In 2007, the Committee on Ministry was charged with visioning the future for First Unitarian’s religious education program and formed a separate working group, Transforming Our Learning Community (TLC), to talk at length with our congregation. Some of TLC's observations and recommendations included reframing our congregation as a community of learners, transforming and deepening our inter-generational worship, and building a radically inclusive community and grow the beloved community by expanding the welcome table and deepening our commitment to counter oppression, in line with Vision 2012.
To this end, a new group, the Dreaming Team, is recommending the following changes in our learning and worship ministries for Fall 2008 to implement this vision:
3 Distinct Worship Offerings:
- 9:30-10:30 a.m. Service – Continuing what we do well at 9:15 & 11:15
- 10:45-11:15 a.m. Intergenerational Service - With ramped up music & worship arts especially for young children, their grown ups and older adults
- 11:30-12:30 p.m. Family Service - With worship arts, vibrant music, and adult and youth 5th grade and up as worship leaders
Learning Ministry:
- Infants to Grade 4 - Faith Development/Religious Literacy weekly at 9:30 & 11:30 a.m.
- Grade 5 - 12 - Periodic community building & classes- Club UU, Coming of Age, OWL, Storytelling, Music, etc., usually at times other than worship
- Adults - Weekly single and multi-unit classes at 11:30 a.m.
- All Ages - Variety of spiritual developmental programs such as yoga, meditation, tai chi, and potential development of on-going groups
Find out more about what is proposed and give us your input. The Dreaming Team offered a discussion session on May 18 and a second session at the all church retreat on Saturday, May 24. In addition, we hope you will read and respond to the three documents below. We feel these will help you understand our proposals and how we got to them:
- Dreaming Team Background
- TLC (Transforming Our Learning Community) and DT (Dreaming Team) Recommendations
- Narrative Vision for 2013
We welcome your comments! Please send them to tlc@uuoakland.org.
Dreaming Team Members: Rick Hecht (Chair), Giselle Ampuero, Charlotte Dickson, Molly Hermes, Sima Misra, Bev Smrha