What’s New in RE

by WUUC | Jan 30, 2019 | DRE Blog

Greetings!

First of all, I want to thank all of you for making me feel so welcome at WUUC. Since arriving I have been busy learning how the church functions, figuring out where things are kept, and meeting so many wonderful people.  I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the congregation as well.

Over the next several weeks, I will focus primarily on the RE program for the children and youth. I plan to meet with the teachers for each age group and learn how I can better support them and all of WUUC’s young people. In addition, I plan to contact each of the parents at WUUC in order to learn more about you and how we can best serve your families.

I spent last Sunday evening with the Senior Youth Group (YRUU) and had a wonderful time meeting and working with several of the youth. The group packed up your generous donations of menstrual supplies and loaded them into my car. On Thursday I made a trip to Compass Housing Alliance (CHA) in Seattle to drop them off. CHA estimated the value of the donation at $1,500! Thank you so much for your generosity and for supporting our youth in their social-action activities.

If you have any questions or suggestions or just want to introduce yourself, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am available by phone and email, or we can meet in the office.

Thank you again for the warm welcome and your patience as I learn your names and learn how WUUC works.

Peace and laughter,

Bridget

Dear Parents of Children and youth in Soulful Exploration at WUUC:

by WUUC | Jun 1, 2017 | DRE Blog

As our church year comes to a close, I want to take this time to review our time in Soulful Exploration and share the scope & sequence for RE programming in 2017-2018. I am so very thankful to all of our volunteers who helped our program run smoothly this year. It is not an easy feat to transition the management of a religious education program, but our many volunteers were accommodating, helpful, and supportive in this year of transition. In all we had at least 40 volunteers contribute to child and youth RE this year. Parents, please take some time in the next few weeks to thank your child’s teacher/facilitator and the REALL committee.

If you have a Sunday or two free this summer (June 18-August 20), the Super Summer Sundays for K-5th grade needs teachers to lead these fun sessions with light stories introducing UU concepts and fun activities, games and songs. Kara Marler (a UU young adult and former WUUC youth) is home for the summer and will be coordinator for the program!  Sign up to be a summer teacher online or on Sunday at the REALL table in the foyer.

We are recruiting teachers for the fall now too. You can express your interest in any of the classes below by  signing up at:

  I want to be a Soulful Exploration Teacher!

Below you will find four sections;

• Overview of Soulful Exploration at WUUC
• A breakdown of each program outlining:

1. The specific objective of the program
2. A review of this past year’s program
3. Next year’s plans
4. Hopes for the future

A full review of this document will hopefully provide you with a clear picture of the vision of our RE program for children and youth at WUUC. This information, as usual, will be available throughout the year on our website under Soulful Exploration and in the weekly blogs. In this document and on the website, you can look ahead and keep track of what your child should be learning through their progression in our program. The curriculum will shift often, but the learning objectives remain the same every year for each age range.

Overview of Soulful Exploration for Children and Youth at WUUC:

It is the goal of faith development programming in Preschool-12th grade to provide children and youth with skills to thrive in the world as compassionate, ethical, and responsible Unitarian Universalists. Methods for coping and resiliency offered in religious education at WUUC are justice-oriented, rooted in Unitarian Universalist sources, guided by our 7 principles, contemplative, experiential, and compassionate.

More importantly, it is my hope that in the future, we are able to equip parents to be the primary religious educators of their children. Our thematic ministry has the potential to encourage multi-generational conversations around the “big questions” in life. Parent support groups help parents navigate the complexities of raising children in the 21st century. Worship and transition programming provides opportunities for our families to connect to mystery and the sacredness in life. This all requires continued active participation in our program as volunteers, attending family chapels, providing constructive feedback, and helping us shape child and youth ministry in our church with your love and support.

In our Nursery through 5th grade program, we view spirituality as an integral part of a child’s exploration and discovery. We strive to create an environment that nurtures that discovery through story, art, music, games and sharing. We honor various learning styles and build our sacred time together with thoughtful consideration for each child’s differences.

In our Youth Groups (Jr. and Sr. Youth) we focus on 8 strands of development: leadership, connection across ages, spiritual development, beloved community, justice making, pastoral care, faith exploration, and identity formation.

Senior Youth (YRUU)

Learning Objective: The goal of our senior youth program is to aide our youth’s navigation of the later years of the “synthetic-conventional” stages of faith development. This is the age where youth begin to integrate faith into their daily lives and claim identity as a Unitarian Universalist. Praxis is the methodology underpinning this program; learning, acting, reflecting. The social justice aspect of our faith is emphasized in this age range.

