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From the desk of Nick Wallwork Director of Lifespan Religious Education Morristown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

A Note from Nick Last week, I shared a story of Jennifer Keelan in the book “All the Way to the Top: How One Girl's Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything.” Some of you have reached out to me and expressed how important that message is. I couldn’t agree more. Ableism, whether its people with physical disabilities, different sized and shaped bodies, neurodivergence, can be a perplexing problem for most. It also requires some real investments in physical changes to buildings and how we resent information in classes and our service altogether.  I want to share with you the photo of Jennifer climbing the steps of congress that sparked change.  I am glad that our new building will help us in this goal. But I hope that our RE programs, services, and social offerings will also continue to think through the ways that we can be more inclusive of all people. One of the things I love about the Fellowship is that we are always striving to be “better.” Gender Neutral bathrooms and wheelchair-accessible rooms will go a long way to further our mission of inclusion.

This Week’s Sunday Morning Religious Education This week, we will have our regular RE class schedule. That means that your child will join you for the first 20 minutes of the worship service. After the Time For All Ages, they will leave with their teachers to have class until 10:50.  Our elementary-aged classes with be discussing “The Possibility of Change”. They will explore how our faith reminds us that people and situations are never one thing. They are more complicated and contain more possibilities than we can notice right away. Our High School Class will delve into the Soul Matters curriculum focusing on “The Paths of Cultivating Relationships" led by our youth advisors.  Our 7th and 8th Graders will continue talking about their Crossing Paths Program (Neighboring Faiths).

Reopening Survey Fall has finally descended upon us. And with that comes cooler weather. I am a big fan. I love to wear hoodies or flannels and head outside to be in nature as the leaves turn. But it also means that winter will be coming. So we need to plan Sunday Morning RE Classes for the next few months.  Let’s start with what is happening. For the month of November, we will continue to hold our classes outside. This is to keep our children, who are unable to be vaccinated at this point safer than if they were inside and it is still warm enough to do so.  Once December comes and into next year, we are still trying to make the best decisions for the holistic health of our children and the Sunday Morning RE Program. So we need your input. Below there is a survey for you to take about you and your family’s comfort with moving inside, vaccines, and a few other questions that might help us discern the best path forward. The survey can be found here.

Fall Visitors Tours Are you a visitor? Are you curious to learn more about our Fellowship, and how to become involved? Two In-Person Tours: Join us for a brief orientation and in-person tour on: Sunday, Oct. 24th following the 9:30am & 11:15am services. Refreshments will be served. (Time: around 45 minutes) One Virtual Tour: Join us for a brief orientation and virtual tour the same day: Sunday, Oct. 24th at 1:30pm on ZOOM. Meeting ID: 881 5156 9265 (Time: around 30 minutes) You can register by emailing welcome@muuf.org with the subject line “Visitors Tour." Please give your name and which tour you'd like to attend.

Parent Meeting I would like to invite the parents of children in our Prek/Kindergarten, 1st-3rd Grade, and 4-6th Grade classes to join me on the Terrace following the service on November 21 immediately following the 9:30 service. I’d like to get to know you all a little better and allow for you to get to know me as well as ask me any questions you may have and give feedback about our current program.  Some of our RE Volunteers will hang on to your children after their class that day.  You can RSVP in REALM, but that is not necessary.

Nick Wallwork (he/him) Director of Lifespan Religious Education Morristown Unitarian Fellowship dre@muuf.org 973-540-1177 ext. 104 Cell: 973-271-9839 (text is best) Office Hours Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 10-4 Schedule a time to meet: calendly.com/nickwallwork

RE Registration It is important that all children are registered at the Fellowship. We are using REALM for registration in most aspects of the Fellowship (you can find REALM here). There, we ask that you update your family information. You will also need to register your children for Sunday Morning Religious Education. You will need to fill out the “Parental Consent Form” and return it to Nick at dre@muuf.org. Children will be checked in and out by their teachers each week. If you need help registering, check out this video. If you need more help, let me know.