Families and the Religious Education Program

Vision Statement for the RE Program:  

Through the encouragement, involvement, and guidance of the whole congregation, we provide our children and youth with a safe and accepting environmnet in which to explore spirituality and to learn and support Unitarian Universalist values and other world religions.  Our program inspires them to articulate their beliefs and live out their faith in a broader community.

Whether called a church, a fellowship, a congregation, or a society, our Unitarian Universalist faith communities have always valued children. 

Our Unitarian Universalist principles provide the core of our religious explorations.  They are:

1.      We believe that each and every person is important.

2.      We believe that all people should be treated fairly.

3.      We believe that our Churches are places where all people are accepted, and where we keep on learning together.

4.      We believe that each person must be free to search for what is right and true in life.

5.      We believe that everyone should have a vote about the things that concern them.

6.      We believe in working for a peaceful, fair, and free world.

Our Director of Religious Education and oversees our life-span religious education programming. Our Church School Program, run by the Religious Education Committee, encompasses pre-school through 8th grade, and is held on Sunday mornings. Our high school youth group, called "da Yootes," meets most Sunday afternoons and is led by the Youth Director.

Our philosophy of Religious Education is based on the belief that all children are naturally religious and therefore curious about the world. Our goal is not to indoctrinate children with religious beliefs, but rather to encourage this curiosity. Through worship, curricula, social justice projects, and the experience of being part of a religious community, we encourage children to explore the mystery of the Divine and the awe and wonder of the natural world.