Children's Religious Exploration Program
We fully embrace children and their comprehensive faith development at UUCFM. We believe that the individual’s spiritual journey is seminal in his or her mature growth, future successes and ability to make a difference in the world.
Our Religious Exploration Program is multifaceted. We offer Sunday religious education classes, monthly social events, field trips, summer camps, exchanges with other church youth groups, and opportunities for knowing the wider multigenerational congregational community.
Our mission, therefore, is to continually provide tools and guidance to allow for effective and diverse faith exploration and to encourage children to examine, articulate and then carry out Unitarian Universalist principles and ideals.
UU Rainbow Principles for Children
- Each person is important.
- Be kind in all you do.
- We are free to learn together.
- And search for what is true.
- All people need a voice.
- Build a fair and peaceful world.
- We care for Earth’s lifeboat.
Religious Education Classes
We strive each year to provide our children a holistic faith development program that seeks to nurture an understanding of what it means to be Unitarian Universalist. We do this by providing children with an array of educational experiences that draw on proven research about the importance of appealing to a variety of learning styles. On any given Sunday morning, our children may be found exploring the Holton Eco-Preserve or working on community gardening, engaging in classroom lessons that draw from many sources and pluralistic teachings, working on service or social justice projects, participating in Children’s Chapel (a youth-led worship service) or joining with adults during multigenerational worship services.
Although each child will experience a variety of unique lessons, we also strive to offer a curriculum that provides each generation with a shared experience of what it means to be raised as a Unitarian Universalist. That means that some curriculum we offer will be cyclically offered, such as Neighboring Faiths, Spirit Play, Coming of Age, Our Whole Lives, Youth Group, trips to The Mountain (a UU retreat in the Smokey Mtns), etc.
Chalice Lighters (pic of kid lighting chalice)
One special way that we honor children in our congregation is by selecting a child each month who has demonstrated our core values in a special way. That child is invited to light the chalice in the sanctuary for Sunday service each week for one month, culminating in a ceremonial reception of a chalice pin.
Annual RE Program Traditions
- Holton Eco-Preserve Camp Out: A multigenerational overnight on church grounds that focuses on having fun, telling stories and sensing all that nature has to offer.
- Mystery Friends: a month-long exchange between older and younger members through secret note-writing and trinket-giving, culminating in a grand reveal and breakfast together.
- Flower Communion: a multigenerational worship service dedicated to understanding how our diversity of thought and circumstance is what makes us most strong and unique.
- RE Orientation and Fall BBQ: a kick-off to the RE school year
- Water Communion: a multigenerational worship service that holds up the importance of our many sources of wisdom in Unitarian Universalism.
- Halloween Party: a wildly popular teen-led fundraiser
- Christmas Eve/Yule Service: a worship service performed by youth and older congregants together with children and families as the primary audience in mind
2010 Summer Classes
 Nursery (birth through 4): Our youngest children are cared for from 9am to 1pm in Room 5, where Krista Jensen, a certified kindergarten teacher, presides as nursery attendant. Her services are available for such a long duration to provide parents the opportunity to attend meetings before and after Sunday services.
Lower Elementary (~5-7): Our early elementary-aged children meet in Room 3. For the summer, they will meet on the 1st and 3rd Sundays to work on lessons from a Unitarian Universalist Association-developed curriculum entitled “Wonderful Welcome.” For more information on this curriculum, please visit: http://www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith/wonderfulwelcome/ .
On the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month, these children will join the older children for games and playground play.
Upper Elementary (~8-12): Our older elementary-aged children meet in Room 2. For the summer, they will meet on the 1st and 3rd Sundays to work on lessons related to the monthly themes addressed by the minister and Worship Associates during the Sunday services. On the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month, these children will join the younger children for games and playground play.
Middle/High School: At this time, our summer program is not providing regular programming for teens due to the nature of their busy summer schedules. However, teens who attend church on Sundays during the summer are welcomed to assist teachers or may remain in the sanctuary for Sunday services.
Our Virtual Community
Please take a moment to peruse our online network. There you can join our message board, participate in polling about the direction of the RE Program, review our more detailed calendar of events and upload a profile of yourself and your family to aide us in getting to know you better.
Access the RE Meetup Group at this address: http://www.meetup.com/UUCFM-RE-Program-Meetup-Group/
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