General Information

Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), 25 Beacon St., Boston MA 02108; phone: 617-742-2100; FAX 617-367- 3237.

UUA Internet Website: http://www.uua.org
The Association's website is the place to go for a wide variety of information, resources, and links to additional UU sites.

UUA Bookstore, on site at the UUA, sells UU and related books, curricula, pamphlets, music, and other resources. The catalog is available on the UUA Web Site or by request. For information, call 617-742-2 100 ext. 101 or 102. To order by phone, call 1-800-215-9076.

Church-on-Loan, A Small Congregation Resource Service of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Library extension program designed especially for primarily lay-led congregations with 20 - 50 members. Includes mailings of regular CLF publications: Quest, Connections, and uu&me! Annual enrollment fees: initial, $290; renewal: $265. Contact: CLF, Church-on-Loan, 2 5 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108; phone: 617-742-2100 ext. 166; email: churchonloan@uua.org

Outreach/Growth/Leadership

The Congregational Handbook: How to Develop and Sustain Your UU Congregation by Lawrence X. Peers. Revised edition, 1995. Covers effective congregational practices including information on public relations and communication, building diversity, budgets, and committee roles and responsibilities, and more. Contact: UUA Bookstore.

A Process Tool to the Congregational Handbook, Third Edition. Angela Merkert. Contact: UUA Department for Congregational, District, and Extension Services.

InterConnections. Bimonthly UUA publication for UU lay leaders with information and resources to assist church board members and other UU congregational leaders in their work to create and build healthier congregations. Available online at UUA Website, or in print to UUA congregations. Contact: UUA Periodicals Department.

Let's Get Together. A Start-up Guide for Small UU Groups. Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), 1995. Pamphlet to help you gather and grow a UU group. Contact: UUA Bookstore.

Publicity Programs for UU Congregations with Limited Resources. UUA Mountain Desert District, November 1996. Contact: Mountain Desert District office (in transit, June 1998 - for updated info, see UUA Web Site or call the UUA Department for Congregational, District, and Extension Services).

UUA Print Ad Packets - The UUA Bookstore carries a variety of ready-to-use print and/or photo ads. Contact: UUA Bookstore.

Religious Education

Cycle of Seasons: A Survey of Holidays and Holy Days Around the World by Betsy Williams. Church of the Larger Fellowship, 1997. Contact: UUA Bookstore.

REACH Packet: A collection of program and worship aids for those working with children, youth and adults. Produced two times per year by the UUA Religious Education Department. Available by subscription ($20 annually). Contact: REACH Managing Editor, UUA, 25 Beacon St., Boston MA 02108. Phone: 617-742-2100 100. (If your group is listed in the UUA Directory, this service is free.)

Religious Education at Home: A Handbook for Parents by Betsy Williams. Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), 1994. Practical tips on nurturing children's spiritual development and teaching UUism. Outlines the history of UU ideas and symbols, how to discuss difficult religious questions, and more. Contact: UUA Bookstore.

Starting from Scratch: How to Begin Your Own R.E. Program for Children and Youth by Ann Fields et al. 64 pp. of how-to ideas for planning, goal setting, community building, and networking to build and strengthen your R.E. program. Contact: UUA Bookstore.

uu&me! A UU Magazine for Kids, ages 7-12. $15 per year (4 issues). Produced by the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF). Editor, Betsy Williams, CLF Director of Religious Education. Features stories and activities to help kids think about what really matters. To subscribe, contact: CLF Fulfillment Center, 8080 Pierpont Rd., Bloomfield, NY 14469; phone: 716-229-2018; FAX: 716-229-2018; email: uumesubscribe@uua.org

Inward Springs: A Periodical for Liberal Religious Families, $15 per year (6 issues). UU District of Metro NY, (Inward Springs), 48 Old Colony Rd., Hartsdale, NY 10530.

Worship

Handbook or Religious Services. Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF), 1990. 72-page booklet to help individuals, families and small groups design meaningful worship services and ceremonies. Drawing upon writings of UU's, the handbook includes child dedications, weddings, memorial services, and a variety of readings.

Uni-Uniques: Source for chalices, pulpit cloths and other liturgical items with flaming chalice symbols. Contact: Uni- Uniques, PO Box 101, Webster NY 14580; phone: 716-383-4822; FAX 716-265-9109.

