Welcome to Religious Exploration for Children and Youth at Summit Unitarian Universalist Fellowship!
Every Sunday, before the children go from the service to their classes, they lead us all in the affirmation: We are Unitarian Universalists, people of open minds, loving hearts and helping hands. These thirteen words say simply and clearly what we are working toward in our program for children and youth. Along the way, we learn about Unitarian Universalism – the seven principles, the history, the famous UUs. We learn about other religions, philosophies and cultures, about caring for our planet and about caring for each other. We learn about community service, both within the Summit community and in the world at large. We learn a lot of good stories from a variety of traditions and about how stories can help us to find our own ways. We have the chance to build friendships, to cooperate, to negotiate, to learn leadership skills and to develop a moral compass to take out into the world.
Theme-based Programming From September through May, the whole fellowship focuses on the theme for each month which is presented in the service at the Time for All Ages as well as in a sermon and is carried through to the classes for children and youth.
Pre-schoolers and Kindergarteners, 1st Graders, 2nd and 3rd Graders, and 4th
through 6th Graders have active workshops each week (discussions, arts, justice projects, games, drama…) that are tailored to their ages and that relate to and reinforce the month’s theme.
7th and 8th Graders work with Families, a UUA Tapestry of Faith curriculum that involves in-depth exploration of the diversity, commonality and meaning of families and ends with a photo exhibit of the group’s work.
High School Youth work with Popcorn Theology, a curriculum that presents clips from films with ethical and theological issues followed by discussions and reinforcing activities.
All of the groups have UUology woven into their sessions, learning the nuts and bolts of Unitarian Universalism.
Summit UU Roots & Shoots We are a Roots & Shoots group, which means that we belong to an international network of children, youth and adults who design and implement projects to better the human community, the animal community and the environment. All of our kids will be involved in Roots & Shoots projects over the coming school year.
OWL Our Whole Lives is a comprehensive human sexuality curriculum co-created by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. It focuses on respect, responsibility and relationships in age-appropriate ways - with classes for Kindergarten/1st grade, 4th to 6th grade, middle school, high school, young adults and adults. We are in the process of developing OWL offerings this year at Summit.
Sunday Mornings for Children and Youth Nursery care is available for children three years and younger from 9:50 a.m. until noon. Children four and older gather in their classroom areas at about 9:50. Just before 10:00, the minister or service leader comes through with a singing bowl and leads the children and teachers into the sanctuary for the first twenty minutes or so of the service. Following the Time for All Ages, they return to their classrooms for the day’s projects and activities. At 11:15, the groups come together for the RE Café, which includes an offertory and snack. The final half hour of the morning is open for ongoing projects, games, crafts, foosball and visiting with each other.
Quarterly Family Gatherings At least every quarter, families gather on a Friday evening for food, activities – and fun!
How Can You Help Make This Program Successful? Religious Exploration is a cooperatively run program, supported by the congregation, with no registration fees. We encourage pledging to the fellowship’s general fund as well as lending a hand to the work of the program. Check with our Committee Chair about the many ways you can be involved.
UU Principles for Children We believe: That each and every person is important That all people should be treated fairly That our churches are places where all people are accepted and where we keep on learning together That each person must be free to search for what is true and right in life That everyone should have a say in the things that concern them In working for a peaceful, fair and free world In caring for our planet.
For more information, please contact:
Religious Exploration for Children and Youth Committee Chair Elinor Weed MeWeed@aol.com
