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2. Issues that arise for the times before and after Worshiping Together

1. IN THE MEETING ROOM, APPROX. 11:45-12:15, M&C takes responsibility

HERE IS THE PLAN: M & C has responsibility for what happens with the children after they arrive at the meeting room door.

M&C will try this the first week we decide we are ready, and then revise it, as necessary.
Tom Stoffregen is the M&C contact person on this.

* Where will the youth sit, in the meeting room?

• PROPOSED: When a family knows ahead of time that the children (or teachers) will want to join family members already in the meetingroom, they should agree roughly where in the room they will sit. Preferably not too far from the doors.

• CURRENT PLAN: Youth will not sit in classroom groups. The class ends when the kids enter the meetingroom and teachers are no longer responsible for the children at that point.

Comments from Teachers:

• In Texas, children came in at the end. The teachers come with special chairs.
  And in Durango –a smaller meeting– children sat with another adult that wasn’t a parent.
• I like the idea of kids staying with the teachers.
• I don’t like what I’ve seen in other meetings, when kids crawl around in a designated area.

*Do we assume every class will be present in the meetingroom every week?

One teacher writes:

I hope the time period for entering meeting is not frozen at 11:45 when the doors open and masses pour in like clockwork.
May we leave it more gradual and at the discretion of teachers so that students are slipping in little by little with timing at the discretion of teachers?”

* What is considered “appropriate behavior” for kids during meeting for worship?

• What guidance do we give kids about standing and sharing in worship?

Comments from Teachers:

• We gave kids paper and pencils and what they wrote was beautiful.

• It isn’t about silence but respect for a sacred space.
  Even it a kid hasn’t yet grown into an ability for silent worship, they can learn respectful behavior.
  I want them to have a positive experience of meaning.

* What if a child feels she needs to leave worship, to go to the bathroom or for another reason?

• Will we have a list of “situations” like this, with suggested responses, to give interested parties?

* Will announcements after worship be made as they are now?

• One class a month might introduce the class members to the meeting.

* What if a child is disruptive, or a group of children?

• PROPOSED: If the child has chosen to sit with her family, the family members are responsible.
  CURRENT PLAN: For children not sitting with their parents, the M&C member who is closing meeting is responsible, along with other M&C members present.

* What if  a child is upset by something during worship, an expression of grief or other strong emotion by an adult worshiper?

• DEFAULTS: The child will find help from a trusted source. An adult who has some context with the child may approach him or her.

* How, after the handshake, can we encourage children and youth who have done well, sitting in worship?

One teacher writes:
Kids who sat through meeting got a certificate In the “Black Hat Society.”

———————————-

* How will FDS and M&C encourage feedback about the new WT?

CURRENT PLAN:
There will be a table during the Fellowship time each week for several weeks before and after the new procedures are in place,
People will be encouraged to take their ideas there. Email and phone calls are also encouraged.

* What if you, an adult, are bothered?

• Are there any guidelines for judging
  • “this is my problem, a challenge to my spiritual growth” vs.
  • “this is a problem our community needs to address” ?

  DEFAULT: Feel free to bring up issues at the WT table during Fellowship, or with someone on FDS or M&C with whom you feel comfortable.
  “My problem vs. Our Problem” should not be an issue in this exploratory conversation.

2. ISSUES IN THE TIMES BEFORE & AFTER “WT”

(In roughly the order they will occur on a Sunday:)

* Will there be a handout for parents outlining how this is expected to work?

• Will a handout offer suggestions about what to say to kids (of different ages) about what to look for, and how to behave?

* How do teachers handle their pre-class preparation, before 11AM?

PROPOSAL: We start by having child-care available from 10:30 to 10:45 where teachers can drop their kids while they prepare for class. This ends with group singing, which starts at 10:45.

* When do teachers need to be in their classrooms, ready to receive students?
PROPOSAL: We have group singing from 10:45 to 10:59.
After taking off their coats, parents bring their children to this area. Parents can either sing with the group or leave the children and go to the meetingroom.
Teachers come to the singing area to gather their class, shortly before 11:00.

