Weekly News for Families | October 30, 2025

News –

This week’s message for families

An update from Annie Holtzclaw, on behalf of the Children, Youth, and Family Ministries Advisory Council:

I’m going to start this update with a confession. I feel really challenged when volunteering in Religious Education (RE) spaces. I’ve found my voice shakes when asked to talk in front of a group of people (especially kindergarteners) and I don’t always know exactly what to say or do. It takes me a minute. Sometimes a few minutes. I often remind myself to breathe. I’ve been visualizing myself as a tree, channeling sturdy grounded roots, the easy bend of branches in the wind, the constant presence of a tall friend, there to be leaned on, always listening. I show up in jeans with messy hair, because this is how I look all the time, and because I want kids to know it doesn’t matter what we look like, what matters is that we show up. I share this with you to try and shake the notion from our minds that we must be credentialed, professional, or perfect in our interactions with kids. You don’t. You just need to show up and be yourself. And a wonderful thing about spending time with youth is they keep you curious.

Thank you to those who have embraced our ongoing ask for volunteers. With additional hands, this Sunday our 9 am RE classes are expanding from two classes to three to accommodate more families. We are grateful for those volunteering to make these spaces possible for our youth and their families.

Our non-Sunday morning programming for youth and families—Monthly Community Dinner with breakout groups, Saturday Sprouts, our Single Parents group, middle school and high school youth groups, and church overnights—have all been well attended this fall. At our October Community Dinner, the middle school and high school youth groups staged two very scary and intricately designed haunted houses as part of an ongoing middle school vs high school youth group competition. Those who survived the journey through the haunted houses were able to vote, and the middle school youth group eked out a win! I don’t know how long they’ll hold onto their lead. The high school youth were very committed to their roles and seem determined to take the title.

As previously mentioned last month, the new schedule of seasons of volunteering mean we will continue to check in about volunteering needs throughout the year. Our next season of volunteering begins Sunday, December 7th. If these troubling times have you feeling off, consider reading stories to kindergarteners or doing crafts with 3rd graders. You don’t have to be a skilled educator or even know the Values of Unitarian Universalism by heart—there’s a poster of them in every classroom! We just need willing volunteers who have a few hours a week to share their time with the youth of our congregation, getting to know them and sharing a small part of yourself while creating a safe, welcoming space. If not having the values memorized was all that was holding you back, please reach out to Allison Connelly-Vetter or Hirut Hedge to add your name to our list of volunteers. 

We have also found we are lacking diversity in our volunteer pool. We are specifically looking for non-Moms, with no shade to all the non-Moms currently volunteering, there just aren’t enough of you yet! We’d love for our classroom volunteers to reflect our church community and include dads, folks of any age single or partnered, retirees, grandparents. If you consider yourself a non-Mom, consider spending a few hours chilling with our youth. Not sure which age group is right for you? Keep reading…

Do you have the emotional fortitude of a rock, never feel cut by sarcasm or indifference, and know what “6 7” means? Volunteering with middle school youth may be perfect for you! 

Do you enjoy reading and doing each character with a different voice? Consider hopping into a K-2 classroom where we run the class like a library story time, complete with connection-building games, arts and crafts, and free play.

Do you like board games? Still find farts funny? 3rd-5th might be a great fit for you. Kids in these classrooms are learning about cool adults who changed the world- and you might change their world just by showing up and being you. 

Wanna talk with kids about the big questions? Mentoring youth might be the right fit for you.

Are you really into art and the creative process? We can find you a spot with any age—there are crafting activities throughout our youth and family programming include poster making, zine creation, speech drafting and creative writing.

There are ongoing opportunities to show up in these spaces and continue building beloved community. If you haven’t yet attended a community dinner, think about coming! Besides a home cooked meal, post community dinner breakout groups for children, youth and families always include:

  • Childcare (for children ages 6 months – 5th grade)
  • Middle School Youth Group (6th-8th grades)
  • High School Youth Group (9th-12th grades)
  • Parenting as a Spiritual Practice (for all parents and caregivers)
  • Low-Contact/No Contact: A Group For Adults Choosing Estrangement

Our breakout groups are places for parents and caregivers to discuss the challenging parts of parenting and families and find support as we face difficult realities in our world. When we have values based, low stakes (safe) third spaces to experience beloved community and feel loved, we are giving our youth (and ourselves) permission to explore ourselves and the world with a safety net. We are practicing showing up as our authentic selves even in hard moments. There aren’t a lot of these spaces out there right now, full of love, accepted as enough just as we are, with acknowledgement we’re doing our best as messy humans, living our shared values as we do.

RSVP for the November 12 Community Dinner

With Allison’s approaching family leave time this December, coverage of her duties will be divided among Hirut Hedge, Claire Tralle, and Rev. Laura, as well as some of our CYF volunteers. As always, please feel free to reach out to any member of your Children Youth and Family Advisory Committee with questions or concerns. Co-chairs Samatha White and Kirk Cozine, Dylan Flunker, Sarah Heuser, Troi Ferguson and I would love to hear your feedback and suggestions for building grounded, loving spaces for our children, youth and families to explore more about themselves and their spiritual practice. 

I look forward to seeing you at church,

Annie Holtzclaw, Children, Youth & Families Advisory Committee Member

At a glance:

Sign-Up Your Family for the 2025-2026 Church Year

This Sunday:

Two services: In person at 9 & 11 a.m., live streaming at 11 a.m.

Religious Education will be in classrooms this Sunday.

Children and youth are always welcome in worship with their families! If you are new or new-ish to First U, please join us at whichever service works best for you, and visit the Welcome Table in the atrium where someone will help orient you and answer your questions.

Most Religious Education programs are offered during both services. However, there are some exceptions. Please register below to be added to the appropriate roster and you’ll receive communication from Allison about which service to attend.

You may pick up your child or youth from Religious Education at 10:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m., not before, even if worship has ended. Having a standard pick up time for all children and youth supports our kids and volunteers in completing the lesson for the day and ending the session thoughtfully and spaciously.

All families, with babies through high schoolers, need to register each church year, regardless of previous registration:

Register your family for Religious Education

Calendar & Upcoming Events

Here’s what’s coming up for Children, Youth, & Families at First Universalist:

  • Sunday, Nov. 2: Regular Sunday: RE in Classrooms
  • Coming of Age Extended Sunday: 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
  • Sunday, Nov. 9: Regular Sunday: RE in Classrooms
  • 7th Grade Site Visit: Unity – Unitarian Church
  • Wednesday, Nov. 12: Community Dinner + Programs
  • Saturday, Nov. 15 – Sunday, Nov. 16: Upper Midwest Youth Con

Find information on upcoming programming for Children, Youth, & Families in the all-ages calendar spreadsheet. Find the appropriate age group tab on the bottom for events for your family. This document is updated regularly – please check often.