Our Children’s Program is called First Day School because historically Quakers call Sunday, “First Day”. The purpose of First Day School is to provide an inviting environment for children to connect with each other and the Spirit within, and to experience a sense of community.
Our schedule:
We welcome children and youth to our 11 a.m. Meeting for Worship! Children are invited to spend the first 10 minutes of worship with their parents, then exit together at 11:10 for First Day School. Parents can come along for the circle time introductions, and then are invited to stay nearby for a Parent’s Circle, or return to the Meeting Room for worship.
First Sunday of the month, at 11:00 a.m: Intergenerational
Intergenerational Worship: Share a more active worship with all ages, as an option to our unprogrammed worship (both happening concurrently in different rooms!).
Sunday, November 5, Intergenerational Meeting for Worship: We invite Friends of all ages to join us in the West Room at 11:10 a.m. for active worship on a theme of Gratitude. We’ll discuss the benefits of gratitude, do a brief guided meditation, discuss gratitude practices in daily life, play Gratitude Pictionary, and do a gratitude collage art project! Queries: What are you grateful for in your life? How does being grateful benefit you and those around you?
All Other Sundays of the month, at 11:00 a.m: Seek & Play
November Seek & Play: Forest and Tree Stories.
Just as fairy tales use the woods as a place of learning and being lost, so too many religious stories use trees! Come and enjoy playing with our mini forest!
Seek & Play: an hour long play-based learning program for children aged 2-12.
Seek & Play is a Montessori based Quaker curriculum developed at Eugene Friends Meeting and based off the work of Jerome Berryman. It offers an interfaith forum for children to ask questions, play, develop skills to be seekers in their own lives, and explore the values of community, integrity, stewardship, peace, equality, simplicity, silence, and nonviolence.
0-2 year olds are encouraged to join any of our activities with a responsible adult presence – If you would like a volunteer care-giver or baby holder so you can attend worship, please contact Children’s Religious Education in advance.
Middle and Junior Friends aged 12 – 17 are also welcomed to join, for peer directed activities following the same vein. Group decision-making offers chances for fun and candid conversations, with an emphasis on belonging, agency, and inner awareness.
Updated 10/1/2023