* How do we handle the likely “drop-off drift”? As we know all too well, families tend to run late.
Setting a tone, “you won’t want to be late for this,” is good.
ALTERNATE IDEA: Madison Meeting offers a “Family breakfast” of oatmeal at 10:15. Families can arrive with some members still half-asleep and still be ready to go at 11:00.

• What other things can we do so that latecomers disrupt our efforts as little as possible?
  Latecomers go to “Extended Singing” rather than their FDS classrooms? Kids join their classes as a “late group,” at 11:20. Teachers can plan their work with a break at that point, when it is easy to assimilate newcomers?

* How many ways are there, that a new start-time can be publicized?

• Large sign in the entry way,
  prominent notice on the website,
  as well as newsletters, announcement sheets, changes to the FDS brochure, etc.

* What sort of positive preparation for entering worship do teachers give the kids?

• Can teachers and others make suggestions about what might teachers say, generally, about meeting for worship?
  • What would it be good for teachers to say in the moments before the class gets up to go to the meeting room?
    Is someone willing to volunteer to author/edit a list of suggestions?

* How much discretion can we give to individual classes, especially the teachers, about whether they come to Meeting for Worship on a given day?

• Can we encourage a feeling of choice? A “yes, let’s go!” feeling, at least for the teachers and classes who need it?

* CURRENT PLAN: children do NOT bring work done in class to the meeting room.
a drop-off point in the Library?

* How can we help preserve the centered atmosphere developed in the classroom as we move toward and into the meeting room?

• How can we minimize a kid-jam outside the door, with the attendant jostling and distractions?
  • PROPOSAL: Teachers can ask for extra adults to accompany the class to the meetingroom doors.

* What about kids who are not ready for “Worship Together”?

• Do we staff a room for kids who are not ready?
• What if much of the class has got a “thing” going, and the teacher expects they would be a disruption in the meeting room?
  DEFAULT: It’s not the teacher’s responsibility after the kids are inside the meetingroom. Then, it’s up to M&C.

* How can we encourage opportunities for adults to talk to kids about “what just happened in worship”?

Issues by individual Classrooms

Preschool

Are Preschoolers included in WT?

Kindergarden – First Grade

Second, Third & Fourth Grades

Fifth & Sixth Grades

Middle School

High School

Not included?
Optional? Might come at least once a quarter?
Should feel invited.

• WT-1: Current updates to Worshiping Together process
• WT-2: Introduction to the “Worshiping Together” process
• WT-3: Issues related to how we imagine the flow of children and worship on any given Sunday, once the process is well established.
  THIS IS THE MAIN PAGE FOR YOUR BEST THOUGHTS
• WT-3-OLD: “WT-3″ will always reflect the current thinking. To keep WT-3 as uncomplicated as possible we will remove ideas that have been discussed and set aside. Friends who want to see what WT-3 looked like BEFORE the current version can go to WT-3-OLD.
  
• WT-4: Preparations we as a community may need to make to achieve the goal of a rewarding inter-generational worship experience.
• WT-5: Open issues, concerns, exceptions, things to be mindful of. As we approach general agreement about “how are we going to do this,” I imagine this will be a place to record and keep track of “paths not (currently) taken.” If we agree on a course of action over the objections of some, let those objections be recorded here, with proposed alternatives, if possible. Then if things develop the way the objectors feared they would, we have a record in community memory, and perhaps some suggestions about alternative ways to proceed. This will be a place to stockpile dissenting opinions, and outstanding issues that we will do well to remember as we encounter the realities of the process as it unfolds. I will also use this area to archive all comments made, after they have been incorporated into the body of the work.
  
• WT-6: Jokes about what is happening, or might happen.

• Standing committee clerks and members most recent year’s slate)
• Agendas for business meeting

A password is required. Please contact jamestr@gmail.com, identifying your connection to the meeting, to contact the site coordinator for the password or if you have any questions or difficulties.

Monday 8/30, update 3

Worshiping Together Update #3:
*TCFM Website re-designed, “comments” function working, WT Pages now accepting comments.

WT-3, Big Update:
M&C presents their plan for 11:45-12:15:

HERE IS THE PLAN: M & C has responsibility for what happens with the children after they arrive at the meeting room door.

