Parents (and grandparents) are the primary and most effective faith educators for their children. Studies have and are still showing this, and it makes perfect sense. During the years that a child is between the ages of two and six or seven years old, the EEG activity in their developing brains puts them in a more suggestible state, in the same way that hypnotism does for adults. All that they experience, and during this period, most of which comes from their parents and family, is "downloaded" directly to their subconscious memory. This means that 90% of the subconscious choices we make as adults are based on what happened to us during those precious years of childhood.

Lent is a perfect time to help our families guide their children in engaging in and learning about Christian practices such as prayer, being still, singing praise, reading Bible stories, serving others, and offering hospitality. 

Read more for a list of resources your family can use

How are the Children?

By Liza Neal, an ordained UCC minister and manager of Seala ag Canadh: Beyond Binaries & Borders “How are the children?” I first heard Rev. Traci Blackmon ask this question when marching at General Synod in Baltimore two years ago ... The children are what drove me to go to Tijuana this January.  A call had been made by a group called the “New Sanctuary Caravan” for folks to come and volunteer at the border for any amount of time during a 40-day period, to meet the “caravan” from Honduras with love instead of fear.  Read more

By Sioux Wilusz, Executive Assistant to the Conference Minister for the CT Conference, UCC.

It’s February.  Time to kick it into gear!!! The new year has begun.  New resolutions were made.  New goals are ahead.  A new you is ready to go!!

And a new US! It promises to be a BUSY year in the CT, MA, and RI Conferences! Jesus is asking us for a “new church.”  We are soul searching and creating our WHY.  We will build new partnerships, cultivate existing ones, do the work in new ways, and re-envision our futures.  It’s a time of uncertainty, excitement, joy and change.  I’m eager, and exhausted and overwhelmed just thinking about it.

We are at the beginning. God is here. We will trust that and move forward.

We must not be motivated on our journey this coming year by what we can see.  We are map-less.  But we cannot stand still.

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