Social Justice

Welcoming Congregation
Nan Moore, Acting DRE
Unitarian Universalist Meeting House, Chatham MA

I would like to give a little background on how these two weeks of lessons came about. It was a request of the Welcoming Congregation Committee to have an educational piece to support the work of the church in this process. When I inquired at the UUA I found that there was a book and video resource list but nothing formally put together. I took the available information and created a two-week lesson for children in K-4 and 5-8. Homilies are included at the end.

*Note: We have a small church school and this split seemed appropriate.

The most important piece is respect. If you are currently a welcoming congregation I would encourage everyone to look at your programs and include a yearly educational piece to include respect for people who are gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender. At the time I was presenting the UU curriculum "In Our Hands," and this fit in perfectly.

While preparing for this project there were few to no available art projects, such as coloring books with diverse families depicted. I did finally find an out of print resource and copied pages to create My UU Family Coloring Book for the children. I believe incorporating art and visuals in any RE lessons is very important to honor different learning styles. Also the video It's Elementary is one I would encourage you to purchase for your RE libraries.

Children's Circle K-4
RE Welcoming Congregation (week 1)

Song: Dear Friends
Light the Chalice
Principles
Check in
Story
Ferdinand the Bull - Peace

Was he peaceful alone?
What was it like for him being different from the other bulls?
Did he like himself even though he was different?
What do you think about this story?
Color picture of Ferdinand
Conclusion: Ferdinand felt peace because he liked to rest under the tree and smell the flowers. He liked himself.

Activity: Color Ferdinand
Asha's Mums-Fairness

What was it like for Asha to have two Moms
Was her teacher nice to her when she told her she had two moms?
How would you feel?
What do you think about this story?
Conclusion: Asha felt she wasn't being treated fairly so she talked to her two Moms and as a family they worked it out.

My UU Family Coloring Book: For the children to take home
Closing: May our UU churches be a place where all people are treated fairly and kindly.

Children's Circle K-4
RE Welcoming Congregation (week 2)

Song: Dear Friends
Light the Chalice
Principles
Check in
Story
Oliver Button is a Sissy - Peace

Did Oliver like himself even if he didn't like to do things that boys are "supposed" to do?
What was it like for Oliver because he had an interest in dancing?
How did other people's comments make him feel?
Do you think it is OK for boys to want to dance?
What would you do if Oliver was your friend and someone made fun of him?
Is it fair to be teased because you are different?
Conclusion: Oliver loved to dance and he was at peace with himself.

My Two Uncles-Fairness

How did the little girl feel about her Uncle Ned and his partner Uncle Phil?
Did the girl love her uncles?
Was it unusual having two uncles who were gay?
Did it matter to the little girl that her uncles were not coming to the party?
Was the Grandfather fair to Uncle Ned?
Do you think the Grandfather should have invited Uncle Phil to the party?
Conclusion: The little girl was sad and didn't think it was fair that Uncle Ned's partner, Phil, was not invited to the Anniversary Party.

Activity- Cards:

There is a card game called poker. There are many different ways to win at poker. Today I want to talk about three different winning hands in poker. The first two winning hands are called a Full House. One hand has two Kings and three 7s. Another hand has two Queens and three 9's. Now there is another kind of winning hand called a Straight. This Straight has a King, Queen, Jack, 10 and 9. Now all of these hands are different but they can all be a winning hand in a game of poker, depending on what other people have for a hand.

Now, I want you to look at these cards like they are a family. There are families with two Kings, like My Two Uncles, and some families with two Queens, like "Asha's Mums." There are also families with a King and Queen. No family is better than another and they can all have winning hands. Now make up your family with the cards. Are there any children here who have two Kings or two Queens? But if there were families with two Kings or two Queens for parents, they really would not be any different than the other families. Because if you have parents that love each other and they both love the children then there is a Full House of... LOVE. that is what makes a family. Any family is a winning family if it has TONS of LOVE in it and people who care about each other...LOVE

Note: In this group there were no children who had gay/lesbian parents. Also there are only two lesbian couples who are members in the UUMH congregation. One of the couples assisted in the church school for the entire month.

Children's Circle 5-8
RE Welcoming Congregation (week 1) Light the Chalice
Principles
Check in
Story
Discussion:

We have been talking about Peace, Fairness, and Justice over the past few weeks. The lessons and conversations we will have this week and next week present ideas relating to our principles and also weaving the idea of fairness. So before we begin I would like you to keep in mind our Unitarian Universalist Principles.