M&C will try this the first week we decide we are ready, and then revise it, as necessary.
Tom Stoffregen is the M&C contact person on this.

PROPOSED:

Saturday, 8/29, update 2

Big update.

WT-2 lightly re-written to adapt to broken “comments” function on this website.

WT-3, major update: “CURRENT PLAN” is beginning to appear for some topics. “PROPOSAL”s are also showing up. M&C is taking responsibility for what happens once children & youth are in the meetingroom. There are sections for thoughts about each classroom/age-group. Perhaps there will be Sundays when individual classes choose not to come to adult worship.
Previous contents of WT-3 moved to WT-3-Old.

WT-4, major update: Preparation time line. Slow, class-based, implementation? Scheduled evaluation?

Friday, 7/29, update 1

Report on discussion at M&C, 7/28.

This is from my (Richard Fuller) point of view. Others who were there, feel free to email your perspective to me and I will incorporate your thinking into this report.

1. M&C proposed that each Sunday, it would be the person closing meeting who would open the doors at 11:45 and welcome the children in.
2. There was general agreement that the teachers are doing LOTS of great work, and that we want them to feel supported as we move into the final planning for this Worshiping Together process.
3. Most M&C members feel that adult worshipers are ready (mostly) for the change to Worshiping Together at 11:45, and M&C suggests the WT subcommittee and the FDS committee focus on the needs of teachers, parents and children.
4. M&C is firm that 11:45 WT should start this fall, but realizes that, since the first Sunday after Labor Day is September 12, it may not be possible to have everything ready to go by September 19, when FDS classes begin.
5. It was suggested that during the weeks of preparation for WT, adults from 11:00 worship might come to each of the FDS classes and “invite” them, and explain why (that particular adult) was excited to have the class coming into worship near the end, instead of at the beginning.
6. Members of the WT subcommittee plan to have informal discussions with teachers and parents in early August, in an effort to draft a plan of specifics on how this will work. We will have a progress report to M&C in time for their next meeting, 8/25. We hope to have a ready-to-edit-or-implement draft plan, covering everything we can think of, by the second Sunday in September, the 12th.

A subcommittee has been formed

Richard Fuller has asked Heather Ferguson and Caroline Fahrney Kirchner to help him stay on top of this process as it develops, and they have agreed.

• WT-1: Current updates to Worshiping Together process
• WT-2: Introduction to the “Worshiping Together” process
• WT-3: Issues related to how we imagine the flow of children and worship on any given Sunday, once the process is well established.
  THIS IS THE MAIN PAGE FOR YOUR BEST THOUGHTS
• WT-3-OLD: “WT-3″ will always reflect the current thinking. To keep WT-3 as uncomplicated as possible we will remove ideas that have been discussed and set aside. Friends who want to see what WT-3 looked like BEFORE the current version can go to WT-3-OLD.
  
• WT-4: Preparations we as a community may need to make to achieve the goal of a rewarding inter-generational worship experience.
• WT-5: Open issues, concerns, exceptions, things to be mindful of. As we approach general agreement about “how are we going to do this,” I imagine this will be a place to record and keep track of “paths not (currently) taken.” If we agree on a course of action over the objections of some, let those objections be recorded here, with proposed alternatives, if possible. Then if things develop the way the objectors feared they would, we have a record in community memory, and perhaps some suggestions about alternative ways to proceed. This will be a place to stockpile dissenting opinions, and outstanding issues that we will do well to remember as we encounter the realities of the process as it unfolds. I will also use this area to archive all comments made, after they have been incorporated into the body of the work.
  
• WT-6: Jokes about what is happening, or might happen.

Richard Fuller here. I am a member of the First Day School Committee, the committee responsible for the oversight of our First-Day education of our children.
(We recruit teachers, help them with lesson plans, if needed, decide each year what age-groupings of kids in classes make sense for that year, keep on top of child-safety issues and a bunch of other stuff.)

We work with Ministry and Counsel to coordinate when and how the children and adults worship together on First Day (Sunday) morning.

Since the 1980s, children have been part of adult worship starting at 11 AM, and they left the meeting room about 11:15.
Last spring First Day School and Ministry & Counsel committees agreed it might be better for the children’s experience of worship if they came in at 11:45, so that they could experience meeting for worship after the adults had settled in to a deeper state of waiting.

