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The Spring B
"Why do families separate as soon as they come into the church? Parents go one way, and children the other."
"Why can't we have more family experiences in church?"
"My mother would like to paint this way too. May she come next week?"
"This church is so large! I feel lost in the crowd on Sunday mornings. I smile at people, say a few words over a coffee cup, look at the books in the Book Corner, but how do I get to really know anyone?"
"We sit side by side each Sunday morning, but we never touch one another."
"Why can't we do something? Must we always be cerebral and individual?"
At the Cedar Lane Unitarian Church in Bethesda, Maryland, we had heard these and similar comments reiterated in a variety of ways for se veral months. One morning in the early spring of 1970, our Wednesday Morning Discussion Group was exploring the role the church and its education program play in value formation, when suddenly one member exclaimed,"'Why not? Why not have the worship service and the religious education program open to all, of any age? We know that children learn by becoming involved in experiences and in activities; why not adults too? Why not have courses in decision-making, creative arts, and religious heritage for all ages, in multi- nerational groupings?"
Our senior minister had suggested that, the following spring, we hold one service
and one religious education program on Sunday mornings instead of our usual two. Springtime in Maryland is beautiful, and, the exodus to the mountains, seashore,and woods on spring weekends makes inroads on church attendance. Spring Sundays between Easter and June might be an opportune time to initiate innovation the church's programming.
There were many questions to be answered. Would the church facilities hold all the usual spring attendees at one time? Could we eliminate the usual religious education "classes" and have a variety of groups, each with a different focus, open to all ages? Could we become a community within which we worshipped talked, sang, created played, and worked together?' We thought we could!
The idea took hold, for enthusiasm is contagious. Word was spread from group to group to test reactions, to probe the readiness of the congregation, to encourage acceptance of innovation not just for one group within the church, but for the entire church! Many people were immediately enthusiastic, others cautioned against too much change, too soon.
The ministers' support was crucial. Without their active encouragement and participation, the proposal would have little opportunity to succeed. Initially, they were opposed to the idea.
"The worship service is the central focus of the church experience for all adults in the church," said the senior minister. "Nothing else must conflict or be in competition with it."
"Why the whole church?" queried the assistant minister. "Why not begin small? Offer one or two activities that family groups or adults and youth might engage in together. If that takes hold, then expand later. It won't work for all, for many adults don't want to be with young people, and many kids don't want to be with adults."
Those who had become excited about the proposal considered carefully the possible pitfalls, and the potential for failure. Gradually, as ideas flowed and methods of developing them were explored, expanded, refined, it became imperative to answer the questions of "Why?" and "What for?" in concrete terms. What are the goals of such innovation in the church's programming? What do we hope to achieve?
In bringing our two Sunday morning congregations together at one.time, we will give many members an opportunity to become better acquainted with one another.
Smaller group activities will help to bring about a greater sense of community within this large church.
Becoming involved with others in a participatory activity will foster better communications among church members.
Religious education for all will be provided -- for education doesn't stop at sixth grade, or twelfth, but continues from birth to death, and the church is the one social institution that encompasses that range.
An opportunity will exist for adults to discover what learning and education are, for they will be part of the process.'
The program will meet the needs of many of our members who no longer find the worship service relevant or important to their lives.
The more we talked and shared ideas for possible implementation the more excitement we engendered. People worship in a variety of ways. The church of today and tomorrow can no longer put "new wine in old wineskins." Old patterns are no longer relevant. Fewer persons seek the sanctuary or the stimulation of church attendance on Sunday mornings. Children are bored, and understandably so, by the traditional Sunday School structure. Church membership is dropping, and church attendance is far below that of only a few years ago. At the same time, we have a higher population than at any time in our history. Is the church obsolete? Does it no longer have a place in our secular, technologically oriented society?'
Here at Cedar Lane, we saw the church as a forum, providing the environment within which the existential, theological, social and political questions of our day could be posed, explored, wrestled with, acted upon--or lead to more questions. A new format might aid in bringing this concept to fruition. Changing the form of the entire Sunday morning program of a large suburban church of 900 adults and 500 children and youth is an enormous enterprise. How would we measure succes? How would we evaluate? If we failed, how disastrous would it be to the future of the church?
With these questions in mind, and our goals before us, the Religious Education Committee drew up a specific proposal for the seven Sundays following Easter 1971 the church would hold one worship service, followed by a sermon talkback and a social hour. Any member of the church, of any age, was welcome to attend the service.
Simultaneously with the worship service, twenty-five to thirty groups would be meeting, each with a different focus for small group involvement in the creative arts (dance, drama, music, painting, wood block printing, ceramics); serious discussions; family festivals and celebrations; and outdoor activities. Our youngest children would meet in their own groups. Our primary-age children had the option of joining other family members in a chosen activity or of being with their own age group. Our research had shown that over 800 persons could be accommodated in the church facilities at one time. But, of course, we did not know until the program began how these 800 persons would divide themselves up.
