Associate Minister's Note:
Shared Ministry
On the weekend of January 20th & 21st First Unitarian Church of Portland, OR, Director of Religious Education for children, Cathy Cartwright, came east to lead our Children & Youth RE Committee retreat. On Friday evening Lead Teachers and RE Committee members broke bread and shared stories together hosted by REC member & OWL Coordinator, Patty Dow.
On Saturday morning 12 brave souls from the REC, Lead Teachers and classroom teachers came together during the first snow storm of 2012 for our first ever mid-year teacher retreat. Cathy led us in several community building exercised suitable for the classroom that, at First Church, they call Creative Combustion. We played, laughed and learned together. We were so inspired by Cathy’s presentation that we continued together as she shared the structure and organization of her very large RE program with us. Again our imaginations ran wild with possible application for RE in Montclair.
The Children & Youth REC worked with Cathy into the afternoon. We feel that we have a rich, vibrant and multifaceted RE program, but with so many changes in the last year and a half -- the move from a Minister of Religious Education to Associate Minister, several long-term RE veterans moving into other areas of congregational life -- we needed to focus our energy on our infrastructure. Cathy took us through the next three hours assessing our mission and structure.
We are here for the children and youth and want to provide the best program we can for them. We also want to make this RE work a gift of the spirit, a calling, a ministry if you will.
As Associate Minister, I want to help you find your calling and ministry in this congregation. A calling is not something one takes lightly. It takes commitment. It is not something one does in isolation but in a community motivated by mission. The REC and I will refine and develop the work we’ve begun. We hope to share our insights, energy and enthusiasm with you in the months leading up to April’s Registration and Recruitment drive. We hope you find your heart singing as you find your place with us.
Judy Tomlinson
Associate Minister
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