Have you ever talked to people or your friends about gay or lesbian people?

Do you care if people are gay or lesbian?

We are going to be talking about gay and lesbian people this week and next. Why do you think we are going to be talking about gay and lesbian people?

Do you think this is a topic we need to discuss in our church school? Why or why not?

• We are a community that lives our seven Principles.
• We are a place where people relate to each other with loving speech.
• We are a community that teaches respect and non-discrimination.

This week we will see half the video and next week we will see the conclusion.

Video: It's Elementary (first half hour)
Discussion:
Closing words: May our UU churches be a place where all people are treated fairly and kindly

Children's Circle 5-8
RE Welcoming Congregation (week 2)

Song: Dear Friends
Light the Chalice
Principles
Check in
Story
Discussion:

Do you know what homophobia is?

Do you think it is important to learn about diversity and alternative families?

Remember:

• We are a community that lives our seven Principles.
• We are a place where people relate to each other with loving speech.
• We are a community that teaches respect and non-discrimination.

Video: It's Elementary (second half hour)

Comments or Questions:

Introduce Linda, a member of our church. Linda and her partner, Patty, are members of our church community. I invited Linda to participate today and I asked her if she would be willing to answer any questions that you may have for her. (Prior to the lesson Linda and I talked about question that we felt were not appropriate for her to answer. We decided that questions that were not appropriate for her to answer she would say something like... "That is a really good question and I think that is a question that you could ask your parents.")

Closing words: May our UU churches be a place where all people are treated fairly and kindly Peace,
Nan Moore
Acting DRE
Unitarian Universalist Meeting House
Chatham, MA

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Homily (week 1)
Welcoming Congregation

Two children hold signs. Random children and adults are given a piece of paper with a sentence on it. During the homily people are asked to read the question out loud. Questions are put into categories and the congregation affirms Prejudice or Stereotype. (Idea taken from In Our Hands.)

Stereotype: Prejudice
All children are noisy.
Homeless people live on the streets and they all are drunks.
All families with children live with a mother and a father.
All African-Americans play basketball.
No Unitarian Universalists believe in God.
I don't like people who speak Spanish at home.
I don't like older people who are hard of hearing.
I don't like people who are tall.
People from the Islam nations are all terrorists.
All adults are smart.
All Brazilian teenagers belong to a gang.

• During the week pay attention to how much you hear from friends, TV or yourself about stereotypes or prejudices.

HOMILY (week 2)

• I would like to follow up on the stereotypes and prejudices that we talked about last week. (Have third sign...all of them together for everyone to see.)
• We as individuals in a congregation have many identities. Some identities are in the majority, some in the minority, and others in balance.
• To the congregation: Ask how many people relate to someone in this group raise your hand Ages...woman...man...artist...Irish...intellectual...etc. (In your community it is important to see what group is missing...such as people of color ...gay community,etc).
• Over the next few weeks think about how we identify with one another as Unitarian Universalists and how we identify with those in our faith community. May we be accepting of diverse identities and may we be welcoming in the process.

HOMILY: Two Mom's (idea taken from Asha's Mums)

N: Hey Sally

S: Hey Nan

N: Sally, something happened today and I am really sad about it.

S: What happened Nan?

N: Promise you won't tell anyone?

S: Yea I promise...

N: You know that field trip we are planning for school to the Science Museum in Boston?

S: Yea...I can't wait to go.

N: Me too but...this is what happened... I brought home my permission slip to be signed by my parents and they both signed it. I brought the permission slip back to school to my teacher Mrs. Curtis and Mrs. Curtis said that it was not filled out properly. But it was Sally...both of my Moms signed it.

S: So what is the problem?

N: Mrs. Curtis said that she wanted my Mom and Dad to sign it and I have two Moms.

S: You have two Moms?

N: Yea.

S: How come you have two Moms?

N: I have always had two Moms.

S: I never heard of anyone having two Moms and no Dad. Isn't that kinda weird?

N: No...It has always been my Moms and me. Mom Alice and Mom Sandy adopted me when I was just a baby and it has always been just me and my Moms.

S: Oh... I just never heard of that before.

N: Well, now I can't go on the field trip because I have two Moms and I wanted to go on that field trip more than anything. Everyone in the class is going but me. What am I going to do?

S: Wait a minute Nan. Now you had the permission slip and it was signed by both of your parents right?

Ask the children...

Do you think that Nan should be able to go on the field trip?
If you were Nan's friend Sally what would you tell Nan to do?
What would you do if you were Nan?