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Where do I go on Sunday morning?
Visit our Sunday School Information Area, outside the kitchen in Room B, which is staffed by volunteers each Sunday morning to help everyone, especially new families, find the right class and new friends. There are visitor forms, a registration station, maps, and experienced church folks to answer your questions and help you find your way around.This is also the place where families can connect with the New Family Orientation Leader. We request that families new to First UU spend an hour getting to know more about us. You may choose to be together as a family in the worship service for a week or several weeks before you decide to find out more about Sunday School. We'd like the whole family to learn about us together before the first day in our Sunday School groups.
Children in grades 5 and below begin their morning with their families in the Worship Center. They leave for their groups soon after the Ingathering Story each Sunday. Older youth begin in their separate groups.
The Adult Enrichment Program Committee staffs another table in Fellowship Hall with information on all Religious Education opportunities for adults. Childcare is usually available for these classes if you request it at least a week in advance.
Do I need to sign up? Yes. Please chose the correct forms from the Registration Page. Please review your Family Rights and Responsibilities prior to completing registration.
Who provides Religious Education at First UU?
First UU’s programming for children and youth is supported by
- Sunday School Committee
- Religious Education Council
- Youth Adult Steering Committee
- Nursery/Toddler caregivers
- Volunteer Sunday School teachers
- Social Justice Team
- Specially trained teachers and leaders of our Our Whole Lives (OWL) human sexuality class for Grade 8 youth, our Coming of Age (CoA) program for Grade 9 youth, and our Youth Group Advisors.
How many people are involved in First UU’s Sunday School ?
About 220 children and youth attend Sunday School. We have about 90 adults with groups and providing coordination and support for the groups.
How is our Sunday School organized? Our church year is divided between the regular church year from the Sunday following the Labor Day weekend to the Memorial Day weekend and the summer schedule. During the regular church year we have Sunday School during worship services at 9:15 and 11 am. During the summer Sunday School is offered during the 10 am service.
Are there groups for all ages at each service? No, being aware of the natural sleep cycle of most teens, we offer classes for the 6th through 12th grades only at the 2nd service. We offer care for infants and toddlers and classes preschool through 5th grades at both services.
What kinds of things will my child learn?
Parents seeking a religious education program are often looking for a community of shared values in which to raise their children. These values are the most important things we teach, but we also give children building blocks with which to form their own beliefs. We also emphasize skills that help children live UU values in their everyday lives and we incorporate social justice work into our programming. For the elementary groups there is a link between the worship service and Sunday School in shared themes. They participate in workshops that explore the worship theme for the month built on a story told in worship. We hope this shared experience will help families communicate about their Sunday morning experiences. The preschoolers and kindergarteners spend time in nature and explore the web of all existence and the cycles of nature.
What responsibility does our family have to the religious education program and to the congregation?
Simply put: The family is responsible to be supportive in several ways. Families will have differing resources and abilities in each of these areas but it is important that every family contribute volunteer time, financial support and are ambassadors for Sunday School. We encourage you to volunteer in other areas of the congregation and help involve your children in congregational life. It is important for you, as well as vital to the program, that you volunteer in religious education also. We have opportunities for most every interest. Teaching is not our only need.
Giving what you can to people and organizations that make a difference in the world is a spiritual practice. First UU and its children and youth programming does that. And our most effect programs have the highest costs. We expect that your family, as a part of our faith community, will shoulder a part of this burden. You will be contacted to pledge an amount you can donate on an annual basis There is a lot of flexibility in the timing of those donations.
Being ambassadors means that you are clear about Sunday School. It means that you know what is going on in your children's classes and that you speak up when you have questions or have some issues with what is happening. It means talking about the program with families new to the congregation and with people without children in Sunday School. Spreading the word is a great way to recruit volunteers. That reduces the volunteer burden on parents.
How can you teach without doctrine?
The notable nineteenth-century Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing wrote, "The great end of religious instruction is not to stamp our minds irresistibly upon the young but to stir up their own . . . to touch inward springs." We have a strong faith in the inherent spirituality of children and see it as our task to nurture, not to indoctrinate. Our respect for the children teaches them respect-for themselves, for others, and for this fragile interdependent web of which we are all a part. We are, however, clear about our shared values as Unitarian Universalists and our expectations that they will find Unitarian Universalism a religion that supports them through all the seasons of their lives.
How do the children learn?
We begin with the understanding that children learn in different ways. That means that we must offer multiple approaches that engage the child's body, spirit, imagination, and sense of curiosity. Stories, discussion, games, art projects, science, direct contact with nature and music are just some of the means we use to help children explore their world and gain new knowledge and insights.
What will my child learn about big religious questions?
They will learn that all big questions have many answers, and that it is their duty to search responsibly for their own answers. But we also give children a foundation on which to build their own values. You can expect your child to learn that
- there are as many ideas about God as there are people;
- we hold Jesus in the tradition of the great prophets and teachers, and we learn from the example of his life;
- death is a mystery that is inseparable from life, and the only immortality we can know for sure is that which lives on in the hearts and minds of those whose lives we touch; therefore, how we lead our lives each day is of the utmost importance.
Will our family be accepted?
This is probably the most crucial question many families ask, and we hope that you find the answer to be yes. At First Unitarian Universalist we work to be thoughtful in welcoming of all kinds of families; we feel that diversity is a treasure that enriches us all. Many of our curricula for children encourage them to see that differences in factors like race, ethnicity, abilities, and sexual orientation are part of the fullness of our world.
What can interfaith families expect to find here?
Many interfaith families have found that we are the "right fit" for their families. Worship services mark many of the major Jewish and Christian holidays and Sunday School classes observe holidays of other major religions. Two holiday observances for which First UU is known take place in the week leading up to Easter. Thery are the Socinian Communion and the Passover Sedar. On Easter Sunday we observe both Easter and the Unitarian Universalist Flower Ceremony. Both the Jewish and the Christian scriptures, along with the sacred writings and thought of many other religions, form the basis of many of our curricula. The science-based story of the evolution of the universe is the sacred story or our beginnings. We know there is value in all of them.
Where can I learn more about UU curricula, concepts and classes?
The R.E. office is full of interesting books and videos, for adults and children. Please make an appointment to come and browse, or look at all the titles on the church website. You may borrow books and audio-visual materials for one month and some are renewable.
What if I need more specific information?
Either our Director of Religious Education, Jolinda Stephens, or our Religious Education Assistant, Deb McGuire, will be happy to speak with you.
Portions of this page adapted from the UUA pamphlet "UU Religious Education and Your Child" by Gaia Brown
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