Welcome to Accotink Unitarian Universalist Church. We offer a cooperative religious education program in a warm, nurturing environment for children and youth. This year we will be using several curriculum from Tapestry of Faith, a new series of programs and resources for all ages that nurture Unitarian Universalist identity, spiritual growth, a transforming faith, and vital communities of justice and love. Classes are team taught by volunteers from the congregation.
Please note that our religious education classes will be held following our Sunday Worship service from 11:15 to 12:00. Special programs and our youth group will meet on Sunday evenings.
Nursery care and children’s fellowship activities will be available at most worship services.
The following outlines our expected program for Fall 2008. Changes may be made before classes start up in the fall or throughout the church year. All families, returning or new, must complete a registration form by the fourth week of attendance for nursery through high school aged children. If you have concerns or suggestions, please speak with our Director of Lifespan Education or a member of the Lifespan Education Committee.
Chalice Children
This class will introduce toddlers and preschoolers to circle time & sharing, with stories, music & movement, simple activities, & free playtime. Chalice Children will help our young children learn about Unitarian Universalism and our congregation and help them create a sense of belonging to this faith community. This class will learn how special our church is, about the people that make up our church, the holidays we celebrate, the things that cause us to be filled with wonder and that making friends is part of our church experience.
Creating Home
This group will venture on a Unitarian Universalist journey, open to stories and beliefs from different lands and people. Our children will develop a sense of home grounded in faith. Together, they will explore questions about the purpose of having a home and the functions a home serves, for us humans and for other animals. Here we will explore the roles each of us play in the homes where we live and introduce the concept of our “faith home”—AUUC. In these sessions children will consider the deep sense of sacredness, the beauty of hospitality, and the gift of loving relationships that a home can represent. Over the course of the sessions children will create a community home in their RE classroom. They will use stories from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions; familiar wisdom tales; and new stories, some about our own Unitarian Universalist heroes. These sessions will be filled with fun activities, humor, and opportunities to learn new ways to play.
Moral Tales
Every day our children go forth into a complex world where they are often faced with difficult decisions and situations. Moral Tales attempts to provide children with the spiritual and ethical tools they will need to make choices and take actions reflective of their Unitarian Universalist beliefs and values. The sessions are in three units: Seeking Truth/Discernment, What Would Love Do, Bringing Goodness and Justice to our larger world. In these sessions, our children will be encouraged to draw upon their conscience, their sense of faith and forgiveness, as well as wise teachers and the larger community. They will consider the ways in which love calls us to act in the world with humans, other living beings and the Earth. They will explore responsibility, courage, persistence and cooperation. This exploration of goodness and justice will help to ground participants in Unitarian Universalist ethical beliefs, moral values and spiritual practices that can not only transform the individual, but transform the world, as well.
Toolbox of Faith
Toolbox of Faith invites fourth- and fifth- grade participants to reflect on the qualities of our Unitarian Universalist faith, such as integrity, courage, and love, as tools they can use in living their lives and building their own faith. Each of the sessions uses a tool as a metaphor for an important quality of our faith such as reflection (symbolized by a mirror), flexibility (duct tape), and justice (a flashlight). Reflecting on the qualities or tools of our faith, children and leaders gain insight into what makes our faith important in their lives, and how they can grow in our faith.
Living in UUville
Living in UUville gives youth an opportunity to explore the full meaning of the principles of Unitarian Universalism in their lives within an environment that encourages individual initiative as well as teamwork in pursuit of goals. These activities encourage youth to think about their own religious beliefs and how they will promote their own spiritual growth.
This year our Coming of Age group will continue to work on Deepening Ties Within our Congregation. We will work to develop deep, authentic relationships between the youth in this group and other people in the congregation using rituals, learning, testing, and celebration. Group members will develop faith statements to share with the larger congregation. The group will go on a Vision Quest in the fall and finish their Coming of Age year before the winter months.
Our YRUU Group will meet on Sunday evenings. Youth group meetings will include opportunities for Worship, Youth-Adult Relations, Community Building, Social Action, Learning, and Leadership. Youth groups will have occasional lock-ins and other events that will take place outside of the regularly scheduled times.