Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC)

New Program Offerings Coming in Fall and Winter 2009

A new Our Whole Lives / Sexuality and Our Faith (OWL) class is forming for fall 2009. The class is open to all students who will be entering 6th or 7th grade in the fall. Participants do NOT need to be members of Rock Spring, so feel free to pass this information on to friends, relatives or classmates who might be interested in participating. There is a $60 fee for the class, which includes the course curriculum (yours to keep!), as well as materials for the class. Scholarships are available by contacting the OWL Leaders; all scholarship requests will be kept confidential. If you are planning to enroll siblings, please talk to the OWL Leaders about a reduced fee.

Course leaders will be Ashley Martinage and Allen Moore. Ashley and Allen are both certified OWL Leaders and were part of the team that taught Rock Spring’s first OWL class in 2008. The class will be ten sessions long and attendance is expected at all sessions. Based on responses to the OWL survey, classes will be held on Sunday mornings. The schedule is as follows:

9/20/09 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Parents’ Meeting

9/27/09 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Parent/Child Orientation

10/4/09, 10/11/09, 10/18/09, 10/25/09, 11/1/09, 11/8/09, 11/15/09 and 11/22/09 11:00 AM-12:30 PM: class sessions

If you have any questions about the OWL Grades 5-7 program in general or about the Fall 2009 Grades 6-7 class, please contact owl567@rockspringucc.org.

Our Whole Lives Leader Training Event Hosted at Rock Spring
The OWL Team at Rock Spring is hosting an OWL Leader Training Event for Grades 7-9/10-12. The event is will take place September 25-27 in Neighborhood House/Carpenter Hall. If you are interested in becoming a Grades 7-9/10-12 OWL Leader at Rock Spring, please contactowl@rockspringucc.org. We are still looking for at least one more leader for our OWL Grades 10-12 class (coming in Spring 2010!).

If you are interested in helping with the training event, let us know! We’re looking for people who can be available to help transport participants to and from the airport, be available to open their homes to participants requesting home hospitality, and/or who help provide meals during the event. Can you help? Email owl@rockspringucc.org and tells us what you’d like to do. We look forward to talking to you!

Information from Past Sessions

Spring 2008

OWL Classes for Grades 5 and 6

The Board of Christian Education and the OWL Launch Team are pleased to announce that the Our Whole Lives / Sexuality and Our Faith Program for Grades 5 and 6 is beginning this spring!

Classes will be led by Rock Spring members and certified OWL Leaders Ashley Martinage, Allen Moore and Anne Moredock (known as the “3 AM” Team). We invite all who are interested in OWL at Rock Spring to attend an information session to learn more about the program. Sessions will be held in Carpenter Hall on Sunday, March 2, 2008 at 12:30 PM and Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 10:00 AM. The 3AM Team will provide an overview of the program’s components and core values, explain the structure of the program, and answer any questions. Program materials will be available for review.

To ensure a successful program, class size is limited. If you would like your 5th or 6th grade child to participate in OWL, you must pre-register for the mandatory Parent Meeting (Session 1 of the program) by sending parent/guardian name(s), email address(es), phone number(s), and name(s)/grade(s) of your child/children to owlgrades456@rockspringucc.org no later than March 24, 2008. Class registration materials will be emailed to you after you pre-register. There is a fee of $60 per child to cover two books (which will be yours to keep) and all course materials. Scholarships are available; please speak to Pastor Hank (confidentially) to make arrangements.

Spring 2008 Schedule for Grades 5 and 6
Sunday, March 30, 9 to 10:30 AM – Mandatory Parents’ Meeting (OWL Session 1)
Sunday, April 6, 12:30 to 3:30 PM – Parent-Child Orientation (OWL Session 2; light lunch will be served)
Sunday, April 20, 9 to 10:30 AM – OWL Class 1
Sunday, April 27, 9 to 10:30 AM – OWL Class 2
Sunday, May 4, 9 to 10:30 AM – OWL Class 3
Sunday, May 11, 9 to 10:30 AM – OWL Class 4
Sunday, May 18, 9 to 10:30 AM – OWL Class 5
Sunday, May 25 – NO CLASS (Memorial Day Weekend)
Sunday, June 1, 9 to 10:30 AM – OWL Class 6
Sunday, June 8, 9 to 10:30 AM – OWL Class 7

Leader Training for Grades 7-9: September 12-14, 2008

This event is open to people nationwide who have been selected by churches, schools or community organizations to teach Our Whole Lives and/or Sexuality and Our Faith. For more information, email the OWL Launch Team at owl@rockspringucc.org.

Our Whole Lives / Sexuality and Our Faith course for Grades 7-9

Currently, this is a tentative offering. The OWL Launch Team will be talking to parents and guardian of eligible youth at Rock Spring to determine the interest in this 27 session class.