We are devoting this edition of Covenant Group News to session plans for the season. Session Plans that have been submitted by individual and congregations are amazing contributions to engaging in both the intimacy through our sharing and ministry, and the ultimacy, as we consider a breadth of topics. In this holiday season, please consider sessions that are on the UU Small Group Ministry website, Small Group Sessions, on the Celebrations Directory. Clicking on Sort by Topic (right column in the directory) will bring up the Christmas, Winter Holidays, and New Years, such as listed below. We have included a new session plan from Augusta, ME: "Winter Solstice, the Wheel of the Year - and the Future"

• Advent -- Zidowecki, Rev. Helen
• Christmas -- Asheville, NC (Beech, Michael)
• Christmas Reflections --Devon, PA
• Christmas Story -- Carlsson-Bull, Rev. Jan (Cohasset, MA)
• Holiday Cheer -- Devon,PA
• Holiday Season -- Davie, FL
• Less is More -- Carlsson-Bull, Rev. Jan (Cohasset, MA)
• Our Christmas Carols -- Palatine, IL (Matz, Stephanie Certain)
• Taking Down the Tree --Carlsson-Bull, Rev. Jan (Cohasset, MA)
• Tapestry for the Holidays -- Augusta, ME
• Tis the Season --Carlsson-Bull, Rev. Jan (Cohasset, MA)
• What Do You Want for Christmas? (Hanukah,etc.) Palo Alto, CA (Morgenstern, Rev. Amy Zucker)
• Christmas and Hanakkah - Devon, PA
• Winter Holidys: Trial and Treasure - Stony Brook, NY (Allen, Rev. Margie; Anderson, Rev. Dr. Linda)
• Darkness - Augusta, ME
• Symbols of the Season: Winter Zidowecki, Rev. Helen - Christmas

And then, of course, comes the New Year
• Another New Year --Palatine, IL (Matz, Stephanie Certain)
• Brand New/Age Old --Carlsson-Bull, Rev. Jan (Cohasset, MA)
• Dreaming a Year --Stony Brook, NY (Allen, Rev. Margie; Anderson, Rev. Dr. Linda)
• New Year's & Resolutions --Davie, FL
• New Year's & Time Davie, FL
• New Year's Resolution Dilemma -- Gross, Tara
• New Years: Endings and Beginnings -- Zidowecki, Rev. Helen

Increasingly we are receiving session plans that deal with critical times. We would like to include here for your consideration several newly written session plans by Rev. Glenn Turner, who was one of the founders of the Small Group Ministry movement almost twenty years ago. Please see the listing for Glenn Turner at the end. In addition,

Issues for our time:
From Auburn, ME (Rev. Glenn Turner)
• Black and White World Views (Witness)
• Beginners Mind. Possible? (Witness)
• What Makes Us So Special? (Witness)
• Encounters with Otherness (Witness)

There are many more available from congregations, sometimes listed on congregational websites. You are welcome to send session plans to office@smallgroupministry.net for inclusion on the website.

Opening Words: The daylight is shortening. How far into the dark depths will we go?
Come, dance and build bonfires to call back the light, lest it be lost forever.
From the darkness, may the Sun hear our cry, and forsake us not.

Hark, the dark descent seems to have stopped!
The Sun has responded and started a slow return.
The Winter Solstice must be ours to watch, in case the Sun leaves again.

Check-in/Sharing: How is it with your spirit today?

Topic/Activity
And, indeed, each year the Sun does retreat,
And the urgency of the Solstice comes over us,
Until we dance and sing and have bonfires to call it back.

If it happens again and again, what truly is the impact of our dancing and bonfires?
Is celebration the cause of the return, or necessary desperate action?
Or do we celebrate to recognize the time of Yule, the turning of the Whee l of the Year?

Solstice presents the urgency of creating or coaxing a change at a moment in time. Yule gives time to contemplate and celebrate the change that occurs in spite of us. From both, indeed, comes renewal and rebirth, hope out of despair.

The Yule is for the earth's resting, germination of seeds, and preparation for Summertime. Yule may be said to stretch from Samhain (October) to Beltane (May), or at least until Twelfth Night (January 6).
From this come tales of gods being reborn, of balance of seasons, of the human spirit.

No wonder the early Christian church usurped this mid-winter phenomenon!
The Yule of Yore spoke the truth of dark and light, eternal existence.
Hang the new idea onto the old, change the old reality into new imagery, change the world view!

From our earth cycle Wheel of the Year, to the overlays of celebrations around light, Will the Solstice message hold true, that earth cycles can enhance the universe's change? May we evolve as true stewards of hope, of sustainability, of spiritual connections for eternity.

Check-out/Likes and Wishes: How was this session for you? What are you taking from the session?

Closing words:
May the rich message of hope, of transition, of the eternal Wheel be yours this year.
May you find the connection of your spirit today embedded in the eons of time,
That harken to the expansive universe of wonder, and the richness of both darkness and light.

May you be a carrier of this message, even in this time of doubt and uncertainty.
That the interdependent web of existence is indeed our connections,
As the Wheel of the Year, of cycles, of changes eternally are our heritage.
Blessed Be.

© Rev. Helen Zidowecki, December 2017

SESSION PLANS ONLINE

The SGM Network invites session plans from individuals and congregations for listing in the Session Plan Directory http://www.smallgroupministry.net/public/sessions/index.html or the new section on Celebrations http://smallgroupministry.net/public/sessions/celebrations.html. Please include a suggested topic and key words with session plan submissions.

Send sessions to office@smallgroupministry.net

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Social Justice Work Through Small Group Ministry - Thirty-four sessions for preparation, action and reflection on topics of multiculturalism, radical hospitality, immigration, racism, marriage equality, and earth justice.

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Facilitator Training and Development Manual - A guide for training and support plus a handbook on CD to customize for group leaders and facilitators.

Spiritual Journeys: 101 Session Plans for Small Group Ministry Programs - Sessions on Spiritual Journeying, Personal Beliefs and Values, Spiritual Challenges, Just for Fun, Being Human, Holidays, and Special Use subjects for life events.

Small Group Ministry for Youth - Twenty-five sessions for middle and high school youth.

The UU Small Group Ministry Network is a grassroots organization of Unitarian Universalist congregations, ministers, small group ministry/covenant group leaders and participants.

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