The Board of Trustees formally approved the proposal in July 1970. Prior to this, both ministers had become convinced that the experiment was exciting and were enthusiastic about the proposal. The first general announcement of the forthcoming spring program, called the SPRING B was made in the religious education brochure and in the director of religious education's descriptive letter to the congregation which went out in early September. It was not until January and February, however, that we began promoting and publicizing just what would be happening after Easter.
We called our new program THE SPRING B. The "B" was an opportunity to "be" or to "become" -- an artist, dancer, actor, discussant, hiker, woodworker, worshipper. Provocative descriptions began to appear in the weekly church newsletter. Colorful posters and displays appeared in strategic places around the building. Colorful, huge torn-paper "bees" perched on doors and walls.
WHAT IS THE SPRING B? began to be queried about the church by our members and by those who came into the church for the many community meetings being held there. A special service to describe the innovative program was held in late February. The DRE and the RE Committee Chairperson were invited to appear on the Unitarian Universalist Sunday morning-TV program, SEARCH, to describe the SPRING B.
Congregation members were invited to suggest what they wanted to learn or what they wanted to teach and, after two questionnaires, one general meeting, hundreds of telephone calls, searches for teachers and sufficient room, on April 18 the program was born. Registration for some groups was so high that it was necessary to ask as many as two-thirds of those registering to accept their second or third course choices. In all, 550 adults, youths, and children registered for classes, seminars, or activity groups. Most groups were multigenerational, with ages suggested, but no limits set.
Leadership recruitment proved to be less difficult than anticipated. The Washington metropolitan area is rich in resources, and our large membership includes many talented and able people who were intrigued and interested in sharing their skills with others. Artists volunteered to teach painting, block printing, ceramics, batik and sculpture; talented members of a semiprofessional theater group taught creative dramatics; a junior high school teacher led the filmmaking group; a core of concerned parents and teachers explored innovations in public school education, inviting principals and officials from the Montgomery County School Department to talk with them. Out of this has grown a community movement to improve the public schools. The environment and ecology seminar had local leaders of ZPG, pollution control, and ecology movements meeting with them. The festivals and celebrations group of families created an "Earth Day birthday party." The outdoors clearing and planting group cleared out the creek and built a "junk sculpture" emphasizing the need for pollution control. The "Outward Bound" group worshipped together on hikes and walking excursions in the Maryland/Virginia mountains, woods and fields. Parents explored the meaning of sexuality and sexual behavior. "A New Look at the Old Book" intrigued over thirty adults and . youth as a State Department executive challenged their conceptions and misconceptions of the Bible. The recorder group split in half, as the "beginners" retreated to a large storeroom to tootle away on easy pieces, allowing the more advanced group to meet the challenge of two accomplished flutists---an advertising executive and a lovely twelve-year-old.
hat happened? Was the SPPING B a true "be-in"? Yes! The shared experiences in small groups met the needs of those who found it difficult to relate to the large attendance at a worship service. Friendships were formed among those who had been church members for many years, but who had not previously had the opportunity of knowing each other. Communication flowed freely from person to person and from group to group, as the artificial barrier of "bigness" was broken down. Those who attended the worship service with sermon also felt a greater sense of community for all who were there had chosen it from among many options. The multigenerational makeup of the groups proved to be an enriching and enjoyable experience.
"I liked our family togetherness."
"We had a common experience to discuss at dinner."
"So many adults and children happy, busy, talking and working together."
"First time I haven't felt alone here; I found 'a family' -- other people willing and eager to talk about something personally important."
Many who had not been to Sunday services for years came to participate in the small groups.
"My husband wants to come to church." exlaimed a delighted wife. "My sixteen-year-old loves the pottery class."
Where had we missed opportunities? Or what would we do differently another time?
More activities for families with young children were needed, as was more flexibility
to change from group to group each week if desired. We had encouraged participants to
choose one group and stick with it forthe seven weeks, for one of our goals had been to provide a framework within which our large and diverse congregation could come to know one another through sustained participation in a purposeful and enjoyable activity. We had felt that this would not be achieved if the membership of each group changed each week. But for some who wanted to attend the worship service on some Sundays and an activity group on others, it would have been valuable to have had some "single-shot" activities.
"Modifications of the SPRING B have been incorporated into our year-round programming. In the fall and winter months the number of persons attending on Sunday morning requires us to hold two full sessions. Children's groups are cross-graded, with several elective choices possible for kindergartner's through junior high age. Multi-age courses for youth and adults in the creative. arts, religious heritage, and human sexuality are offered. Courses range from six weeks to two full semesters of 24 weeks, and resource leaders teach from two to 22 weeks depending upon their time and availability. If a
course does not "go" because of insufficient registration, it is dropped and may be
offered again at a later date. If someone has something he wants to teach, or to learn
we find others who want to join with him and provide the facilities with which to do it.
We have had three Spring B's since our initial venture. The format for each has been essentially the same, although specific courses have changed each year. Pottery is still our most popular course, but a demand for courses in "Modern Theologians", "Personal Belief", "Living with Death". and "Changing Patterns in Marriage have surfaced the past year. We believe that the Spring B's have been the major stimulus of our present very active adult education program, of numerous family celebrations, and of our just-launched Extended Families. |
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