Of course, a couple of Quaker committees cannot “decide” what all the Quakers in a meeting will do. We ARE the relevant committees to initiate that decision, but we need to consult with everyone affected by the change, or at least allow everyone who will be affected the opportunity to raise concerns and make suggestions. We need to listen and we need to take what we hear into account.

And many suggestions WILL be needed. This will be a big change, requiring many arrangements. FDS & M&C committees are excited about how this will bring adults and youth of the community together, but we need YOUR input to make it a successful experience, one that gives our children & youth a better understanding of waiting silently in worship for the movement of the Divine.

There has been MUCH discussion already, of how this will work, but it has been scattered among committees and small informal groups. What I hope to do here on the TCFM website is to

• Provide a place where EVERYBODY can see how the discussion is developing
• Encourage people to comment here (at the bottom of most WT pages) or to email or speak to us on as many of the issues as they have opinions about
• Offer a place that outlines the discussion and invites input for folks who don’t have other avenues of input, like committees they are serving on.

I see the WT pages on this website as a supplement to meetings and informal conversations, but also as a place of record, where we summarize our current thinking, a place where people who may have missed an important meeting can catch up.
I encourage you to follow the discussion here, and to comment, but also to come to the “Worshiping Together” table during the Fellowship time, or to talk to members of Ministry & Counsel and/ or the FDS Committee, or to email me at richard.osbo.fuller(at)gmail.com.

On the WT-3 and WT-4 pages we are listing all the issues and questions we can think of, plus proposing ideas and naming CURRENT PLANS, where we have them.

In the language of Process Work, we need to map the “field;” we need to recognize as many of the elements of the situation as possible, before we can make changes that will benefit the community as a whole, rather than just some parts of it.

My plans for how this web-assisted discussion will work

I am posting a series of WT (Worshiping Together) articles devoted to

• WT-2: This introductory post, or page
• WT-3: Current Plans, Proposals & Issues related to how we imagine the flow of children and worship on any given Sunday, once the process is well established.
• WT-4: Preparations we as a community may need to make to achieve the goal of a rewarding inter-generational worship experience.
• WT-5: Open issues, concerns, exceptions, things to be mindful of. As we approach general agreement about “how are we going to do this,” I imagine this will be a place to record and keep track of “paths not (currently) taken.” If we agree on a course of action over the objections of some, let those objections be recorded here, with proposed alternatives, if possible. Then if things develop the way the objectors feared they would, we have a record in community memory, and perhaps some suggestions about alternative ways to proceed. This will be a place to stockpile dissenting opinions, and outstanding issues that we will do well to remember as we encounter the realities of the process as it unfolds. I will also use this area to archive all comments made on all the issues.
• WT-6: Jokes about what is happening, or might happen.
• WT-1: Current Status Updates – When you come back to these pages after having been away, you can check here, rather than having to review all the pages.

I need to emphasize this is an experiment, like all of life. Many of us have ideas of how this will work, but it will take trying things to know what really works. And if something isn’t working for some folks, they need to comment here or bring those issues to the “Worshiping Together” table in the Fellowship room or to talk to someone on the FDS or M&C Committees.

My imagined role as “discussion-shepherd”

I will update these WT posts as the discussion continues and as an eventual consensus develops. I will regularly add inputs from meetings, and reports of informal conversations.

YOU –all of us– are ENCOURAGED to share your thinking.

The main contact people are:
Richard Fuller (FDS Committee)
Caroline Fahrney Kirchner (Parent, FDS teacher)
Heather Ferguson (Parent, M&C member)
Marybeth Neal (clerk, FDS Committee)
Tom Stoffregen (Parent, designated M&C contact)

Talk to us face to face after worship. Call us or email us.

Comment here. At the bottom of most of the WT posts is a comment area. Please contribute ideas relevant to that WT topic. I will assimilate the substance of the comments into the WT framework where it can be seen in context, and then I’ll move the original comment to the WT-5 area.

Please post comments not only on your own ideas but ideas you hear from others. This web discussion area is supposed to reflect and represent the larger face-to-face conversation.