2016-2017: This year our High School youth group tried a new social justice-oriented project-based curriculum. They researched topics to explore, decided as a community to study gender inequality, developed a thesis, and conducted research to examine gender inequality in our local community. The project results, as well as many fun experiments, will be presented at the Youth Social Justice Assembly on June 11th at 11:45 to 1:15 in the Sanctuary. Please show up to support our youth, childcare and a light lunch will be provided.

2017-2018:

• Continue our project-based curriculum with a new social justice focus, possibly around Black lives or transgender rights.
• Integrate more spiritual practice and ritual in each of our meetings.
• Participate in the Full Community Service as worship leaders/helpers each month.

Hopes for the future:

• Extend the Senior Youth experience beyond Sunday morning.
• Host youth worship events and retreats for WUUC youth and the larger community.
• Create a youth community room that is utilized throughout the week by our youth.

Jr Youth (JRUU)

Scope: Addressing the early “synthetic-conventional” faith development stage for ages 13-18, where the youth begins to see from other’s perspectives. Our program serves two needs in the development stage:  to introduce world religions and world faiths in conversation with Unitarian Universalism and teach social justice through the skill of empathy building for those less fortunate and/or socially marginalized. World religions allows our youth to differentiate Unitarian Universalism from other faiths, begin to claim their own religious identity (whether it is Unitarian Universalist or some other faith), and become well-versed in respectful interfaith dialogue. Our social justice studies prepares our youth to be responsible citizens who care for their neighbors and the world.

2016-2017: Neighboring Faiths

This year our youth studied the Neighboring Faiths curriculum of the UUA. On Sundays they discussed the various faiths that we might encounter as world citizens. They discussed the tenets of these faiths and developed respectful dialogue skills in relationship to these faiths. On select days they visited faith houses of the traditions that they studied and experienced worship from the perspective of the other’s faith. They returned to their classrooms to reflect on this learning and contextualize their learning in the framework of Unitarian Universalist faith.

2017-2018: Social Justice (tentative)

• Learn about major social justice movements in the US and engage in social actions that are in line with other Unitarian Universalist efforts.
• Continue with our Simpsons curriculum around social justice
• Once monthly we will participate in the Full Community service.
• Middle School Our Whole Lives sexuality education classes

Hopes for the Future:

• Encourage more interaction between our Jr. and Sr. Youth through an occasional combined youth worship experience
• Hold coming of age intensives/retreats  for 8th-10th grade
• Host a Jr. Youth “CON” at WUUC
• Have our Jr. Youth participate in more District and Regional Events

2017:Elementary-Kindergarten-5th Grades

2018: Elementary-2nd-5th Grades

Scope: Addresses the needs of children in the mythic-literal stage of development, where children learn virtues and values through story, myth, ritual, and play. Our Elementary age classroom introduces the rituals and worship of Unitarian Universalism, tells moral tales that capture the heart of Unitarian Universalist ethics, and engage in embodied learning practices to integrate those learnings through various learning styles.  

In our elementary program at WUUC we believe strongly that we shouldn’t duplicate the traditional classroom that many of our children participate in during the week. We believe that church is the place where learning happens through the religious experience of worshiping and exploring in community. Knowing that in the mythic-literal stage of development children in this age range often  mimic the morality that adults value, to encourage wholesome development, it is important to shy away from indoctrination of values and encourage self-exploration of each child’s own morality and values.

2016-2017: Spirit Jam

(Kindergarten-5th Grades) This year in Spirit Jam we explored the monthly themes that our adult worship is based upon in hopes of encouraging communication between parents and their children about the “big questions” in life. In each class we opened with a meaningful worship, sharing our joys and concerns, music, and getting to know each other. We continued our sessions with a story or moral lesson around our theme of the month and closed with embodied learning activities in age-specific groups. Guests from within our community often presented activities such as yoga, gardening, visual arts, dance, music, and etc.

2017-2018: Spirit School

(In 2017 this group will include 2nd-5th Grades only) Next year in Spirit School we will return to the roots of the Sunday School movement.  Robert Raikes and Thomas Stock first established a Sunday school for the poor and orphaned in Gloucester in 1780 with the intention of providing literacy classes to youth who were often forced to work for their survival and lacking basic education or a path out of poverty. In the 21st century, there has been a call for our churches to again fill the void of public education. The arts are poorly funded and being removed from our children’s curriculum in school.

We believe in the power of the fine arts to inspire creativity, change lives, and to help our children embody the best of our values. We will begin with our opening worship and continue with a brief reflection on the month’s theme. We will continue each week with a hands-on creative art activity. 5th Sundays will be reserved for an in-house or wider-community public service activity.

