give examples of faith formation activities that can happen outside of classrooms. There is attention to the four legs of faith formation – curriculum, community, covenant and context – and that there is a role for both lay and professional leadership.
The Appendix of this paper contains several examples of Full Week Faith style activities that can be brought back to your congregation and implemented with very little disruption into existing programs. Along with a description of each activity is the faith formation goal that is being served; the role of the religious professional in implementing the activity; suggestions for parents to take the activity home; and ways the congregation might choose to take it further. They are examples of the kinds of resources, which might one day be curated and shared much more broadly across the denomination.
make glorious mistakes
The essence of the Full Week Faith experilearn is to identify good, reasonable, and faithful experiments in changing the “way we’ve always done things,” with a commitment to learning from them, whatever the outcome. In that spirit, and in the spirit of our radical ancestor Sophia Lyon Fahs, participating congregations will be reminded of this good advice from the author Neil Gaiman:
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something. So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”[1]
Amen.
May our ministries be abundantly blessed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]. theradicalspirit “Wholetime in America” (video), Feb 14, 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIhZocknKuM
[1]. Neil Gaiman, “My New Year Wish,” Neil Gaiman's Journal (blog), December 31, 2011, http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/12/my-new-year-wish.html.