Moving Up Sunday 2009

No other Sunday that I plan evokes the range of feelings in me than the Sunday we honor the children and youth for their growth and development. I am awed by the movement of Spirit in each one as they get bigger, accomplish more, acquire new knowledge and blossom each in their own way. I’m excited to welcome the graduating children into their new classes and then feel reflective as they move up into Uniteens and Y.O.U. And when they “age out” of Y.O.U. and go off to college and other pursuits, I hope they know how much a part of our community they have been and will continue to be in a different way. I want them to know they have left a mark on us all and how much we care for them.

I love the way we honor all the children at Seattle Unity. We do a special and very fun ceremony for the children who graduate into kindergarten from preschool, into third grade from second grade, from fifth grade into Uniteens and then from Uniteens into Y.O.U. This ceremony is held in our Fellowship Hall where we have a small stage so, as you can probably guess, each child gets to walk across the stage—from the old to the new. Our ceremony has evolved and improved each year as we have fine-tuned the process.

We gather all the kids with a rousing song. And it’s amusing to see how the grade school kids and the Y.O.U.ers love to sing but the Uniteens look at us like we’re nuts. We encourage them anyway. We begin our ceremony with a candle lighting and opening meditation. I am impressed with the respectful quiet that fills the room.

 Each year I’ve chosen a special picture book to read to add a bit of inspiration. This year I read a new book I found called Clorinda by Robert Kinerk and illustrated by Steven Kellogg. It’s about a cow that mistakenly ends up at a ballet instead of casting her ballot at an election. She’s so entranced by the dancing that she decides to become a ballerina. After much hard work she lands a spot in a ballet performance in which her partner must catch her as she sails through the air. The other dancers and their partners do the routine beautifully and gracefully but Clorinda flattens her partner. This caused some giggles in our audience but the story has a happy ending.

Last year’s book was also about a cow: Moonstruck: The True Story of the Cow That Jumped over the Moon by Gennifer Choldenko and illustrated by Paul Yalowitz. It is equally engaging and entertaining with a message about determination.

In years past I have invited YOUers who had musical talent to sing a song or play their guitar for our ceremony. This year we didn’t have anyone who was available but it is something I aim for each year. It adds so much to our event and the younger kids are in awe of the older ones when they perform.

We then moved on to the honoring of each age group. This is different each year. This year we had two new kindergarteners. One wanted to stay in the preschool classroom. The second was anxious to join the kindergarten class but mom became ill and they didn’t make it to church. We had three children who moved from second grade to third grade and four new Uniteens. Five Uniteens moved into Y.O.U.

Each child received a certificate (preprinted but names were added during the ceremony).

Louis Mason, our wonderful third-fifth grade teacher, each year brings in hats for his graduating fifth graders to toss up in the air after he introduces them. The kids loved getting to wind up and toss those hats.

The Uniteens, under the leadership of Don Bennett and Jenny Garvin, added to the ceremony by giving the new kids a welcome gift. Then Don and Jenny asked each of the graduating Uniteens to tell what Uniteens has meant to him/her before they presented each with a lapel pin. They were then passed over to the Y.O.U. Sponsors, Jessica Tweed and Chris Broeckling, who gave a welcome to this new group of youth.

The graduates join their new class.  Activities were planned for getting acquainted and group building. This theme of getting to know you and building interconnectedness continues on for the summer.

Three young men graduated from high school this year. They were introduced to the congregation during the service, welcomed into the adult community and presented with a dark purple prayer shawl crocheted by a member of our Prayer Shawl ministry.

I miss the children who move up to Uniteens. Each Sunday when they are in the Children’s Chapel (K-5^th grade) I love hearing about their experiences—their favorite toys, pets, trips with their families, new games they are learning. Those children whose parents bring them regularly become friends in the deepest sense. I don’t get to spend as much time with them when they join the Uniteen class. It’s in a different part of the building and they become very involved in the Uniteen experience which is exactly how it should be.  I do remember and treasure each of them and look on with admiration as they mature and step into each new stage of life in their own unique way.