Return to In-Person Religious Education
The church returned to in-person worship and religious education. We are glad to offer the option to attend in-person or online! We want you to feel comfortable and safe as you return.
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- We encourage all who are eligible to be fully vaccinated.
- We require that all attendees remain masked while in the building.
Sunday Services
On arrival Sunday morning, each family should enter the sanctuary together. Children and youth will sit with their families.
Every first Sunday of the month will be a multi-generational service. This service, which kicks off the new theme for each month, is meant to be meaningful and accessible to all ages. We will occasionally have special music and from time to time invite children and youth to come to the dais for an interactive lesson. There will be no classroom lessons provided or scheduled on first Sundays of the month.
On non-first Sundays, after the Time to Gather portion of the service, the children and youth will be led out to their classrooms for religious education.
Register your family for Youth Religious Education here and we’ll add you to the distribution list for classroom links and weekly updates.
September – May Sunday Youth Mornings
Pre-School and Kindergarten Spirit Play
Spirit Play is a Montessori-based program that teaches children about Unitarian Universalist principles, history, and liturgy through storytelling and play.
1st – 3rd grade & 4th – 6th grade Young Group Ministry
We use the monthly themes to explore our world and how our UU faith guides us to pursue truth, fairness, justice, compassion, and love. Each class will have age-appropriate activities to engage young people in questioning their place in the world and in answering life’s “big questions.”
The lesson plans for 1st – 3rd and 4th – 6th grade are the same but the classes meet separate from each other.
7th & 8th grade New Neighboring Faiths (Offered 2022/2023)
Neighboring Faiths introduces youth in grades 7 & 8 to the faith traditions and practices of other religious groups in their community. Neighboring Faiths provides a number of processes for engaging participants in a religious journey.
Goals for participants:
- To participate personally in the faith traditions of others.
- To reflect on the unique and universal of religious experience.
- To explore their own values as they relate to many other faith traditions.
- To become more aware of the many connections between Unitarian Universalism and other faith traditions.
- To strengthen commitment to Unitarian Universalist faith and community.
- To increase their understanding and appreciation of religious diversity.
- To build relationships with peers, adult leaders, and their congregation and community.
7th & 8th grade Coming of Age (Next Offered 2023/2024)
Coming of Age ceremonies, marking the transition from childhood to young adult, are as old as history. They have included ritual abductions, vision quests, and bar and bat mitzvahs, all to help youth learn about themselves and prepare for adulthood.
This Coming of Age program is designed to acknowledge the transition between childhood and adolescence. It is a vibrant program focusing on the youths themselves and each unique journey. Coming of age is a transformative experience.
Our goals are to:- Provide youth with the tools to begin intentionally shaping their own spiritual lives
- Encourage youth to create their own “empowering stories”
- Create a space and time for deep authentic relationships among youth, facilitators, mentors, and the congregation
During the Coming of Age year youth experience learning, testing, ritual, and celebration.
The program includes:
- Sessions tackling life’s “big questions”
- A Chalice Circle retreat
- Exploring religious beliefs through art and music
- Developing a relationship with a mentor
- Service project
- A Wilderness Journey Retreat
- Creating & presenting a faith statement
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9th – 12th grade High School Youth Group
The Youth Group will meet all Sundays except the first Sunday. The theme based sessions will be filled with creative, high quality worship, games, meditations, reflections, stories, art engagement, discussion starters, etc. Each session is built around our monthly themes to ensure that your youth are part of the wider theme conversation happening all around the congregation.
Our core youth program for high school students provides experiences in community building and fellowship, worship and congregational engagement, social action, UU values, and youth-led sessions exploring the monthly themes and other topics of importance to our youth and their world. Youth and advisors work jointly to plan and participate in social action projects, leadership development, and opportunities for worship.
Youth Group is a wonderful experience for teens – it broadens their perspectives and gives them a comfortable atmosphere in which to discuss the issues they are dealing with, as they become adults.
High school-age UUs put our faith into action every day by daring to be real, showing acceptance and support, leading with courage, and acting for justice.
After all, what is religion for if it isn’t about changing your life—and changing the world—for the better?
You may contact our Director of Religious Education, Steve Cooper, to learn more about any of our youth programs or how to register your child.