First Parish Universalist Church--Stoughton, MA--Religious Education Program

	Religious Education	Child care: 10:15 AM to 11:45 AM Worship: 10:30 AM Children's Chapel: 10:30 AM Church School: 10:45 AM Youth Group: TBD
	at First Parish Universalist Church, Stoughton, MA

First Parish Universalist Church
790 Washington St.
Stoughton, MA 02072
(781) 344-6800

Enrichment Activities

Religious Education is much more than just the classes each Sunday morning. The Religious Education Committee sponsors many events throughout the year to expand each child’s experience. Not every activity is planned for each Church Year. See the RE Calendar or the Church Calendar for the schedule.

We recognize that it is not possible to attend every event. However, we encourage you to participate in as many of these enrichment activities as possible.

Family Game Night
Held on a Friday evening this gives everyone a chance to catch up on what is happening in their lives and around the Church, play games to get familiar with Church traditions and famous UUs. Bring your family’s favorite board game to play with others. Pizza will be served. Cost is approximately $5.00 per person


Holiday Fair
The Holiday Fair, usually held in early November, is a major fund raiser for the Church. The children have a booth at the Fair at which they sell items which they have hand crafted during the previous weeks either at working sessions or individually. This is an opportunity for the children to contribute to the financial well-being of the congregation.


Bags of Blessings
As a reminder of the true spirit of Thanksgiving, each person in the congregation is encouraged to make a list of all their blessings--things that make Thanksgiving special for them, things for which they are grateful, someone special in their past who made a difference for them—and to bring the list along with a bag of non-perishable food items to the Thanksgiving Service (Sunday preceding Thanksgiving Day). All the food collected is brought to the Stoughton Food Pantry in time for distribution before Thanksgiving.


Mitten Tree
Bring new hats, gloves, mittens, or scarves of all sizes and colors and shapes in December to decorate our Mitten Tree. After the Sunday service preceding Christmas, everything that we have collected is donated to a shelter for the homeless.


Holiday Pageant and Party
To celebrate the Holidays with our church family, we have a pageant and party on one Sunday evening in December. Oranges are always part of the goodies available at the party in remembrance of Mr. Wood, whose generosity continues to make these events possible. Every child and youth in the RE Program can participate in the pageant no matter how young or old. We try to limit the number of practices for the pageant in this busy time of the year.


Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Party
Reserve the third Monday in January for an intergenerational celebration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the past we have had a day long program beginning at 2:00 PM with a special program, followed by an international craft making bazaar with projects centering on peace and understanding. The afternoon ended with a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic pot luck supper. This year we are hoping to expand the program to include other churches and organizations in Stoughton . Watch The Packet for details.


Pizza Party and Game Night
Save the Friday that begins school vacation week in February for a fun filled time with the families in the Church School. We make our own pizza, play games (both active and "inactive"), talk, tell jokes, and just plain enjoy being together!


Native American Celebration
What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to learn about Native Americans? A special inter-generational program featuring Native American culture and crafts takes place on the second Saturday in May. The celebration, jointly sponsored with the Ponkapoag Tribal Council of the Massachusetts Nation includes story tellers, dancers, crafts, and a pot luck supper featuring Native American dishes.


Lady Slipper Hike
Rain or shine, we go hiking through the woods on a Saturday in late May or early June searching for lady slippers. Everyone’s invited. The hike is more of a long walk and isn’t too strenuous.


Children's Sunday
The Church School ends each year on a the second Sunday in June with a special service recognizing the achievements of the children. Each child who has participated in the Church School is presented with a certificate and a gift. After the service there is a special lunch and unlimited time in the “moon-walk” (weather permitting).


B-A-B-Y
B-A-B-Y??? Buy A Book a Year. Donate a book to the church School Library to honor someone’s memory or to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or a new tooth. A special bookplate will be fixed to the front cover of your book letting others know of your gift and why the book was purchased.