RE News from CLF:
UU summer programs for families, children, and youth

When you're an isolated religious liberal, sometimes you can feel -- well, isolated! This feeling can strike kids as well as adults. Fortunately, there are some great ways to connect with other UUs. There are summer programs for kids available in the United States, programs for kids of all ages where they can be with lots of other Unitarian Universalist kids. There are lots of family camps and conferences. We also found some activities in Canada and Europe. But let's start with the biggest event of them all --

General Assembly
Boston, June 26-30, 2003
Information at http://www.uua.org/ga/index.html

Worth coming to even if you're overseas! General Assembly is an annual gathering of Unitarian Universalists, attracting thousands of UUs mostly from the United States, but also from Canada and around the world. Held in Quebec City last year, it will be in Boston. Massachusetts, this year. While the primary purpose of General Assembly is to transact the business of the Unitarian Universalist Association, in recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on programming.

Adult CLFers will find much to interest them. You can start with the annual CLF worship service (your annual chance to hear our minister, Jane Rzepka, in person) -- and the annual CLF business meeting, where CLF officers and board members are elected, other business is transacted, and where every CLF member in good standing may vote. then there are the many workshops, lectures, and worship services galore, including worship led by pagan, Christian, and Jewish UUs.

And you can bring your children. General Assembly now boasts substantial children's programming: day time child care on-site for children up to age 5; an on-site day camp for children ages 6-10 which offers daily field trips; and "Youth Caucus," which combines business and fun for high school youth aged 14-20. In addition, the "Young Fun" program for ages 8-14, will be held at a nearby site; it will be similar to an overnight camp where participants stay with their UU staff and enjoy field trips, educational experiences, recreation and participation in some GA activities. Registration for day care, on-site day camp, and "Young Fun" opens March 1, 2003.

Note that while accommodations in Boston tend to be expensive, many local UUs are offering bread-and-breakfast in their homes for a very reasonable cost.

Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) General Meeting
As of last June, the Canadian Unitarian Council split from the Unitarian Universalist Association, and now the Canadian equivalent of general Assembly is the CUC Annual General Meeting. It will be held this year in Winnipeg, Manitoba, from May 16-19, 2003. Information on programming was not available by our deadline -- visit the CUC Web site.

European Unitarian Universalists (EUU)

English-speaking UUs in continental Europe (many of them originally from North America) hold intergenerational gatherings about twice a year. The spring retreat had not been announced by our deadline, but you can visit the European Unitarian Universalist Web site for updates.

Camps for children and youth
The following UU camps and conference centers have camps lasting from one to three weeks, specifically for kids in age groups as listed: elementary (grade 6 and under), junior high (typically grades 7 to 9) senior high (typically grades 9 to 12), and/or young adults (over age 18, age ranges vary). These camps and conference centers all belong to the Council of Unitarian Universalist Camps and Conferences (CU2C2). Nearly all CU2C2 camps and conference centers also have family or intergenerational camps (see below).

deBenneville Pines, elementary, junior high, and senior high camps, Angelus Oaks, California
Ferry Beach, elementary, junior high, senior high, Saco, Maine
The Mountain, elementary, junior high, senior high, Highlands, North Carolina
Rowe Conference Center, elementary, junior high, senior high, young adult, Rowe, Massachusetts
Sophia Fahs RE Camp, grades 3-12, shelter Island, New York
Star Island, high school, and young adult, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire (Star Island has attracted British UUs in the past)
UniCamp,elementary, junior high, senior high, 120km north of Toronto, Canada
Unirondack, families, elementary, junior high, senior high, young adult, Adirondack Park, New York

As with any summer camp, you should talk with the sponsoring organization and determine if their programs will be a good match for the needs of your children.

Family conferences

I know I go to a UU family conference every summer, and really enjoy it. While it may seem like an expensive thing to do, there is a wide range of costs for these conferences. (I find that the UU conference I attend costs less than many summer vacations I have taken; and if you look carefully you can find less expensive options at some UU camps and conference centers that can make a visit very reasonable.) We don't have space for a full listing, but you can find listings for a wide range of UU family camps and family conferences at the Web site of the Council of Unitarian Universalist Camps and Conferences (CU2C2).

I typically attend one or more intergenerational or family conferences each summer. If you do wind up at a UU summer conference this year, perhaps I will see you there!
Dan Harper
Interim Director of Religious Education

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For parents:

A column from the Quest archives
"REsources for Living" by Joan Goodwin

A CLFer newly settled in New Zealand recently wrote to remind me that October is not autumn "down under," but spring. A springtime Thanksgiving is bad enough, she said, but what will I do about Easter in the autumn?

