Youth & Childrens Religious Education
Children and Youth Religious Education
Program Overview Children's Programs Youth Programs Special Programming RE Committee
Director of Religious Education, Jan Devor
Email: jan [at] firstunitariansociety [dot] org
Phone: 612.377.6608 Ext. 108
Fax: 612.377.2151
Our Philosophy
We value children at this Society and we work to weave them into the fabric of life here. They are invited to adult events and they begin every Sunday in the regular service so that they can become a part of the traditions and celebrations here at the First Unitarian Society. In RE classes, the children learn about their UU roots, study world religions and Bible Literacy. They explore what it means to be part of a largely humanist UU society. We have a strong desire for our children and youth to develop a social conscience and to take action to influence change, thus we provide them with opportunities to work to support various social-service projects. In our RE program, we don’t neglect fun. We want our youth to think of this Society as a safe and happy place to be, a place where they feel supported by adults and find friendships with other kids. We want to develop a sustaining community for them.
Our Goals
Religious Education can help you add something to your children's lives. We want to help you give your children a grounding in a wonderful liberal religion. We have 37 Sundays from September to June (if you attend every Sunday) to help children develop a sense of what religion is all about for us and others.
So what are our goals?
First, we would like our children to be part of an extended community where they feel welcome, are valued for the gifts they bring and the people they are. "Do unto others" is the big rule. This is a community where questioning the mysteries of life is valued. We want children to feel part of the Unitarian Universalist tradition. We want your children to know the tenets of Unitarian Universalism and be able to articulate what it means to be a UU. Free thinking, questioning, and personal discovery are the order of the day. We want children to be proud that they are part of this liberal faith. It takes time to develop a sense of pride and belonging.
We want our children to know other religious faiths and to celebrate the ideas brought to the world by other cultures and religions. We want them to develop tolerance for ideas and people that are not part of their everyday life. We want them to know that they could use ideas from other faith traditions and blend them into a personal theology. This is a religion that allows for personal growth and diversity. It takes time to understand and appreciate.
We want our children to develop a social responsibility consciousness. We want them to feel they can make a difference in this world. We want them to know that there are people and causes out in the world that cry out for assistance and that they can and should reach out. It takes time to work on social responsibility projects.
We want our children to have a place to think and talk about life's issues-getting along with others, death, peace and war, sexuality, violence of one kind or another let's give them a safe forum in which to explore ideas and to get input. Children need places to think out loud and to gather ideas and feedback. Church should be one of those places. It takes time to talk and to listen.
We want our children to expand their pool of friends to children and adults that are UUs. We want them to link up with people who are humanists and value this faith, who think it is important and has meaning in their lives. We want them to listen to different ideas of spirituality and develop their own ideas and feelings about spirituality. It takes time to connect and develop ideas about spirituality.
So, come. It's only 37 hours--not even a full work week and we have so much to do! Let's get started on the education that hopefully will be meaningful for a lifetime.