Please email your ideas to Richard.osbo.fuller (at) gmail.com. I will assimilate the substance of your thoughts into the WT-3 and WT-4 where it can be seen in context, and then I’ll place your message –your words– in the WT-5 area, unless you prefer otherwise.

There is a corollary to my request for ideas: If you are speaking to a Friend about “Worshiping Together” and you are saying something that you DON’T want quoted on this website, please state that clearly. If you talk to me, I will automatically be doing my best to summarize what you say here. I am encouraging all of us to report what they are hearing. We assume this is a community-wide conversation where everybody has the opportunity to know what is being said. If you are saying something that is not for the ears of the whole community, you have a responsibility to be clear about that.

• WT-1: Current updates to Worshiping Together process
• WT-2: Introduction to the “Worshiping Together” process
• WT-3: Issues related to how we imagine the flow of children and worship on any given Sunday, once the process is well established.
  THIS IS THE MAIN PAGE FOR YOUR BEST THOUGHTS
• WT-3-OLD: “WT-3″ will always reflect the current thinking. To keep WT-3 as uncomplicated as possible we will remove ideas that have been discussed and set aside. Friends who want to see what WT-3 looked like BEFORE the current version can go to WT-3-OLD.
  
• WT-4: Preparations we as a community may need to make to achieve the goal of a rewarding inter-generational worship experience.
• WT-5: Open issues, concerns, exceptions, things to be mindful of. As we approach general agreement about “how are we going to do this,” I imagine this will be a place to record and keep track of “paths not (currently) taken.” If we agree on a course of action over the objections of some, let those objections be recorded here, with proposed alternatives, if possible. Then if things develop the way the objectors feared they would, we have a record in community memory, and perhaps some suggestions about alternative ways to proceed. This will be a place to stockpile dissenting opinions, and outstanding issues that we will do well to remember as we encounter the realities of the process as it unfolds. I will also use this area to archive all comments made, after they have been incorporated into the body of the work.
  
• WT-6: Jokes about what is happening, or might happen.

The WT-3 version outdated on _____

The WT-3 version outdated on Aug. 30

1. IN THE MEETING ROOM, APPROX. 11:45-12:15

M & C will take responsibility for what happens with the children when they arrive at the meeting room door. They have agreed on a draft plan and are writing it up. They will try it the first week and then revise it, as necessary. Tom Stoffregen is the M&C contact person on this.

We will post the M&C plan here, when we get it.

* Where will the youth sit, in the meeting room?

• Some kids will want to sit with their parents.
  • When a family knows ahead of time that the children will want to join the parents, where should the parents sit?
  • How should they reserve a seat for the child, if they think it will be needed?
• Most FDS Classes will enter the meeting room as groups. Shall we reserve group seating?

Comments from Teachers:

• In Texas, children came in at the end. The teachers come with special chairs.
  And in Durango –a smaller meeting– children sat with another adult that wasn’t a parent.
• I like the idea of kids staying with the teachers.
• I don’t like what I’ve seen in other meetings, when kids crawl around in a designated area.

* How will youth enter the meeting room?

• What weeks will we see children?
  • Do we assume every class will be present every week?

Current Plan: The Ministry & Counsel member who will be closing meeting will open the doors at the right time, and welcome the children in.

• Older classes first?
  A semi-formal procession?
  An order that has a logic for the kids, and that they recognize how to play their part in?

One teacher writes:
I hope the time period for entering meeting is not frozen at 11:45 when the doors open and masses pour in like clockwork.
May we leave it more gradual and at the discretion of teachers so that students are slipping in little by little with timing at the discretion of teachers?”

* What is considered “appropriate behavior” for kids during meeting for worship?

• What guidance do we give kids about standing and sharing in worship?

Comments from Teachers:

• We gave kids paper and pencils and what they wrote was beautiful.

• It isn’t about silence but respect for a sacred space. Even it a kid hasn’t yet grown into an ability for silent worship, they can learn respectful behavior. I want them to have a positive experience of meaning.

* What if a child feels she needs to leave worship, to go to the bathroom or for another reason?

• Will we have a list of “situations” like this, with suggested responses, to give interested parties?