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), 130 Prospect St., Cambridge, MA 02139-1845; phone: 617-868- 6600; FAX: 617-868-7102. Source of pewter chalices for worship use.

Readings

Rejoice Together by Helen Pickett. Handy anthology of prayers, meditations, and other resources for family and small group worship. Contact: UUA Bookstore. UUA Meditation manuals. Meditations and readings. Sample titles: Blessing the Bread, Evening Tide. See UUA Bookstore catalog, or contact: UUA Skinner House Books, 25 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108; phone: 617-742-2100.

See also, Singing the Living Tradition hymnal, below.

Music

Let Your Heart Sing!, Vol. 1., 15 Joyous Songs for Congregational Singing,, Vol. 11. 12 Joyous Songs for Intergenerational Singing. UU singer/songwriter Joyce Poley and guitarist Frank Henning perform life-centered, spirit-filled songs. Audio cassette tapes, lyric booklets, and songbooks. Contact: Uni-Uniques.

Rise Up Singing: The Group Singing Songbook. Words, guitar chords and sources for nearly 1,200 songs - traditional and contemporary folk, popular, broadway. Thematic index: environment, hope, peace, and more! Some overlap with SLT selections. $ 17.95. Contact: UUA Bookstore; or publisher: SingOut!, PO Box 5253, Bethlehem PA 18015-0253, 1-800- 4WESING, which also sells audio teaching tapes of the songs.

Singing the Living Tradition. Unitarian Universalist Association, 1993. UU denominational hymnbook, with a wide selection of hymns, songs, and readings. Thorough, useful indicies. Contact: UUA Bookstore.

Gearing up for Fall - Plan early and often! from COL Growing Times, ed. Holly Loring, Church-on-Loan Coordinator

Prepare your worship calendar.

Gather your program planners (ideally before folks take off for summer vacation destinations). Using a large 4-month calendar, block in the dates of your services so you'll know exactly how many services you'll need to plan for. Then block in the holidays that fall between September 1 and December 31: Labor Day, Columbus Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and any others around which you might want to focus special celebrations.

Brainstorm themes, topics and special issues which interest you and your group - such as forgiveness, hope, dealing with pain, health care, capital punishment, etc. Prioritize the results of your brainstorming.

Identify relevant resources: speakers, interested members of your group, and any UUA or COL resources. Decide which people you will invite to speak and which resources you plan to borrow or purchase.

Assign topics

Assign individual responsibility for each worship service topic to volunteers who will complete the planning/preparations for that program.

Pencil in the programs and their coordinators' names on your worship calendar. You've got a plan! Although final recruitment and confirmations of presenters will be ongoing during the summer, you can be off and running in the fall.

A Simple Religious Education Lesson Plan by Betsy Williams, Director of Religious Education, CLF

Whether your group numbers 2 or 20, the following lesson plan can help keep RE simple and fun for everyone! It is based on an hour-long meeting time. If your time frame differs, simply adjust the length of time you spend on each activity.

Arrival 5 minutes

Have something for kids to do while they wait for others: puzzles, books, cards, etc.

Circle Time 10 minutes

Make this a personalized "we are here" ceremony. You could light a candle or chalice, sing a song, recite an affirmation, or just go around the circle giving everyone a chance to tell something that happened to them since you last met. (See the CLF Handbook of Religious Services for chalice lighting and other opening words.)

Story 10 minutes

Read or tell a story to the whole group. You can use stories from an RE curriculum, or use a favorite children's book from your own collection. For instance, Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, is a great story to introduce the idea that one person can make a difference in caring for our environment and making the world a better place.

Snack 10 minutes

There's nothing like food to get a group to bond together, or to quiet down a restless crew. Keep it simple, perhaps sharing the responsibility of bringing snack with the group members. While you are eating you can discuss the story.

Activity 20 minutes

Plan one or more activities to engage the kids in creating something relevant to the story/topic. Vary the activities from meeting to meeting so you include physical activities as well as cooking, and arts and crafts. If possible, give a choice of two activities -- kids like to decide what they're going to do. Feel free to pick and choose activities from among the many ideas in your UU RE curricula -- even if you choose your own story.

Clean-up 5 minutes

Ask the kids to bring favorite song or story tapes from home to play during clean-up time. It makes the job fun and you will quickly learn some songs to sing together.

Information: info@uua.org