Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

Sunday School Classes for Children—Sundays, 9:00-9:50 a.m.

For more information, contact Tammy Martens at tmartens@orucc.org

The Worship Center (Preschool) Following Jesus (Kindergarten, First Grade): These are exciting programs that help children experience God while learning about God. They use a sensory-motor style of storytelling as a primary means for encountering God, so God is experienced, not just learned about. They give appropriate freedom, so young children can respond to stories of God through continued working with the story figures and art materials.

The Way of the Child (Second/Third Graders): This is a wonderful, enriching program that helps children develop their own relationship with God, providing opportunities for children to experience and practice spiritual disciplines to nurture that relationship for a lifetime. After a gathering time where children listen and discuss a Bible story or spiritual discipline, children choose different reflection stations to go to that all relate to the theme of the day. They choose among the following reflection stations: Gazing, World, Reading, Journaling, Painting, Sand, and Art. The Way of the Child is written by Wynn McGregor.

The Way of the Child and Exploring Faith Issues (4th-6th Graders): This group will also be engaged in The Way of the Child curriculum and will be exploring issues of faith and how our faith makes a difference in how we live our lives.

Confirmation at ORUCC (7th –8th Graders): We offer a Confirmation program to 7th and 8th graders every other year. We have designed, and continue to adapt, this program to be a relationally based exploration of the Christian faith, its practices, its people and the way it is lived out in the world. The Confirmation program is organized around three engagements : The first engagement is with oneself. In this engagement, the youth will try and answer the basic questions: “who am I?” and “who am I becoming?” The second engagement is with God. In this engagement the youth will spend time looking at/experiencing the many ways we can know God. (“As I see it, we shall never succeed in knowing ourselves unless we seek to know God.” St. Teresa of Avila.) The third engagement is with others. This is bound up with our whole concept of the church as a people committed to God in Christ and to one another.

Through activities, discussions, Bible Study, retreats, and service youth will be invited to explore those three engagements. As we move through the activities and topics, we invite students to choose for themselves a life of faith within the Christian church and ORUCC. At the end of the year, confirmands decide for themselves if they want to proclaim this faith for themselves. We honor those who say yes and we honor those who say no to this decision. We recognize that young people live within the context and environment of their families and encourage discussion and participation in the process at home.
The confirmation year will begin with an Urban Immersion Trip to Milwaukee, September 24-26. We will begin our regular meeting time on Sunday, October 10 at 8:45 a.m. Breakfast goodies will be served!
Our service of confirmation will be Sunday, May 8, 2011 (Mother’s Day).

The High School youth went to Alamosa, Colorado and worked with a variety of local support groups.

Our last fundraiser for our mission trip is the Orchard Ridge UCC Golf Outing to be held at Foxboro Golf Course in Oregon on Saturday, June 19.

Registration for 9 holes of golf begins at 2:00, and golfing starts at 3:00.

I have attached golf sign up forms and player registration forms. It would be great have some more golfers take part.

2010 Player Registration Form

2010 Golf Sign Up

Also we have about 70 bags of Organic Compost to be sold. The proceeds for the compost go to our mission trip. You can pick up the bags of compost outside the church entrance off the parking lot. Each bag is $8.00. You can pay in the church office or get a check to me.

Spring, Summer Sunday Morning Schedule
Our last day of 9:00 Children’s Sunday School is June 6. In the summer we offer “Children and Youth in the Garden” time during the worship hour. Children are invited to start in the sanctuary for worship and after the Children’s Time, they will be invited to explore and work in the Children’s Garden plot and help in the pantry plots. We need adult volunteers to work with the children each Sunday. Instructions for what projects can be done in the Garden will be available each Sunday. It’s important to have 2 adults helping each Sunday. If you sign up to help, why not ask someone from the congregation who you know but who is not a parent of a young child. It would be wonderful to get some cross generational connections made while we tend the garden with our children.

Children Singing/Playing Drums in Worship next Sunday, May 9
The children will be singing, playing drums and reading poetry in worship on Sunday, May 9. Parents—please have your child/children to church by 8:45 a.m. to practice their pieces in the sanctuary. Thank you.

High School Seniors Recognized in Worship—June 6
Our High School will be recognized in worship on Sunday, June 6. Those seniors are: Molly Walsh, Hanna Josephs, Rein Boyd, Sam Boyer-Groff, Seb Harris, Nick Allen, and Alex Melin.

Organic Compost Has Arrived!
Father Dom’s Organic Duck Doo Compost has arrived!  (www.godsgoodearth.com) The bags are at the entrance doors of the church near the parking lot. Each bag is $8.00. There will be an envelope in the lounge where you can deposit your money for the compost. Make checks payable to ORUCC, memo line: compost. All proceeds go to help support the Youth Mission trip to Alamosa, Colorado this summer.

Second Annual ORUCC Golf Outing Update
Get those clubs out (or borrow some) and fire up for another Golf Outing (9 holes) on Saturday, June 19 which will be held at the Foxboro Golf Course in Oregon, WI. Registration begins at 2:00 p.m. and start time will be 3:00 p.m. Dinner is also included and will start at 6:00 p.m. $50 per golfer. Registration forms are located on the table in the lounge. Other opportunities include: Sponsor a hole, business level $50; Individual level hole sponsor $25; Meal sponsorship $100; Cash donation to the Yth Mission Trip; Donate an item for a door prize or for the silent auction. For more information email Jon Blanchard at jblanchard@oregonband.org.

Looking for Adult Volunteers to Assist with Children’s Garden
We have a lovely children’s garden that is worked on every Sunday and some Tuesday evenings throughout the summer by our children. Meg Stevens is the main coordinator of the children’s garden but we could use a few more helpers. Please let Tammy or Meg know if you would like to be on this team.

Read a copy of our latest Children and Youth Newsletter

Children’s Newsletter April 2010