September 10th will be our kick-off family chapel. Parents please join us for a fabulous multi-generational worship experience.

Future Goals:

• Introduce meditation and contemplative practices through an embodied learning curriculum
• Provide regular family worship experience for this age range
• Begin a parenting support group for this specific age-range

2017: Preschool

2018: Spirit Play (Preschool-1st Grades)

Scope: In the intuitive projective age range our children are operating in their particular worlds of experience where the lines between fantasy and reality are blurred, in this stage of development,  there is much creative space for imaginative play and exploration. At WUUC, our goals in our programming are to foster an awareness of the “other” and to help children navigate new realizations about “mystery”, questions about “god/God,” and cope with the reality of death and dying. Our program at WUUC lovingly guides our children through this stage through mythical tales, stories about our faith, and poignant lessons on the reality of life. It is in this classroom that our children become most familiar with Unitarian Universalist history and theology.

2016-2017: Me and My World

(Preschool) We engaged in the Me and My World curriculum, guiding our children through an awareness of self to the realization that there is a world beyond our senses. Each lesson progressively advanced our children with love and mindfulness through seeing themselves clearly and safely exploring other people and the nature that surrounds them.

2017-2018: Spirit Play

(Next year, this group will include Preschool-1st Grade in one cohort.) Spirit Play is our new curriculum for Preschool-1st grade. Each week children enter this specialized classroom for a montessori-like experience of Sunday School. Lessons begin with a “unique” and scripted story-telling of either the lives and works of Unitarian Universalists, the seven principles, the six sources, or holy days. These stories come with props that are kept in story baskets on child accessible low shelving. Children then have an opportunity to engage in individual artistic or creative play of their choosing in the classroom. Each story told throughout the year will be made available so that children can choose to utilize the story baskets to retell the stories of our faith, the child’s ability to make a story their own reinforces learning.

I would like to include a testimonial about Spirit Play here:

The children quickly step into the routine of being greeted by the doorkeeper and entering the classroom in anticipation of their time together.  The sacred space that has been created allows for creative wondering and an opportunity to explore the stories personally through re-telling or through art materials provided.  The materials allow the children to remember and connect to the stories and to independently work with them.  It is exciting to see a four year old take their mat and the story basket of the morning and tell the story in their own way or to see a five year old interpret the story through painting or clay work.

The children are learning about our Unitarian Universalist principles and values at an age-appropriate level.  Their own ideas are encouraged and valued at the same time.  They are learning that asking the big questions about life and death is natural and important. The children are engaged and the parents are happy that they are so enthused about going to their morning classes.  We have had no problem getting people to volunteer as storytellers and doorkeepers because it has been so rewarding.
-Lynn Sabourin, UU Religious Educator

Future Goals:

• Expand our Spirit Play story set
• Acquire more self-exploration learning tools and art supplies
• Recruit more volunteers for Spirit Play instruction and material construction

Spiritual Practices Help Us Embody Our Values

by WUUC | Apr 25, 2017 | DRE Blog

We Wookies (WUUC community) have shown in practice and reflection that we place a high value on contemplative practice. We are a Unitarian Universalist community in our openness and acceptance of a variety of contemplative modalities and practices. We see the value of contemplative practice reflected in our committee agendas to our programs, from our worship to our social justice actions. In our church culture, we know that in order for transformation to be authentic and enduring, it must be embodied.

However, as Unitarian Universalists, we struggle with the theology of contemplative and spiritual practice. Since our 18th c. liberal religious Congregationalist forefather Charles Chauncy articulated the value of reason over emotionalism in Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England, we have given precedence to intellect over emotional intelligence. In those glimpses of contemplative sensibilities in our history, as with our beloved Transcendentalists Emerson and Thoreau, the theology leans heavily on the words of contemplation but the articulation of the practices of contemplation are suggestive and vague.

The first of the Five Smooth Stones[1] of religious liberalism as articulated by Unitarian Theologian James Luther Adams, is that revelation is continuous. We Unitarian Universalists believe that truth is ever unfolding and the practices to realize this truth are to be revealed in the present and future. The sacred and holy sources of our faith are not limited to the past, nor to the walls of our churches but come from the richness of religious traditions, prophetic persons, and art.

It is our job as prophets to reveal the practices that can result in inner and outer transformation, practices that will help us embody our values and principles. We have the freedom to do this in dialogue with Earth-centered traditions, “Eastern” religions, Indigenous practices, and the Judeo-Christian sources. With this freedom also comes the responsibility to use these practices wisely, without misappropriation and ensuring that they are accessible to persons of all races, ethnicities, sexualities, genders, and classes.

