RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
PROGRAM
FOR
CHILDREN AND YOUTH
2006-2007
The great end in
religious instruction is
not to stamp our minds
irresistibly upon the young,
but to stir up their own;
not to make them see
with our eyes,
but to look inquiringly
and steadily with their own;
not to give them a definite
amount of knowledge,
but to inspire a fervent
love of truth;
not to form an outward regularity,
but to touch inward springs......
William Ellery Channing
Welcome
Welcome to our Religious Education Community at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie. We are happy to have you with us.
Our Religious Education Program has been created to provide opportunities for children and youth to develop their religious faith as individuals and as a family that celebrates and grows together. Unitarian Universalism teaches us that religious growth and learning is a lifelong process. Our program seeks to provide participants with the experiences and tools to encourage personal religious development and to provide a forum through which to explore the ethical and spiritual dimensions of life. We do this through classes, worship, community gatherings, social justice work and intergenerational activities.
The curricula for each age group has been carefully selected to stimulate the minds and hearts of the children and youth while they explore UU traditions, values, spiritual practices, our Principles and Purposes and the UU Sources.
Our R.E. program is vibrant and alive with active children and adults. We invite you to join us and we look forward to another year of religious growth and learning.
In Fellowship,
Jane
Jane Podell
Director of Religious Education
“Religious education is a lifetime process: the quest for meaning, significance, self-actualization. It is much more than a mastery of subject matter; it is learning of the heart, the striving to find one’s highest and finest relationship to the universe. It is not confined to Sunday morning or to a Biblical tradition. Religion is not a way of looking at certain things;
it is a certain way of looking at everything.”
Rev. Ann B. Fields
Related Links:
The Religious Education Committee
Charged with overseeing the religious education program for children and youth, the R.E. Committee is dedicated to R.E. development and growth. New committee members are always welcome. We seek parents and non-parents, women and men, young and old with a diversity of interests and skills. R.E. Committee members are expected to attend monthly meetings, to plan a variety of R.E. events and establish R.E. policies and procedures.
Our Philosophy of Religious Education
We value our children and youth because of their own innate worth as people and because they are the future of our community and our world. As Unitarian Universalists, we do not seek to provide our children with ready-made answers to life’s questions in the form of a fixed creed or doctrine. Instead, we seek to provide our children and youth with an environment in which they may grow up with a strong sense of values, morals, as well as religious understanding and identity as set forth in our Unitarian Universalist Principles. To this end, we are committed to providing an R.E. program which will enrich the lives of our children and youth, helping them to recognize and realize their full potential and build firm foundations for meaningful, ethical lives.
Our Mission
Unitarian Universalists believe that the search for truth and meaning is a lifelong process. The purpose of religious education at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie is to promote spiritual, moral, intellectual and personal growth in our community by offering to both children and adults diverse and inclusive educational opportunities that support our Unitarian Universalist Principles.
Our Goals
1. To teach children and youth that we believe in:
a. loving your neighbor as yourself, which includes trying not to steal, lie or hurt people in any way
b. making the world a better place, which includes working for justice, peace and freedom for all people
c. Searching for the truth with an open mind
d. the 7 Unitarian Universalist Principles
2. To teach about our UU heritage and famous forbears
3. To teach the Jewish and Christian scriptures for cultural literacy, inspiration and historical perspective
4. To teach beliefs and practices of the world’s major religions to help attain a better understanding of other cultures and world citizenship and to place our Jewish and Christian heritage in perspective
5. To teach the goals of ethical living
Unitarian Universalist Principles
ROY G BIV helps us remember the principles by looking at a rainbow from red to violet, the way ROY’s name is spelled.
We covenant to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person.
Red - Roy G Biv says: We RESPECT the importance and value of all beings.
We covenant to affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations.
Orange - Roy G Biv says: We OFFER fair and kind treatment to all.
We covenant to affirm and promote acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.
Yellow - Roy G Biv says: We YEARN to learn throughout life and accept our differences.
We covenant to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
Green - Roy G Biv says: We GROW by exploring ideas and values together.
We covenant to affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
Blue - Roy G Biv says: We BELIEVE in our ideas and act on them.
We covenant to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all.
Indigo - Roy G Biv says: We INSIST on peace, freedom and justice for all.
We covenant to affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
Violet - Roy G Biv says: We VALUE our interdependence with nature.
The living tradition we share draws from many sources:
Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces that create and uphold life
Children’s version: The sense of wonder we all share
Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love
Children’s version: Women and men of long ago and today whose lives remind us to be courageously loving
Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life
Children’s version: Ethical and spiritual wisdom of the world’s religions
Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves
Children’s version: Jewish and Christian teachings which tell us to love all others as we love ourselves
Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit
Children’s version: The use of reason and the discoveries of science
Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature
Children’s version: The harmony of nature and the sacred circle of life
Our Curricula
Pre-School and Primary Grades will explore “Unitarian Universalist Identity” using the following curricula:
Chalice Children - Based upon a philosophy that a child’s spiritual development is related to direct experience, this curriculum helps young children learn what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist.