* Will announcements after worship be made as they are now?

• One class a month might introduce the class members to the meeting.

* What if a child is disruptive, or a group of children?

• Who’s responsibility is this?
  The M&C member who is closing meeting?

* What if a teacher can tell that a child is upset by something during worship?

• An expression of grief or other strong emotion by an adult worshiper?
• a generic sharing by an adult that the teacher knows is likely to touch a sensitive spot for a particular child?

* How, after the handshake, can we encourage children and youth who have done well, sitting in worship?

One teacher writes:
Kids who sat through meeting got a certificate In the “Black Hat Society.”

———————————-

* How will FDS and M&C encourage feedback about the new WT?

CURRENT PLAN:
There will be a table during the Fellowship time each week, and people will be encouraged to take their ideas there. Email and phone calls will also be encouraged.

* What if you, an adult, are bothered?

• Are there any guidelines for judging
  • “this is my problem, a challenge to my spiritual growth” vs.
  • “this is a problem our community needs to address” ?

2. ISSUES IN THE TIMES BEFORE & AFTER “WT”

(In roughly the order they will occur on a Sunday:)

* Will there be a handout for parents outlining how this is expected to work?

• Will a handout offer suggestions about what to say to kids (of different ages) about what to look for, and how to behave?

* How do teachers handle pre-class preparation?

PROPOSAL: We start by having child-care available from 10:30 to 10:50 where teachers can drop their kids while they prepare for class.

* When do teachers need to be in their classrooms, ready to receive students?
PROPOSAL: Teachers are ready for students at 10:45, with a “hard start” to structured activities at 10:55 and the expectation that parents will have dropped their kids and gone by then.

* How do we handle the likely “drop-off drift”?
As we know all too well, families tend to run late.
Setting a tone, “you won’t want to be late for this,” is good.

• What other things can we do so that latecomers disrupt our efforts as little as possible?
  Latecomers go to “childcare” rather than their FDS classrooms?

* How many ways are there, that a new start-time can be publicized?

• Large sign in the entry way,
  prominent notice on the website,
  as well as newsletters, announcement sheets, changes to the FDS brochure, etc.

* What sort of positive preparation for entering worship do teachers give the kids?

• Can teachers and others make suggestions about what might teachers say, generally, about meeting for worship?
• What would it be good for teachers to say in the moments before the class gets up to go to the meeting room?

* How much discretion can we give to individual classes, especially the teachers, about whether they come to Meeting for Worship on a given day?

• Can we encourage a feeling of choice? A “yes, let’s go!” feeling, at least for the teachers and classes who need it?

* CURRENT PLAN: children do NOT bring work done in class to the meeting room if it is bulky or potentially messy.

* How can we help preserve the centered atmosphere developed in the classroom as we move toward and into the meeting room?

• How can we minimize a kid-jam outside the door, with the attendant jostling and distractions?
  • PROPOSAL: Teachers can ask for extra adults to accompany the class to the meetingroom doors.

* What about kids who are not ready for “Worship Together”?

• Do we staff a room for kids who are not ready?
• What if most of the class has got a “thing” going,
  and the teacher expects they would be a disruption in the meeting room?

* How can we encourage opportunities for adults to talk to kids about “what just happened in worship”?

Issues by individual Classrooms

Preschool

Are Preschoolers included in WT?

Kindergarden – First Grade

Second, Third & Fourth Grades

Fifth & Sixth Grades

Middle School

High School

Not included? Optional? Might come occasionally? Should feel invited.

The WT-3 version outdated on August 28

1. IN THE MEETING ROOM, APPROX. 11:45-12:15

* Where will the youth sit, in the meeting room?

• Some kids will want to sit with their parents.
  • When a family knows ahead of time that the children will want to join the parents, where should the parents sit?
  • How should they reserve a seat for the child, if they think it will be needed?
    Paper plates on seats where a child is expected?

• Most FDS Classes will enter the meeting room as groups. How shall we reserve group seating?

* How will youth enter the meeting room?