The Rev. Thandeka has provided some help on our journey of revelation. In Love Beyond Belief, she pieces together fragments of instructions from the writings of Unitarian theologians such as Charles Chauncy, Forrest Church, and William F. Schulz and Universalist theologian and minister Hosea Ballou.[2] Each of these men spoke/speak to what should be cultivated in a Unitarian Universalist path of spiritual/contemplative practice. Rev. Thandeka condenses their teachings into three objectives. Unitarian Universalist spiritual/contemplative practices should result in:

1. An uplifting individual change of heart;
2. Doctrinal freedom; and
3. A religious community’s emotional ethos of caring and compassion.

The development of Unitarian Universalist contemplative/spiritual practice at WUUC should have the goal of transforming the hearts of the individual, freeing the person from the bondage of other’s doctrines, and an emotional shift towards compassion for all.

OK. We know where we are heading, but with what practices?

19th c. African-American Unitarian poet and suffragette, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper’s life provides a possible structure for a path of responsibly syncretizing spiritual practices into Unitarian Universalism. Harper was a member of the historic First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia as well as the historic Black Mother Bethel AME Church. At First Unitarian, Harper was immersed in a culture of reason and rational thought, and witnessed a worship service that was calm, classical, and traditional. In her writing, it seems she was attracted to the rational and reasonable theology of Unitarians as well as their abolitionists and activist stances. So, why did she maintain her membership with Mother Bethel AME Church?

Harper was probably reluctant to leave her relationship with the Black community, but research is unclear about Harper’s motivation for holding dual membership with the both churches. The African Methodist Episcopal Church of the 19th c. was heavily influenced by both the religious emotionalism that they inherited from their African ancestors as well as the emotionality of the First Great Awakening. At Mother Bethel A.M.E Church, it is likely that Frances Ellen Watkins Harper would have encountered the Black church practices of being slain in the spirit, filled with the holy ghost, and the prophetic word; practices that are jarringly emotional and fully embodied. Mother Harper would have undoubtedly witnessed the great African-American prophetess, Amanda Berry Smith’s spontaneous and emotional sermons as well as the documented emotional and embodied response of the audience to her sermons.

It is my belief that our foremother, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, found reason at the Unitarian church and spiritual practices of embodiment at the African Methodist Episcopal Church. This balance of reasoning, justice, and spiritual practice resulted in Mother Harper’s embodied, intelligent and emotional poetry such as The Slave Auction:

The Slave Auction

By Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

The sale began—young girls were there,
Defenseless in their wretchedness,
Whose stifled sobs of deep despair
Revealed their anguish and distress.

And mothers stood, with streaming eyes,
And saw their dearest children sold;
Unheeded rose their bitter cries,
While tyrants bartered them for gold.

And woman, with her love and truth—
For these in sable forms may dwell—
Gazed on the husband of her youth,
With anguish none may paint or tell.

And men, whose sole crime was their hue,
The impress of their Maker’s hand,
And frail and shrinking children too,
Were gathered in that mournful band.

Ye who have laid your loved to rest,
And wept above their lifeless clay,
Know not the anguish of that breast,
Whose loved are rudely torn away.

Ye may not know how desolate
Are bosoms rudely forced to part,
And how a dull and heavy weight
Will press the life-drops from the heart.

I write to encourage us all to look for practices of embodiment that will help our community grow into its spiritual future.  Look to your family of origin, the spiritual practices that call you, our UU roots, and the traditions of your respective communities. Practice them until you have realization and bring them back to us at WUUC. Join a Black church, find a meditation community, go to retreat in the wilderness. Our community has the capacity to hold you on your spiritual journey and partner with you as you explore.

It is a difficult path to hold two traditions simultaneously, there are many competing commitments that make this path difficult. I speak from experience. However, the richness of our path depends on each of us doing the spiritual work and in the end, we will be much richer from the diversity of realizations and practices in our community.

May it be so.

[1] James Luther Adams summarized the foundational beliefs of religious liberals, such as Unitarian Universalists, in Five Smooth Stones of Religious Liberalism. The Five Smooth Stones are a play on the Biblical tale of David facing the giant, Goliath. They are: 1. Revelation is continuous, 2. Mutual consent in all of our relations, 3. Justice in human relations, 4. Virtue must be defined by social relationships and not individual piety, 5. We are rich with human and divine resources that necessitate optimism.

