Registration Form
Volunteer Form
Full Parent's Guide for 2007-2008
Middle School Program
A Year in the Life of OUUC
Our mission is to provide the children and youth of this congregation the gifts of a
Unitarian Universalist religious home, and a community in which awareness, tolerance,
and personal growth in spirituality can be nurtured and developed according to each
child’s unique nature.
At OUUC, the children and youth ministry has the following four threads.
Spiritual Development:
The origin of the word “worship” in the old English “weortheskippen” is “to ascribe worth to something,” or “shape things of worth.”
It has also been associated with the human sense of wonder and awe. When we
come together in religious community, often we come together in large part out of
response to what is most important in life, to that wonder and awe we feel, to the
mysteries of life’s experience, and to our own sense of connection or holy. In
Religious Education, we might, for example, marvel together at a plant, feeling its
tender roots and precious leaves, wondering together about the incredible way that
plants…and animals…and people, all have physical designs that perfectly fulfill
their purposes. We worship together. We bring our wondering questions and
explore them in community.
Religious Development:
As Unitarian Universalists, we have a religious home and
community in which awareness, tolerance, and personal growth in spirituality can
be nurtured and developed according to each individual’s unique nature. In
Religious Education, we learn together about this distinctive religious heritage.
Consistent with Unitarian Universalist understanding, we learn about our shared
faith as a covenant rather than creed. We hear stories of Unitarians, Universalists,
and Unitarian Universalists who came before us and offer us lessons from their
lives. Together, we explore the diversity and wholeness of our Unitarian
Universalist faith.
Ethical Development:
At best, our spiritual and religious experiences further our
growth into our humanity, helping us become our most loving selves. Our moral
and ethical character is shaped by this development, often igniting in us a passion
for justice and the good of humanity, the earth, and all the interdependent web of
existence. In Religious Education, the development of moral and ethical character
is of utmost importance. For our youngest children, the foundation is set through
the child’s development of a sense of self, being in touch with their own feelings,
and having a sense of belonging in the community. As children grow older, they
begin to empathize with others, explore concepts such as fairness, and eventually
begin to look beyond themselves into their community and finally the larger world.
We can help our children navigate these stages, nurturing their best selves,
affirming our community values, and providing them with ways to practice living
ethically.
Faith Development:
This thread of our children’s ministry is inextricable from the other threads. Faith development is life’s meaning making, a sense of purpose, and
core values of life. It is the cumulating experience of ethical, religious, and
spiritual development, but it also happens simultaneously. It is both the impetus for
and the result of life’s storytelling, and it is the reason that all of our children’s
programs have stories at their base. If we were to imagine faith development in a
personified existence, it would be our grandmother/grandfather storyteller selves as
the story of our lives unfold.
There are six themes that frequently arise in our curricula. They are Unitarian
Universalist identity and history, our Christian and Jewish heritage, world religions,
social/environmental connection, diversity, and personal values and spirituality. We use
curricula from the Unitarian Universalist Association and other sources. Each curriculum
is tailored to the developmental stages represented in the class for which it is used.
For more information about our programs, contact Kathleen Arledge, OUUC Interim Religious Education Administrator at kathleen.arledge@gmail.com or 786-6383 ext. 3.
