Dear MS World Religions Parents,
Here are your calendar reminders for December:
- Class on Sunday, December 8 will be upstairs. We will have guests visiting to explain multiple forms of paganism. We meet in Sanctuary A.
- Our visit to Bridgeway is Sunday, December 15th, noon. Service lasts for 90 minutes, and Pastor Angel will meet with us after the service. There will not be an evening class on the 15th! Don’t forget to sign up for the trip!
- There is an optional trip to the Turning Circle Winter Solstice ritual on December 20th.
- The December 22nd service is our annual pageant. Please attend and support our children and youth!
Before this Sunday’s Session:
- Spend some time with your youth watching one or all of the short videos below. All of them offer a new and evolving picture of evangelicals. After watching one or all of them, have a discussion with your youth about your own assumptions about evangelicals and megachurches, as well as how those assumptions are changing or being challenged (maybe even as a result of these videos!) Encourage your youth to talk about their own assumptions and how they are planning to work during this month to be open expanding their views.
- Progressive Evangelicals push a different view on Christianity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoWYe-QibT8
- Diversity in the Church – One example about how evangelicals strive toward diversity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80g6D15outs
- Rob Bell discusses “Love Wins” on Good Morning America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufENWTtGAz0
- Oprah Goes Soul to Soul with Rob Bell:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4vhjXQwrUc
- If you and your family are not familiar with the megachurch experience, you might want to familiarize yourself with it by watch these short clips together and comparing them to our own UU worship experience:
- Bethel Church – worship & music:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYB_mElJtTI&list=RDg6_BLuhr0HQ&index=7
- Lakewood Church – worship & music:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnbxNy47XXM
- Joel Osteen – sermon clip:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAb3ckpi798
After our visit to Bridgeway:
- In our centering worship we listened before Thanksgiving to a rock version of “The Little Drummer Boy.” Focusing on the central line about “bringing one’s finest gifts,” we will ask your youth to think about their “finest gifts.” But just as the song lifts up the commonplace gift of playing a drum, we will ask the youth to talk about their seemingly “normal” but special gifts. For instance, their smile, artistic talent, positive attitude, ability to let things roll of their back, ability to listen. Consider asking your youth what they think their “common but finest” gifts are? Even better, consider telling them about what you think yours are.
For You:
- Spend some time enriching your own understanding of the evangelical megachurch tradition by watching these videos:
- What Is The Future Of Evangelicalism? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG_l0-IJ_BQ
- Evangelicals and Politics: Three Generations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_SktYycndg
- NPR: Generational Split among Evangelicals Threatens Support for Trump https://www.npr.org/2019/10/15/770224572/generational-split-among-evangelicals-threatens-support-for-trump
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