RE-flections from Carol

Rev. Carol Bodeau, Director of Religious Education dre@westsideuuc.org

Dear new friends, Thank you all so much for the warm welcome I’ve received at WUUC! After only a few weeks working with this community, I feel very supported and encouraged by all of you. You have a wonderful RE Committee guiding the chil-dren’s programs at Westside, and I hope you’ll take a moment to thank them for stewarding things through the recent transition in RE.

As we approach the 2014-2015 church year, I thought you might like to know a little bit about how I under-stand children‘s programs in UU communities. First, the most important thing to know is that I think of everything we all do together as “religious education.” And I believe that every person--no matter what age--is a ‘student’ of our shared learn-ing experience. RE doesn’t just happen for kids in the classrooms or playground while the adults are in the sanctuary; RE happens any time two or more people interact in the context of our community. We are con-stantly teaching each other--through how we speak to one another, through how we cele-brate and gather, through how we do work together--what we value, what it means to be ‘religious‘ or spiritual, what it means to be part of a community. Every time we are together, we are all teaching and learning in big and small ways.

Because I believe this, I also believe that we all matter incredibly to the health and well-being of the whole community. Every one of you, whether you ever walk into a classroom to ‘teach,’ is an educator, and your gifts and talents are a treasure. And whether you ever take a class (adult or child), your interests and hopes for learning and growing matter too. The thing I am most excited about for the coming year is learning about each of you personally. I’m looking forward to hearing about the gifts you share, the talents you offer to the world, and also about the things you’d like to receive, the places you want to explore and expand and grow. As a community of many ages, we are all learning, teaching and growing together. Thanks so much for inviting me to share the journey with you all!

Blessings,

Rev. Carol