What's up with the Hippogriffs?

Hey everyone!

Have you been wondering what's going on with the Enlightened Hippogriffs? Keeping an eye on the sky for Hogwarts owls that haven't come? Wondering when our next meeting is going to be, now that the new church year is about to begin? Well, look no further, here's what's happening.

The big news is that we're beginning an overall effort to partner our work more closely to already-existing First UU activities, to draw on the strength of our church community and the many parallels between the Harry Potter Alliance and UU Social Justice values. This means a few important changes to our plans for the coming year:

• We're transitioning to youth leadership. I'm going to happily take a back seat to leading our group and let some wonderful older youth take over, with the guidance of our fabulous new Director of Religious Education, Lane Campbell. They have met over the summer and together decided to focus on LGBTQ Rights, Environmental Issues, and Women's Rights. They're still working on how they're going to do this and how the HPA can support them in this work, as well as looking into upcoming community events related to these issues. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
  
• We're going to skip monthly meetings, but we're still doing Harry Potter Justice Sundays. These are open as always to all elementary-aged kids during both church services on the 4th Sunday of the month, November through April (with the exception of November which will be Nov. 17.) We're talking about having the older kids help lead these this year, which I know will make them that much more fun and enriching for all concerned!
  
• Don't worry, we're also still doing our favorite events: Yule Ball and Pride. The 3rd annual Fair Trade Chocolate Yule Ball will happen again this year during the December First Friday, which is December 6. And of course we'll never forget what Harry Potter taught us: nobody should be forced to live in a closet, so we're doing Pride again next June! I will continue to help lead our participation in these two events, and hopefully with our re-energized, youth-led social justice activists, they'll be better than ever! All are welcome to help with these, regardless of age - please let me know if you can lend a hand.

I'm really excited about these changes and the great things the kids will do this year! Remember what Harry said to Dumbledore's Army: "every great Wizard has started off as nothing more than we are now: students. If they can do it, why not us?" Here's to a GREAT and magical year!
~Lynne