Robbed of the religious liberals' classic fall-back position of celebrating burgeoning life in nature rather than the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we might all have to dig a little deeper into the theology and the personal meaning of this most problematic of religious holidays.

As adults, most of us have come to terms with Easter, ignoring or reinterpreting its various aspects according to our personal preferences. As parents, though, we come smack up against the Christian belief system, like it or not. Our children see to that as soon as they are of an age to be out and about in the neighborhood, conversing with playmates.
What are we to say to children still young enough to think in concrete, literal terms, yet old enough to realize the horror of crucifixion or the puzzlement of resurrection?

Did these things really, really happen? Why? Who was Jesus, anyway? What is it all about, and does it affect us? Even when we adults are full of confusion and uncertainty about such questions, we owe it to our children to share our thinking and feeling in ways they can understand. Faced with a young peer certain that he or she has "the answer," our girls and boys feel inadequate unless they have equal certainty, and they expect parents to provide that certainty! Feelings as well as facts must be considered with sensitivity.

First, we can share the Bible stories with our children. If they have heard the Bible stories about Easter, our children are at least on an equal footing with their friends from traditional Christian families. However, as religious liberals, we can also tell our children that the Bible was written a long-long time ago about things that may have happened and even longer time ago, and that there was nothing like TV news in Bible times. Stories were told, retold, and changed many times before they got into the Bible.

Well, then, is it just a story, or did it really happen? We have to answer that based on what we know about history and about life. We know that such a person as Jesus existed, and we know that there was a Pontius Pilate who ordered criminals put to death. Even today, some criminals are still put to death in parts of the world, including the United States. Our own experience bears out this part of the Easter story.

What did Jesus do that was so bad? He spoke up for his own beliefs, even when they were different from what the religious and political leaders wanted people to believe. the leaders, whose business it was to keep order, were afraid that he would cause trouble. Sadly, our own experience in today's world makes this part of the Easter story seem believable and even familiar.

But what about Easter morning, the part about the stone being rolled away and the angel saying Jesus was risen? In our experience, people do not come back to life after they have died. This is where myth and symbolism enter the picture. There are many stories of gods and heroes who are supposed to have risen from the dead. And we do know that in nature life and death form a continuous cycle. The idea that life goes on in spite of death is an ancient and important one.

We also know that when a person dies, the memories of that person live on with the people who loved that person. If a person has been very important to many people, the story of that person's life may be handed down and written into books so that, in a sense, the person never dies.

Jesus must have been a person like that. what he said and did, and what he believed were very important to many people. He was so special that people couldn't believe he was really dead. They kept thinking about him and telling his story -- and perhaps adding details here and there to make it an even better story, more fitting for such a special person.

What did Jesus say that was so important? Jesus believed in love and in respecting people and being kind to them no matter whether they were men or women, young or old, rich or poor, Jewish or Gentile, no matter what the color of their skin. He believed in peace and justice for everyone in the world.

But "So-and-so" said that Jesus is God! Unitarian Universalists believe that Jesus was as human as everyone else. He seemed God-like in many ways, and we believe that it is possible for each of us to be fair and kind and loving as Jesus was. UUs also believe that it's important to stand up for what we believe, just as Jesus did. That's not always easy, but we can try.

Happy Easter, wherever you are!

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The CLF Loan Library
Great books available to CLF members with North American mailing addresses through our Loan Library program.

Jesus, the Carpenter's Son
A classic account of the life of Jesus, retold by Sophia Fahs. Although some of the scholarship Ms. Fahs used when writing the book is now outdated, the book as a whole holds up remarkably well. Fahs saw Jesus as a social reformer as well as a religious genius. Her retelling of the trial and execution of Jesus, as well as the aftermath, remains one of the best summaries of these events for UU children. Fluent readers aged ten and up can read this book themselves; parents can read this book with younger children.
Out of print, available through the CLF Loan Library.

The Kid's Guide to Service Projects
By the author of The Kid's Guide to Social Action, this is a book of more than 500 ideas for service projects that can be carried out by kids. Many of the projects could be carried out by younger children, but the book is probably best for children and youth aged 10 and older.
New in the Loan Library!
In print, available from most online booksellers, or through the CLF Loan Library.

What If Nobody Forgave, 2nd edition
Colleen McDonald has revised her popular book of "stories of principle," adding many new stories, and grouping the stories by which UU principle they help explain. The stories and accompanying activities are perfect for home religious education.
New in the Loan Library!
In print and available online from the UUA bookstore, or through the CLF Loan Library.

