Tapestry of Faith: Love Connects Us: A Program on Living in Unitarian Universalist Covenant for Grades 4-5

Taking It Home: The More We Get Together

The central task of the religious community is to unveil the bonds that bind each to all. — Mark Morrison-Reed

IN TODAY'S SESSION... we explored what service means in the context of our congregation. We heard an adaptation of Aesop's fable about the ants and the grasshopper, and how, in the end, the grasshopper who had chosen not to work for the community was able to serve in his own special way. In a "treasure hunt" we identified people in our congregation who serve our community in various capacities. We made woven bookmarks to give to some of these people as "thank you" gifts.

EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Tell your child(ren) about ways you volunteer on behalf of your congregation and why you have chosen the particular tasks you have taken on. What do you get out of volunteering? How does serving your community make you feel? Why does it matter that you do it?

A Family Adventure. Volunteer, as a family, to serve your congregation. Can you make music for a worship service? Serve as greeters for worship? Bring snacks to share for a social hour? Tidy or restock the religious education program's supply closet? Together, choose a task you would feel good about volunteering to do. Seek out the person responsible for that aspect of congregational life and arrange the service opportunity. Afterward, discuss how the experience made you feel. Perhaps you will decide as a family to volunteer again.

A Family Game. The children had a treasure hunt to discover the names of the people who perform various volunteer services for the congregation. As a family, see how many congregational tasks you can think of and for which you can identify who does them. Write them down so you can see how many jobs there are and how well you know the membership of your congregation and the services various people do. You may wish to do this game in competition with another family which has a child in this group.