RE Update

Youth: OWL is off and running with 16 participants; the current teaching block is fully staffed; a survey is planned to gauge views of the community on what children should be taught, opinions of the current program and suggestions for changes, including possibly offering RE at only one of the two Sunday services.

Adult: planning is underway for spring program offerings, which might include Yoga Dance, ethical eating, transcendental meditation, and poetry as spiritual practice. The Committee is working with the children’s program to develop some offerings for younger folks and exploring the possibility of creating a weekly “post-sermon” discussion group to respond to and discuss the Sunday sermon.

Thoughts from the Director of Religious Ed.

Is more necessarily better? In these times of economic tension and environmental concerns, is the consumerdriven lifestyle a good choice for most children? The next block in the Children’s Religious Education Program is Seeds of Simplicity, a curriculum addressing these questions from the perspective of the growing simplicity movement.

The voluntary simplicity movement is based on the growing number of people who are choosing to want less in life, and enjoy it more. Reducing disproportionate consumption of earth's resources also benefits the many who are in need. More Americans are discovering the joy of working toward a peaceful, just, and sustainable future for all children.

Seeds of Simplicity, a nonprofit program of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy at Cornell University, was the first national group to specialize in simplicity-themed learning materials for children and the families, educators, and others who care about their future. For more information on this program contact: Seeds of Simplicity, P.O. Box 9955, Glendale, CA 91226 Telephone/fax (818) 247-4332.

— Kimberly Wootan
Director of Religious Education