I have been busy planning for next fall. Here is a preview of what to expect in children’s and adult religious education.
Adult Religious Education
These ARE classes will deepen your spirit, broaden your faith and help you to connect with others.
Coming Of Age for Adults: Modeled after the teenage yearlong program, Coming of Age for adults will ask you to reflect on what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist, how your beliefs and values intersect, and to reflect on your own spiritual journey. To foster connection and build relationships among UUCWC members (new and long term members and/or of different generations) this class’s eight sessions will be done in pairs on your own time except for an opening and closing retreat. Participants will also lead a Sunday service where they will read their credos or statements of belief and go on a weekend UU heritage trip to Boston.
Beloved Conversations: Beginning in August with a one-day retreat (date TBA) Beloved Conversations is an experiential and evocative curriculum that provides a container for exploring the spiritual and intellectual dimensions of racism in our lives. Over eight two-hour seminars, we will uncover our “Big Assumptions” about life, identity and what’s normal. Through this process of discovery, we will recognize the many subtle and unconscious ways that differences in race, culture, economic status, gender and gender identity, etc. adversely affect our ability to truly meet and appreciate people of diverse cultures, races and ethnicities.
TBA something for the intellect and/or current events related.
Branches: Using the monthly church-wide themes as a springboard for small group focus and discussions, Branches sharing circles provide the opportunity to delve more deeply into our own spiritual journeys and reflect upon how we live these themes in our lives. Meets once per month.
Chalice Circles: Using the monthly church-wide themes as the topic and based on Parker Palmer’s “circles of trust” model, each participant is given time to speak without interruption while others listen without judgment. This method is designed to deepen participants knowing of their inner truth. Meets twice per month.
Children’s Religious Education
K – 3rd grade: Our children younger than 4th grade will continue to use UUA curriculum that weaves UU values, principles and sources with four strands: ethical development, faith development, spiritual development and Unitarian Universalist identity. The K-1 class will also have 8 sessions of OWL (the UUA’s developmentally appropriate human sexuality curriculum) in the winter.
4th – 5th Grade: Bibleodeon is a UU curriculum that presents the best-known Hebrew and Christian stories in a fun and informative way. The class will also explore connections between biblical events and UU principles, and between biblical ideas and their own lives
6th – 7th Grade: Neighboring Faiths invites students to explore the faith traditions and practices of other religious groups in their community—both in the classroom and by arranging visits at other houses of worship. The class will reflect on what is unique and what is universal in religious experience, explore their own values as they relate to other faiths and strengthen their commitment to Unitarian Universalism and UUCWC.
8th – 9th Grade: Our Whole Lives (“OWL”) is a comprehensive sexuality education curriculum which provides youth with accurate information about sexual health, human development, sexual behavior, relationships and personal skills in the supportive setting of our religious community. This is the first year we will be using the new and updated curriculum. The new edition includes added lessons on body image, social media and the internet, bullying and bystander responsibilities and consent education.
Youth Group: We are exploring the idea of taking a social action mission trip.