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Resources for religious liberal families
Here are some resources to supplement your home religious education efforts. Some of these resources have been recommended by CLF members.
What books, music, and videos are you using in your home religious education? Let us know so we can share them with other CLF members! (We won't print your name unless you give us explicit written permission to do so.)

Books
Five Novels
by Daniel Pinkwater
You may know Daniel Pinkwater as a radio commentator, but before he became known in the world of radio, he was writing books for children and teens. This book (recommended to me by Logan, who is in her teens) collects five of Pinkwater's best books: Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars; The Slaves of Speigel; The Last Guru; The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death; and Young Adult Novel. Pinkwater's teenaged protagonists are smart, funny, and self-reliant, but often they find themselves in a world that is absurd or difficult to understand. It wouldn't be too far from the truth to say that Pinkwater is writing existentialist young adult novels. Sometimes religion emerges as a dominant theme, as in The Last Guru, which tells the story of a teenager who becomes the world's greatest (and last) guru.
Highly recommended for some middle readers, young adult readers, and adults.
In print, available through online booksellers, widely available in libraries and bookstores.

Four Fantastic Novels
by Daniel Pinkwater
Four more books by Pinkwater. Borgel is perhaps the best of Pinkwater's existentialism. Yobgorgle is great for middle readers. The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror is perfect for fans of the Snarkout Boys, and pokes gentle fun at Beat poetry. How can you go wrong?

Movie
"The Apostle"
Written by, directed by, and starring Robert Duvall.
Duvall plays a Pentecostal preacher who has been called to preach the word of God. But his life unravels after he discovers that his wife is having an affair with another preacher. He assaults her lover, injuring him seriously, and then flees to another state. But Duvall's character still feels called to preach. Under an alias, he starts another congregation, where he touches the lives of poor and destitute rural people. The climactic scene, lasting nearly twenty minutes on screen, centers around a riveting Pentecostal worship service, and the ending calls into question easy divisions between good and evil.

PG13. Available on DVD and video through online booksellers, often available in video rental stores.

Suggested discussion questions for use by families with teens, or for adults watching the movie together:
1. Duvall's character is neither wholly good nor wholly evil, but do you think he brings more good or evil into the world through his actions?
2. At the very end of the movie, we see that Duvall's character continues to feel the impulse to preach his religion to those around him. Based on the movie, do you feel his preaching is self-serving, or is it more on the side of altruism?
3. How do you see the role of women in the movie? Is the preacher's wife truly in control of her destiny?
4. Some people interpret this movie as a commentary on institutionalized religion (at least in part), arguing that institutionalized religion causes harm at the same time it brings goodness into the world. Using the movie as a starting point, discuss your feelings about institutional religion in terms of the harm and good that it can cause.

Family worship service
This idea for a family gathering time, from a 1982 CLF Family Packet, is a great idea for those families who never seem to get around to having a family worship service together. -- Dan Harper

Family circle time
from the Corbitt family, Mercer, Pennsylvania, USA

A year or so ago, we became concerned about the quality of our family dinner conversation. Too often it disintegrated into bickering, or into interrogation, quarrelling, and pouting. I came across the article called "Clarifying Values at the Family table" by Sidney Simon in the course of some research on self-concept for a college course I was taking. I saw it as a way to give us a new point of view for dinner conversation, and we gave it a try. Basically, it works like this:

1. Each evening one member of the family takes a turn proposing a topic of question for discussion. We rotate the choosing role around the table on a nightly basis. This may be a topic the person thinks up, or we sometimes get topics from other sources [try The Kids Book of Questions, available in many public libraries -- Dan].

2. After a few moments to think about it, we go round the table and each person gets a chance to respond. It is permitted to pass but we encourage everyone to participate. The rule is that the person speaking may do so without interruption. All comments or questions are held until all have had a chance to respond. This rule ensures that all will have a chance to speak and that we will not be sidetracked by an interesting conversation, cheating someone out of his or her turn to speak.

3. When everyone has spoken (or passed), the conversation is open to other comments or question. Sometimes this leads to extended conversation, sometimes not.

We have a pretty good time with our family circle discussion. It has lent great variety to our dinner conversations and helped us to get to know each other better. We even do it when we have dinner guests, and it has helped our guests to feel at home, too, I think.

We encourage other families to try this in their homes. It would be fun to share some of the really good discussion topics other families have used.

If you come up with some great discussion questions, send your ideas to me via email at dharper@uua.org, and I'll share them with other CLFers.

Meditations, prayers, etc.

Table grace

A circle of friends is a blessed thing;
Sweet is the breaking of bread with friends;
For the honor of their presence at our table
We are deeply grateful.
--from a CLF "Family Packet," 1983