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Religious Education Overview
Our religious education program is
grounded in the UU principles, which are used to promote a sense of social
justice and responsibility, tolerance, identity, and spiritual growth. Our
purpose is to involve children in a religious community in which they
develop a spiritual sense of themselves, their connection to others, and
their connection to the world as a whole. See the additional information
below and our 2011-12 R.E.
Prospectus (PDF).
See more below on this page
on the following subjects:
R.E.
Introduction
Our R.E. Philosophy
What to Expect in Sunday School
R.E. Staff and Committee
Except for the YUUTS Class, the Sunday School
children
meet in the Centering Room before going to their classes.
The pages listed below provide
more information about aspects of our religious education program:
R.E. Introduction
We have 64 children (infant to 12th
grade) registered for our program, with an average attendance this past year of
34 kids each Sunday. We also have 26 adults teaching in our classrooms, with
about 30 others serving as classroom aides.
Besides our Sunday morning
gatherings, we have several other offerings for our church families and
friends. Our 3rd Sunday Lunches allow us to share a meal, and participate in
an exciting activity after services once a month. We have carved pumpkins,
gone Christmas caroling, and baked cookies to donate to the Ronald McDonald
House. Socials have been carried out with our YUUTS class (6th-8th grades).
They have been caving and have had fun going through a corn maze. Recently
they participated in a lock-in with the St. Louis area churches. This
experience allowed our kids to see UUism as something important in the wide
world...not just within our church and families.
Our program provides opportunities for our children and
youth to become better acquainted with our community. For instance our 6th
through 8th graders go through a "Neighboring Faiths" curriculum where they
visit various houses of worship in the wider community. Every first Sunday
of the month, they participate in Service Sunday, performing service projects of various sorts, and every year
YRE families take on specific Festival of Sharing
projects. In addition, we offer our children and youth a variety of
opportunities for volunteer work in the community.
Our Religious Education Philosophy
At the Unitarian Universalist Church
of Columbia you will find a flexible and growing experience-oriented
approach to religious education. We define the role of religious education
as nurturing the spiritual and intellectual growth of children, as well as
developing connections to others in our church family. We believe
that an experience is religious when it awakens the child to wondering,
questioning, searching and discovering.
Our religious education curricula
does not aim at indoctrinating, but at awaking; not at dogmatics, but at
creative development; not at supernatural interpretations, but at natural
acceptance. Our lessons will help lead parents and children into new
experiences and discoveries together, and it will encourage the
life-affirming and world accepting philosophy which is most congenial to
religious liberalism.
We will not teach our religion as
though it were a closed system with all questions neatly answered. We do not
want our children to become 'little theologians'. Rather, we wish to make
them eager to enter into life and enjoy its rich rewards, and able to find a
place in the sun for themselves.
Our program is designed
to give our children and youth a sense of the importance of each person, the
power of feelings, the joy of friendship, the excitement of the search for
truth, our Unitarian Universalist heritage, the interdependence of people,
and the fragile harmony of nature. That's a lot to cover in an hour per
week! Fortunately, we have many volunteer helpers who enthusiastically give
of themselves every Sunday.
So, we will teach truth, not "the
truth", and will offer knowledge, not indoctrination. You are welcome to
come join us any Sunday!
What to Expect in Sunday
School
Both adult services and Sunday school
begin promptly at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday. The YUUTS (6th-8th graders) go into
their own classroom, while all of the other kids meet in the Centering Room.
Our Centering candles
After a brief ritual, the Potter
(preschool) kids go to their class with their teacher. After the lesson, the
Kindergarten through 5th graders go off to their classrooms (about 10:45).
These classes last until 11:40, when the big triangle will ring, calling the
youngsters back to the Centering Room for a closing circle.
At 11:45 the Potter kids will go back
to their class and wait for their parents or siblings to pick them up. The
older kids will be dismissed to head upstairs to find their parents.
All of the children start upstairs
with the adults on the first Sunday of each month. This takes the place of
Centering. When we head downstairs, the Potter kids go to their class. The
other classes either go to their rooms, or to Service Sunday in the
Centering room.
Included in each week's Order of
Service will be a synopsis of the Sunday School happenings of that day,
along with a preview of the next Sunday's events.
.JPG)
October 23, 2011: Sunday School kids gathered
before
classes to create a spooky Halloween story together.
Staff and Children's Religious Education Committee
Lisa Fritsche, Director of Religious Education - Office hours: 9-2 Wednesday, 9-12 Sunday
Children's Religious Education Committee: Lisa Fritsche,
Director of Religious Education; Jenny Bossaller, chairwoman; and Mary Beth
Schillinger, David Setzer, Amy Ewing, Kelly Hayday, Lisa Boyer, Sarah
Ditzler and Heather Carver.
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