• What weeks will we see children?
  • Do we assume every class will be present every week?
  • What about children who are “not ready to enter silent worship” on a particular day, at 11:45?
• Issues around HOW children enter
  • Who determines that “the coast is clear,” that no one is currently speaking out of the silence?
    • How long might children be asked to wait, while a speaker finishes?
  • Older classes first?
    A semi-formal procession?
    An order that has a logic for the kids, and that they recognize how to play their part in?

* What if a child feels she needs to leave worship, to go to the bathroom or for another reason?

• Will we have a list of “situations” like this, with suggested responses, to give teachers (& parents)?

* Will announcements after worship be made as they are now?

* What if a child is disruptive, or a group of children?

• Who’s responsibility is this? (When kids come in at 11, they are under the care of their parents.)
• In “Worshiping Together” would the responsible adult be the teacher the child came in with?
  The M&C member who is closing meeting?

———————————-

* How will FDS and M&C encourage feedback about the new WT?

• Will feedback from youth and parents be actively solicited by teachers?
• How do teachers get feedback to FDS Committee or M&C?
• How will adults who are not teachers or parents make suggestions or register concerns?

* What if you, an adult, are bothered?

• Are there any guidelines for judging
  • “this is my problem, a challenge to my spiritual growth” vs.
  • “this is a problem our community needs to address” ?

2. ISSUES IN THE TIMES BEFORE & AFTER “WT”

(In roughly the order they will occur on a Sunday:)

* Will there be a handout for parents outlining how this is expected to work?

• Will it offer suggestions about what to say to kids (of different ages) about what to look for, and how to behave?
• Not just a bunch of “don’ts.”

* How do teachers handle pre-class preparation?

• Some teachers have been using 11:00 to 11:15 as preparation time. What will they do?
  • Can there be a place for these teachers’ children, before 11,
    allowing the teachers who are also parents a chance to prepare for their class?

* When do teachers need to be in their classrooms, ready to receive students?

* What sort of positive preparation for entering worship do teachers give the kids?

• Not just a bunch of “don’ts.”
• What might teachers say, generally, about meeting for worship?
• What would it be good for teachers to say in the moments before the class gets up to go to the meeting room?

* Does a child bring work done in class to the meeting room?

* How can we help preserve the centered atmosphere developed in the classroom as we move toward and into the meeting room?

• How can we minimize a kid-jam outside the door, with the attendant jostling and distractions?

* What about kids who are not ready for “Worship Together”?

• Do we staff a room for kids who are not ready?
• What if most of the class has got a “thing” going,
  and the teacher expects they would be a disruption in the meeting room?

* What if a teacher can tell that a child is upset by something during worship?

• An expression of grief or other strong emotion by an adult worshiper?
• a generic sharing by an adult that the teacher knows is likely to touch a sensitive spot for a particular child?

* How can we encourage opportunities for adults to talk to kids about “what just happened in worship”?

* How, after the handshake, can we encourage children and youth who have done well, sitting in worship?

• WT-1: Current updates to Worshiping Together process
• WT-2: Introduction to the “Worshiping Together” process
• WT-3: Issues related to how we imagine the flow of children and worship on any given Sunday, once the process is well established.
  THIS IS THE MAIN PAGE FOR YOUR BEST THOUGHTS
• WT-3-OLD: “WT-3″ will always reflect the current thinking. To keep WT-3 as uncomplicated as possible we will remove ideas that have been discussed and set aside. Friends who want to see what WT-3 looked like BEFORE the current version can go to WT-3-OLD.
  
• WT-4: Preparations we as a community may need to make to achieve the goal of a rewarding inter-generational worship experience.
• WT-5: Open issues, concerns, exceptions, things to be mindful of. As we approach general agreement about “how are we going to do this,” I imagine this will be a place to record and keep track of “paths not (currently) taken.” If we agree on a course of action over the objections of some, let those objections be recorded here, with proposed alternatives, if possible. Then if things develop the way the objectors feared they would, we have a record in community memory, and perhaps some suggestions about alternative ways to proceed. This will be a place to stockpile dissenting opinions, and outstanding issues that we will do well to remember as we encounter the realities of the process as it unfolds. I will also use this area to archive all comments made, after they have been incorporated into the body of the work.
  
• WT-6: Jokes about what is happening, or might happen.