I recently crunched the numbers of our average participation at FUUSN on Sunday mornings of children and youth in our RE programs and was amazed to see our average participation for Sundays with RE classes as around 80 children and youth! We are an engaged congregation. Maybe this shouldn’t have surprised me, with the commitment you all have made to our morning programs, Our Whole Lives sexuality education happening in 1st, 5th, and 7th/8th grades right now, Coming of Age, Coffee House, Youth Teachers, and more. There is a lot to celebrate.

The Religious Education Staff – Beth Walton, Dani Patrick, and I – have also been amazed with our volunteers. Our RE teachers have been talking with each other regularly about how to make their classes work smoothly and successfully; teachers are gathering for monthly teacher meetings to build relationships and skills; Coming of Age Coordinators and mentors spent the night at FUUSN for a retreat; our Coffee House volunteers are supporting the leadership of our youth in planning this annual event; and we have two Youth Advisors joining Dani in taking five youth to a Youth Ministry Fundamentals training in Albany over President’s Day Weekend.

We’re always looking for more hands to make our programs run. Please let us know if you’d be interested or able to share any of your interests and passions with our youngest congregants, particularly in the worship arts (music, dance/movement, reading/writing poetry and/or prayer, meditation/mindfulness), though all interests are welcome! We’re also looking for support around working with children with disabilities. Please let us know if you’d like to get involved by emailing rowan@fusn.org!                                                In faith, Rowan