Religious Education for Children at UFWC
September – June, 2007-08
Director of Religious
Education, Pam Baxter
office tel: 610-692-5966
email: dre
Our
Mission
| to provide
the children of our Congregation with a positive
experience of a faith community, to educate them in
Unitarian Universalist principles and values, to empower
them to embark on a path of personal faith development, to
create in them an awareness and appreciation of the major
faith traditions that shape our world, and to provide
opportunities for them to put our Unitarian Universalist
Principles into action. |
Meeting Times
|
9-10 am
|
Pre-K through 6th Grade -
Way Cool Sunday School
|
|
9-10:15 am |
7th/8th Grade - Neighboring
Faiths |
|
9th/10th Grade - Coming of
Age |
|
10:45 am |
Youth Group (unless announced
otherwise) |
|
All classes and Youth Group
meetings are held downstairs.
|
Curriculum
Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten: We Are Many, We Are
One
This program encourages children
to play and work cooperatively, express feelings about
themselves and others, and see their church as a place for
making friends. From there, the program begins an exploration of
the world around us.
Focus Points:
-
Learning about each other
-
Learning about our church
-
Exploring our relationship to the natural world
-
Exploring how we are different / how we are alike
-
Exploring what we can learn from one another by looking at the
ways different groups of people celebrate holidays
Teaching Team:
Jim Brenner, Amy Crowell, Robin Garrett, Susan Sluk
1st and 2nd Grades:
Stories About God
This curriculum covers three themes:
God is a oneness that can take many forms; God is love and worth
that can take many forms; and God is mystery that can take many
forms.
Goals for Participants
-
To have a variety of experiences
with the entity called God, and to explore the ultimate reality,
values, and mystery about life
-
To develop a language with which to
speak about God
-
To experience a wide variety of
stories about God, which help give insights
-
To understand that God takes many
forms and has many names
-
To express their own thoughts and
feelings about God.
Teaching Team: Amy & Gus
Faucher, Joanna Iliff, Pam McKamey, Sandy Painter,
Assitant: Kristi De Fuso
3rd and 4th Grades:
Timeless Themes
This curriculum introduces children
to religious literature that is central to our culture and to
our heritage as Unitarian Universalists. The human issues that
inspired these scriptures are ageless.
These “timeless themes” include:
-
the belief in a transcendent power,
or God
-
the belief that humans are
responsible for their actions
-
the love of freedom for all people
-
the prophetic imperative to speak
out against injustice
-
the respect for the beliefs of
others, and our common humanity
-
the love of one’s neighbor
-
the forgiveness for wrongdoing
Teaching Team: Caitlyn Bixler,
Dianne Herrin, Kathryn Racette, Vicki Rainer, Nancy Schilling
5th and 6th Grades:
Bibleodeon
The Hebrew and Christian Bibles (Old
and New Testaments) played critical roles in helping shape
today’s Unitarian Universalism and the earlier religious
movements which spawned it. They are a large part of the “Jewish
and Christian Teachings” which contemporary UUism lists among
its sources.
While most UUs today
do not rely on the Bible as their guidebook, many millions of
people around the world base their lives and actions in their
understandings of “The Good Book.” One way that Unitarian
Universalists can practice the acceptance and tolerance our
faith advocates is by understanding where others find motivation
and meaning.
Bibleodeon
(the name is a take-off on “Nickleodeon) takes students on an
action-packed tour of the Old and New Testaments. Each week,
with a Bible story as the take-off point, participants will try
to solve the Mystery of the Day – using music, art, drama,
forensics and news reporting. In the process, students will
learn how to navigate the Bible, some of its history, and
discuss what they think/believe is true.
Teaching Team:
Clark Arnold, Juan Leon, Kate Shaw, Cathy Vogt
7th and 8th Grades:
Neighboring Faiths
Neighboring Faiths “reflects and
affirms the racial, cultural, and religious pluralism of society
and the world.” The program 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 goals of the
course are for students to participate in the faith traditions
of others, to reflect on what is unique and what is universal in
religious experience, to explore their own values as they relate
to other faiths, to become more aware of the many connections
between UUism and other faiths, to strengthen commitment to UU
faith and community, to increase their understanding and
appreciation of religious diversity, and to build relationships
with peers, adult leaders, and their congregation and community.
Teaching Team:
Anya Brandt, Tom Buglio, Alane Butler, Fred Frayer, Hannah
Hoganson, Amy Spare, Assistant: Marie Steel
9th and 10th Grades:
Heresy Apparent and Coming of Age
The purpose of this program is to
encourage our young people to explore their beliefs about the
Bible, God, our UU religion, and enable them to articulate their
beliefs. The program culminates with a presentation of personal
credos to the Fellowship community during a service. During the
first part of the year, we’ll work with a curriculum titled
Heresy Apparent. The units explore different “heresies,” for
example, the heresy of anti-trinitarianism, the heresy of
religious questioning, the heresy of reason, the heresy of
challenging assumptions. (Interestingly, the original Greek
word, “heresy,” means “choice.”)
Teaching Team:
Bill Iliff, Lauren Kelly, Sue Quake, Dylan Williams
— Pam Baxter
Director of Religious Education
email: DRE
|
