Detailed Minutes

Rev. Adam Robersmith - Reading and reflections on discernment.

Chalice Lighting

Linda (Religious Services) - Religious Services is considering new words of welcome for the Sunday Service. Anyone interested in helping craft new words should contact a member of Religious Services.

Alyssa (Chair, LFD) - Provided background on past integration of children into the Sunday Service. DRE Jenny O'Grady and Rev. Lynn Ungar started using a Story for all Ages during the Sunday Service each week as a way to encourage children's worship in the Sanctuary on Sundays. The Story for all Ages was discontinued in the summer of 2008. During the most recent Lifespan Faith Development (LFD) Parents meeting this winter, several parents asked to re-instate the Story for all Ages in the Sunday morning service. LFD did not want to make any changes quickly, so they waited until we could have a broader discussion on this topic before making any changes.

Carey (Caretaker, Spirit Play Classroom) - Read LFD Council position for integrating children in the Sunday Service. Some specific reasons supporting this position included: allowing children to learn about Sunday worship, meeting different people in the 2U community, strengthen families through shared worship, allowing adults who don't interact with a multi-age community to have interaction with children and youth, support our commitment to a diverse community.

Gabrielle Parra (Program Director) - Provided additional background on how important having children in the Sunday Service is. Specific reasons include giving children a chance to learn how to worship, provide a familiar structure at the start of each Intergenerational Service, allow children and youth to learn how to worship which then makes it more likely that they will continue to attend UU services as adults.

Adam - Emphasized that as a church community, we can choose to continue as we have, with children starting out with their religious education teachers, or we can change our Sunday Service / religious education structure to have children upstairs at the beginning of the Sunday Service. Noted that his preference is to have children in the Sunday Service. Also pointed out that we are providing a process and forum for community decision making. The topic on the table today is children's involvement in the Sunday Service, but we plan to use this same process for other topics of interest to the community in the future. Pointed out that we have written response forms available for people who prefer to communicate their thoughts, ideas, and concerns in that way. Another option is to contact Gabrielle or Adam during the week.

Rosalind - Non-parent, enjoy hearing the Story for all Ages and also enjoys having the children in the Sanctuary.

Dana - Parent, noted that Story for all Ages allows children to learn about separation and individualization in the church community. Also, stories are good for everyone in the sermon.

Ian - Parent, Would like to have the opportunity to teach two small children to sit quietly and respectfully and allow for spirituality.

John - Parent, Noted it is difficult to have a place that enforces teaching small children to sit quietly and respectfully. Also suggested that response to safety concern is that parents can escort their children to the classroom and re-join the congregation if they want. Sees only benefits in having children in the Sunday Service.

Gary (Religious Services chair) - Parent of older children, Left 2U when daughter was in 4th grade due to concerns about 2U program (wanted more children in the program). Attended Evanston Unitarian church (12 - 14 children in daughter's age group). Was able to participate in Evanston programs such as Coming of Age trip to Boston. However, daughter (now adult) is not going to church on a regular basis. She does identify as Unitarian but is not a member of a congregation. Possibly part of the problem may be that Evanston does not do a Story for all Ages, so daughter did not get used to sitting in service. Also, this is not our church. We are borrowing it for this time, and will pass it on to another generation. Therefore, it is important that we consider how to support the spiritual life of all generations. Concern that we have so few children participating in our Sunday program in general, and not coming up for the Story for all Ages in particular. Concern about how the Story for all Ages will be done. Specifically, want to make sure that appropriate stories are selected that reach all generations.

Laura - Believe that the best services do have a meaningful Story for all Ages integrated into them. Also noted that we will need to consider having two services in the future due to growth of attendance on Sunday morning. Suggested that we consider how to handle Story for all Ages smoothly with two services as well.

Neal - Echoed Gary's concern that children participate in church and Story for all Ages in particular. Want to ensure that children are comfortable coming forward and participating in the Sunday Service.

Jeff - Parent, Noted that Story for all Ages was one of the draws to 2U when they joined. They were not parents at that time. Volunteered to help with the safety issue if necessary.

August - Talked about how enriching it was growing up in a UU church. Noted that he had not attended church regularly for several years as a young adult, and now is very engaged. As for safety, noted having the children engaged in the Service on Sunday morning helps make the community more secure and stronger because it gives them a chance to note who is whose parents and get to know other adults in the church on an informal basis.

Gabrielle - Noted that if we agree to go forward with the Story for all Ages, that LFD Council, 2U Staff, and Religious Services will work together on the safety issue.

Don - Also grew up in a UU church. Emphasized that we should bring back the Story for all Ages.

Tristan - Speaking against having a Story for all Ages every week. Concerned that there are others who are also against having a Story for all Ages every week who are not speaking up. Noted that with an Intergenerational Service and Story for all Ages every week, about half of the time in the Sunday Service would be done in an Intergenerational environment. Suggested having a Story for all Ages once a month or every other month. Concerned about the commitment required to volunteer in Religious Education. Suggested having teachers volunteer once a month. That would allow adults in the congregation to learn more about the children's program. Concerned about space for all congregation participants, especially in the fall. Like to make sure have ways for feedback where people feel safe to disagree. Don't want to come off as "anti-children" even when have real concerns.

Gary - Thanked Tristan for her comments.

Linda - Non-parent. Like to have children participate in Sunday Service. Recommend that Story for all Ages come from a variety of faiths and theological backgrounds.

