VOLUNTEER
Volunteer opportunities in the Children’s Religious Education (CRE) program
Please contact Nate Sellers, Acting Director of Children’s Religious Education, if you are interested in fulfilling any of these volunteer opportunities.
Nursery
We need occasional subs when one of our nursery caregivers is away or ill. This is a chance to spend time with some special young ones. How long has it been since you rocked a baby or played trains with a toddler?
PreK + Kindergarden
This age group offers the chance to interact with children who show great delight and make priceless comments – and will joyfully hug you in supermarkets shouting, “There’s my teacher!” Spend a morning with them reading a story, making a craft and creating castles out of blocks.
Teaching Religious Education
Ours is a cooperative religious education program. We need parents and members of the congregation to help teach our Sunday morning classes. Teams of four teachers are needed for each classroom during each service. Inexperienced teachers are paired with more experienced ones. You can sign up to help for one semester or for the full year. We can work around your schedule if you are not available to be in the classroom every week.
Sharing Faith Traditions
Our Neighboring Faiths program and our World Religions curricula really benefit from having guests who can share their knowledge of and experience with various faith traditions. Join the class for a single week to talk about the ideas, rituals and celebrations of Buddhism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Quakerism, Wicca, etc.
Facilitating OWL
The Our Whole Lives (OWL) Lifespan Sexuality Education curricula are a valuable gift we give our middle school youth. We offer OWL for 5th and 6th graders and a longer, more in depth session for 8thgraders. OWL facilitators need to be officially trained and certified to teach (the training cost is funded by OWL class fees).
CRE Committee
The Children’s Religious Education (CRE) Committee meets once per month. The committee sets the goals and priorities for the Children’s RE program, reviews and selects curricula, helps recruit teachers and oversees policies and procedures as needed. We welcome newcomers, especially those whose children have graduated out of the program and parents of young children.
Get Creative
Calling all talented crafters, sewers, quilters, and those who love to prepare craft materials – we have projects for you! Our curricula would be enhanced by (simple!) costumes. Also, we want to help create quilts for Renewal House children, and we’d like to make cloths for the classroom altars. There are also many craft projects that need to be prepared and we’d eagerly accept help in arranging classroom displays.
Refurbishing Furniture
Our younger children’s chairs date from long ago. While still sturdy, they are in need of refinishing. The seats need sanding and varnishing and the metal frames need to be sanded and painted. Chairs could be worked one at a time in your home at your own pace.