[2] Thandeka. (2009). Love Beyond Belief: A Paper for Prairie Group

Transformation: Where to Find Spiritual Tools

by WUUC | Mar 27, 2017 | DRE Blog

Nothing remains as it was. If you know this, you can begin again, with pure joy in the uprooting.
– Judith Minty

I believe as we age we gain a better understanding of life’s purpose and meaning. For me, life’s meaning is far too nebulous to awkwardly attempt to put into words. In our 4th UU Principle, we covenant as a community to search for truth and meaning in life.  What makes UUs faithful is that we know that all things can be known to some extent, we generally do not believe that there is some omniscient entity hiding truth in a dark corner and away from us mere humans. Mystery can always be explored, even if not fully understood. The truth is that the purpose of life is written on the pages of our lives, even if we can’t express it in words, we can feel and know it.

In the book of life are many sad endings and celebratory beginnings, endless cycles of loss and birth. Along with that cycle comes the emotional roller coaster of sadness and joy that accompanies each ending and beginning. The carnival ride of life begins to take a toll on us. As youth we are more likely to be carefree and move through the world with lightheartedness. As we age, the relentless ups and downs of life are simply exhausting.

This month as a community,  we contemplate how the spiritual lens of transformation might renew our souls and give our hearts resilience. A spiritual perspective of transformation offers an opportunity to find equanimity and joy in a life of endless loss. It asks that we learn to look forward to the hope of new beginnings. It also asks us to be prepared for all things to end. A recognition of the reality of transformation asks us to acknowledge transitions with celebration and mourning. Somewhere in our ability to cope, to celebrate, to guide others through life’s transitions, is the meaning of our lives.

Credit: Red Berry Plant and Butterfly, Shibata Zeshin (Japanese, 1807–1891)

Coping with and celebrating transformation requires that we acquire many spiritual tools. Lifespan religious education aims to provide these tools to all in our community; children, youth, adults and our elders. In Soulful Exploration, we teach each other the purpose of life in providing support throughout life’s transformational processes. Soulful Exploration’s lifespan religious education program offers many opportunities to acquire the spiritual tools needed for the many cycles of life. Check out our current offerings at wuuc.org/programs. Also, view our blog for the most recent events happening in Soulful Exploration for children and youth: http://gtest.wuuc.org/category/for-families-and-youth/

Soulful Exploration for All (That means you!)

by WUUC | Feb 17, 2017 | DRE Blog

Make sure to check out our website often for updates to our program at wuuc.org/programs

The REALL (Religious Education and Lifelong Learning) team and I are contemplating how we might incorporate commitments made in the resolution for the support of Black lives, approved by the congregation recently, into our programming. I believe that as well as comprehensive adult education about Blackness and the experience of racism in America, that there are many possible implications on our children’s program. The voices that constitute both our explicit and implicit curriculum at WUUC must be informed by this new racial justice focus. We can bring Black voices and those from other historically marginalized populations into our curriculum. There are stories of faith, folk legends, fiction authors and more written and created by persons of color that will enhance our programming at WUUC.

In our children’s program before I arrived, this church began the work of moving beyond the Eurocentric Christian Sunday school model to one that is more experiential, rooted in rituals of the world’s wisdom traditions, and full of the legends of Black and Brown people. We can go further by incorporating African and Indigenous storytelling methodology into our programming, ensuring that every lesson has a justice focus, and inviting people of color as guests in our program. We can also work to ensure that our program is fully welcoming to all persons of color who are a part of and visit on Sunday morning.

In 2017-2018 our children’s program will have flexible curricula that are able to incorporate the previously mentioned additions to our program. Preschool-1st grade will have “Spirit Play,” a montessori-based story-centered curriculum that is deeply rooted in Unitarian Universalism but leaves room for new stories to be told. Our 2-5th grade group will continue to do “Spirit Jam,” a hands-on, experiential learning workshop classroom that explores the theme through body, story, and the arts. Our middle school will likely continue with a world-religions focus that leaves room for exposure to African, Indigenous, and Middle Eastern religious traditions. Finally, YRUU’s curriculum is justice-project based and our youth choose to address topics that range from racial justice to gender justice, including the voices of people of color.

For adults, I announced last month that we will begin a series on anti-blackness (Black Liberation Series), this series will happen on what is now called Racial Justice Wednesdays. Beginning partially this Spring, each Wednesday, there is an opportunity to engage in an Adult education event around racial justice including: Mutuality Movement, Black Liberation Series, Witnessing Whiteness, The Third Reconstruction, and more. Check out our website for more details. (http://gtest.wuuc.org/programs/soulfuladults/)