Gregory - Parent. Feedback from son is that Story for all Ages is not a critical part of the service. Happy to have the Story for all Ages on a regular basis. Concerned about the Story for all Ages taking up too much time in the Sunday Service. Indicated that the Story for all Ages adds time (15 minutes?) to every service. This becomes more problematic when we go to two services.

August - When we had two services, most of the children came to the first service. It would be possible to have the Story for all Ages in the first service and not the second.

Lizzie - Parent. Expressed ambivalence - really enjoys sharing hymn singing with daughter, but also very aware that she's in a mother role during that time - feels able to focus more once daughter heads to Religious Education.

Alyssa - Noted that lack of Story for all Ages was a reason not to teach Sunday School. The initial time of upstairs time allowed teachers a feeling of being in community. When that was not available, she no longer taught.

Atena - Emphasized importance of pre-service / early service time for teachers, adults, and parents. Having joint time for an intergenerational community is important for the community. Asked everyone in the community to consider how the decision impacts the community, not just how it impacts you personally.

Carey - Indicated that it is possible to have an intergenerational Sunday Service experience that reaches all - intellectually and emotionally. If the quality of the service degrades then the Story for all Ages isn't being done correctly.

Libby - Parent. Agreed with Carey Farrell that having the Story for all Ages does not have to degrade the quality of the service. Noted that she likes having a joint time together to start, then adults continue with their service and the children explore the topic in their Religious Education classes, and this gives families ideas to talk together about after the service.

Neal - Touched on two services ideas - hopeful that we will continue with one service as long as possible. If we go to two services, would like to do it in such a way that we don't have a "kids" service and "adult" service.

Gary - Noted that Adam brought up the term "worship." We (as adults) may come for intellectual stimulation, but worship also involves giving. When we come to Sunday Service, we are giving of ourselves as well as being stimulated. We should honor that aspect of being in community together.

Ian - We have split into a children's worship community and adult worship community in the past when we had two services, and that leads to having two communities again.

Adam - Noted that we have not started discussing having two services at this time. We will have one service for the 2010 - 2011 church year (with potentially additional seats). Concerns that this will make our services longer - Rev. Robersmith's expectation is that the story will not make the service any longer. Instead, we will make sure all the service elements fits into the allotted time. Initial Intergenerational time (first 15 minutes or so) will not be Romper Room time. Instead, it will include ritual and repetition that children can learn. Spirit of Life, Words of Welcome are critical elements.

Noted that we could have the Intergenerational time without having the Story for all Ages. Volunteered that he has experience story-telling. He enjoys telling stories in an intergenerational community because that encourages all the different questions that take place in a diverse group. Also noted that when adults come up later indicating that they enjoyed a particular sermon, they typically remember the elements of the story that spoke to them instead of the particular elements of the sermon.

Mark - Concern that we're discussing doing things "that way" or "this way". Encourage us to try out different options.

Dave - Like hearing the discussion (pro-intergenerational at the start of the service). Looking forward to similar discussion going forward.

Sue - Concerned about children, parents, teachers, families understanding what the routine is. If we do it differently once a month, then it will be confusing.

Mary - Echoed concern about doing things consistently every week. Noted that when there is a routine the children are able to focus and get deeper into the lesson. Indicated that children start wiggling but quickly learn appropriate behavior. As a teacher, like ability to participate in the full community for part of the time. This reinforces and strengthens our community. This is a time when we need that more than ever.

Sally - Parent. Relate Story for all Ages to the Coming of Age service (written by the youth). Having children participate in intergenerational worship gives them better understanding of how to do worship, and they are able to articulate their faith clearly.

John - Noted that Spirit Play transition was daunting at first, but now he appreciates the structure.

Gabrielle - Indicated that Story for all Ages gives her role (Director of Lifespan Faith Development) a chance to be seen and known in the community. This actually makes teacher / volunteer recruitment much easier.

Kat - Reflected on concern that the service is "dumbed down" if children are in the service. However, her experience as a child in worship experience has positively impacted her life and her involvement in worship as an adult.

John - Thanked everyone who is committing their time to discuss how to be a community that is welcoming and spiritually engaging for all people who walk in the door. Noted that we've come up with different options - do Story for all Ages every week? Do Intergenerational worship

Ian - Recognized that even though children are the center of his life currently, that is not true for all people. He would like to make sure that we welcome all people, including those whose lives do not revolve around children.

Tom - Reflected that the majority of opinions expressed were positive towards having an Intergenerational worship at the start of each Sunday, although there were strong concerns noted as well. Suggested that we go ahead with Story for all Ages for a trial period, and have a planned time to reflect on how its gone and move forward with appropriate modifications.

Gabrielle - Noted that LFD Council has suggested that we go forward with the trial and have the reflection period coincide with the Annual Meeting (i.e. continue to do Intergenerational worship at the start of each Sunday Service for the 2010 - 2011 church year).

Adelaide - Supports having Story for all Ages every Sunday (as opposed to just having Intergenerational worship at the start of each Sunday Service). Believes children find this engaging and therefore they will find the church service experience fun.

Closing - Adam - Thanked all for speaking out with all the diversity of opinion that was expressed. Noted that this is deeply important so the church leadership can make informed decisions. The process was civil, encouraging, and made room for many different thoughts, concerns, and ideas.

Asked again that people send email / phone call if have additional ideas on how to make this run exceptionally well.