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OMD Up-CloseA monthly feature electronic magazine of the Ohio-Meadville District November 2011 A Flurry of Multigenerational Celebrations |
In This Issue
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Whether it’s a time you anticipate or dread, there is no escaping the fact that congregational and family life has a different flavor and rhythm from mid-November into January! In order to maximize the spiritual growth and minimize the stress consider the following:
Pageants at First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh
The beauty and simplicity of doing these pageants is that there is just one rehearsal, no lines to be learned, and costumes that are put away and taken out every year (with some additions and modifications over the years). The music is wonderful too, easy to sing and interspersed with favorite carols. People of all ages participate- there are roles for anyone and everyone who would like to participate- either as a cast character or singer in the (Family) choir. These pageants are everything we could hope to offer for a Christmas Eve multi-generational service- something for everyone, spiritually meaningful, music, and the Christmas story with UU interpretation. I highly recommend Joyce Poley's Christmas Pageants! Submitted by Jennifer Halperin, Director of Ministries with Children and Youth
Structured Improv at First UU Church of Columbus
It is basically a Lessons and Carols format. The Lessons, however, are improv skits on a theme. Each skit is followed by a carol. Two times during the service we also insert very short reflections after the skit. The first two years we used the Mexican Posada custom to build around. Different "Holy Families" went to different inns and different Innkeepers had different excuses for excluding the family. People of every age who wanted to participate got their parts when they arrived. We placed the social hour before the service rather than after to allow for distributing parts and for the actors in each scene to develop their skit.
Because ours is a Christmas Eve service, we are limited in our legends and themes, but you could use the plan instead of a traditional holiday pageant. That gives a much wider source for inspiration. You could also get volunteers and give out skit prompts well before Christmas Eve but the impromptu feeling somehow contributes to the excitement that is Christmas Eve. Submitted by Jolinda Stephens, Director of Religious Education
Sources of Help around Multigenerational Holiday Celebrations
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OMD District Office |
KISS –Keep It Simple! Most families already have more than enough stress around the scarce resources of time and money. Our job in congregational life is to provide a value based grounding, not another example of conspicuous consumption or over-the-top pageantry!
We at First Unitarian Pittsburgh have a wonderful tradition of doing a Unitarian Universalist Christmas Eve pageant at the early family service. We alternate Joyce Poley's "Would You Like to Hold the Baby", and "Spirit of the Christmas Tree"- both have the core cast of characters, Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Three Kings, Shepherds- with slight variations in each pageant. 
We have two services on Christmas Eve. The early one is mostly attended by families with young children and it is this one that I write about. This could also be used in place of a pageant.
Last year we based the service on the Italian legend of La Befana, the elderly woman who was always too busy for neighbors and connection, until those searching for the Holy Child trigger an epiphany. She too goes seeking and meets many people. We will use that theme again this year.
This is a time of the year when Guest at Your Table is being done at many churches. You can find resources for publicity, worship, at home activities and information about how the money raised is used at the GAYT portion of the UUSC website at 