In order to distract my son from the very attractive and nearby church that I really don't want to take him to (I do, actually, have quite a lot of issues with that denomination, in all of its flavors), I said there was a church on River Street, would he like to go to that? Technically, it is on School St just before the branch off to River Street but I had forgotten that in the moment and he is currently somewhat obsessed with River Street, altho I have no idea why. This was exciting, and he had a bunch of questions so I looked up the church.
Just so you know I was not being arbitrary, the church in question has appropriate affiliations (It is Congregational United Church of Christ) and is an Open and Affirming congregation so I don't have to feel all dirty hanging out with oppressors of my people. Further, this Sunday the service is by a pastor formerly of Westford at a church which is affiliated both with UU AND Congregational (thus having simultaneously Open and Affirming AND Welcoming credentials, which I had not thought was possible before but proves, once again, that the world is a pretty amazing and wonderful place). I feel that a woman who made all that happen has to be worth listening to for an hour.
At the suggestion of my UU minister friend (it was general advice, not specific to this), I have emailed this church ahead of time to find out about the kids' program and start a dialog about how to make that work well for T., if there really is one, which I sort of doubt at 8:30 a.m. late in August but you never know. Expect an update.