We Are Many We Are One - Offers children the grounding of a religious community and tradition, along with the freedom to discover and express their uniqueness.
Around the Church, Around the Year - Helps children become acquainted with their own Unitarian Universalist community: the people, buildings, rituals, celebrations and the basic tenets of Unitarian Universalism.
We Believe - Builds on the 7 Principles of Unitarian Universalism. The activities encourage participants to incorporate the Principles into their lives.
Upper Elementary Grades will take “A Cultural Tour of World Religions.” This curricula gives the children an appreciation for cultural diversity and at the same time, helps them recognize the inherent commonalities among all people. Each child receives a passport which allows them to visit Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Earth-centered religions.
Jr. High will use the curriculum “OWL,” an acronyn for Our Whole Lives.
Presents a comprehensive approach to human sexuality in an age-apporpriate manner. Based firmly on the values of respect, responsibility, justice and inclusivity. Helps young people apply these values to their behavior and provides them with skills they can use throughout life.
Nursery Care
Our nursery provides a safe and happy place for infants and toddlers while parents attend the service. Every Sunday, there is a paid child care provider to care for our littlest members. Children can be brought into the nursery any time after 10:20 a.m. and picked up when the service is over.
Teachers
Our R.E. teachers are volunteer adult members of our Fellowship. In keeping with our Safe Congregation Policy, each teacher has an assistant in the classroom. If you are new to our Fellowship and would like to teach, we ask that you wait six months in order for you to get to know us and allow us to get to know you. When you teach, you are provided with a tremendous opportunity to grow in many areas as you interact with our children and youth. As we gather for spiritual inquiry, not only will you learn and grow right along with the children, but you will be giving our children and youth the gift of your presence and time. If you would like to join us in our religious and spiritual quest, please see Jane Podell or Judith Knauss. We would love to welcome you on our journey.
Worship
Worship is an integral part of our religious education program. It provides children with a sense of community, a feeling of at-oneness with each other and the world, an affirmation of what we believe and a feeling of inspiration. Simply stated, worship is a celebration of what we value, that which is “of worth.”
Children’s Worship: On lay-led Sundays, our young people meet in the Children’s Worship Room for a short service (approximately 20 minutes) and then go to class. Our services include rituals such as Chalice Lighting, Joys and Concerns, a song and story.
Family Worship: On minister-led Sundays, our children join their families in the sanctuary for the first 20 minutes. After “A Time for All Children,” the children go to class.
Intergenerational Worship: During the year, several full intergenerational services are planned. They include Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Easter. There are no R.E. classes on those Sundays.
Registration
Parents are asked to register their children and youth in our R.E. program. A registration table will be set up after service during the first few weeks of the Fellowship year. There is no registration fee. As this is a cooperative R.E. program, we ask that parents also fill out the “Parent Participation Form” on the reverse side of the Registration Form and make a specific commitment to share R.E. responsibilities. A cooperative means that we depend on each other and that every person contributes to the strength and vitality of our program.
Attendance
Please bring your children to Fellowship regularly. Consistent attendance is essential if they are to develop a genuine sense of belonging to our religious community. Although we realize that with today’s busy schedules, weekly attendance may not be possible, we ask that you bring your children as often as possible in order for them to benefit from our full program, to bond with fellow classmates and to feel connected enough to call us home.
-
Social Action
The religious education program is designed to encourage our children and youth to become involved in social action within our community and the world at large. Social Action is integrated into our R.E. program with our annual projects such as the CROP Walk and Trick or Treat for UNICEF in October; The UU Service Committee’s Guest at Your Table program in November; the Mitten Tree for Dutchess County Outreach and Habitat for Humanity’s Gingerbread Houses in December; and the Dutchess County SPCA drive in April. With assistance from the Social Action Committee, other service projects are introduced throughout the year.
Keep Informed
The monthly newsletter is our main channel of communication with you. Please be sure to read the R.E. page in “UU News and Views,” as it details special events, activities and issues concerning the religious education program.
Religious Education Calendar
for Children and Youth
2006-2007
Sept. 10 Intergenerational Water Ceremony
Sept. 16 Teacher Training Workshop
Sept. 18 Teacher Dedication Ceremony
Oct. 01 First Day of Classes
Teacher Dedication Ceremony
Oct. 29 Trick or Treat for UNICEF
Nov. 19 Intergenerational Thanksgiving Service
Guest at Your Table Presentation
Nov. 26 Intergenerational Service
Dec. 03 Annual Holiday Festival
Dec. 17 Mitten Tree Sunday
Jan. 14 Sign up for Secret Pals
Jan. 21 Sign up for Secret Pals
Jan. 27 Teacher Development Workshop
Jan. 28 Secret Pal Exchange - wk #1
Feb. 04 Secret Pal Exchange - wk #2
Feb. 11 Secret Pal Exchange - wk #3
Secret Pal R.E.velation
Apr. 08 Intergenerational Easter Service
Easter Egg Hunt
Apr. 15 SPCA collection
Apr. 22 SPCA collection
April 29 SPCA collection
June 03 Teacher Recognition