Worship For All Ages: Playing Together   with Rev. Kellie and Somaya Bernard, Director of Religious Education

https://uuma.zoom.us/j/95381147453?pwd=Wng5YXFTUnJ0NU44aHhySUxCQjBrUT09

Meeting ID: 953 8114 7453 Passcode: 869000

If joining us via phone:

Dial 1 312 626 6799 or 1 646 876 9923 and enter Meeting ID: 953 8114 7453 and Passcode: 869000 at prompts.

If joining us via Zoom (online or phone):

This service will be recorded and/or live-streamed to Facebook this Sunday. If you do not want to be included in the recording, please turn off your camera, mute your microphone, and change your name to “MVUUF” (these are all Zoom options once you join the meeting).

If joining us in-person:

1. Currently, our area has reached the “LOW” level of COVID-19 virus transmission.
2. Remember that everyone has different levels of comfort returning to large in-person gatherings. Please ask before initiating physical contact.
3. Our nursery is open from 10:30AM – 12:30PM for all children who are in preschool and younger. Children who are in Kindergarten through 5th grade begin in the sanctuary and go to class after the Story For All Ages. Families should pick up their children in Classroom #1 at 12:15PM.

Dear Ones,

In 2020, our Director of Religious Education, Somaya Bernard, and I made the decision to stop celebrating the American Thanksgiving holiday in our November Worship For All Ages (WFA) multigenerational service. We made this decision because the holiday narrative that the majority of Americans learn is at the very least only a fraction of the true story. For this reason, we started a new tradition with the retelling of a folk tale by our youth (Stone Soup). We hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have!

This year, the majority of our youth are in a 3-hour class for Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexual education program and are unable to offer us the Stone Soup story. However, we’re even more committed to not teaching the American Thanksgiving myth, which is more likely an outright lie, whitewashing the pilgrims celebration of their horrific massacre of their Native American neighbors:

https://www.bustle.com/life/what-to-celebrate-instead-of-thanksgiving-if-youre-uncomfortable-with-the-holidays-history

Our Social Justice Committee writes more on the difficulty of this holiday in our November Forum:

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-Forum—November-2023-Newsletter.html?soid=1101805854881&aid=QapNdICBi6E

I had attempted to receive permission from the Tomaquag Museum to use the Narragansett Cranberry Thanksgiving as an opportunity to honor a true thanksgiving holiday that centered our Indigenous kin. Because our Unitarian ancestors were on the Mayflower, the UUA partnered with the museum at the 2020 General Assembly in Rhode Island, and we worked with them in the fall of that year to share one of their videos during a worship service. Unfortunately, this time, they were inundated with requests this year    because November is now Native American Heritage Month. Once the busyness subsides for them, I will meet with one of their     educational staff  to create a service for 2024.

In the meantime, Somaya and I hope you will bring an open mind and heart to our WFAA service Sunday celebrating National Game & Puzzle Week. The theology of play is a wonderful way to celebrate community and strengthen our connections. Who knows—you might even have some fun!?!

With gratitude and love,

Rev. Kellie & Somaya