Religious Growth & Learning at First Parish

A Life-Long Process

The Religious Growth and Learning program at First Parish seeks to provide:

  • An intergenerational community where we feel love, acceptance and belonging
  • Opportunities for celebration and rights of passage
  • A passion/foundation for putting Unitarian Universalist principles into practice
  • An appreciation of the mystery and wonder of all existence
  • And a foundation for a personal lifelong search for meaning
At First Parish we value and promote lifelong spiritual growth and development. To that end, we offer educational programs for children, youth, and adults, as well as nursery care for infants and toddlers. All of our programs combine the strength and diversity of our intergenerational community with the dedication of our professional teachers to create dynamic courses, workshops, activities, and events for all ages.

Children & Youth Programs

At First Parish, we utilize a “rotational theme” model of religious education for our Elementary through Junior Youth Clusters. In this model, a yearlong theme is chosen, and that theme is rotated every three years. The themes include world religions, Unitarian Universalist identity, and the Jewish and Christian heritage of Unitarian Universalism. Children and youth revisit these important central themes of our faith at different stages of their intellectual and emotional development.

Adult Programs

Download the current Adult Programs brochure

Central to Unitarian Universalism is a life-long exploration of religious truth, meaning and experience. First Parish in Lexington is a community committed to this continuous journey. We all work to provide each other an environment of trust, tolerance, and encouragement as we shape our beliefs, celebrate our discoveries, and live our values.

The Adult Programs Team plans and organizes programs which encourage personal and spiritual growth and lifelong learning and build a caring community within and outside our church. Each minister teaches at least one program in the year. Lay leaders facilitate other programs.

Each year we offer at least one program in each of the following categories:

  • Religious/Spiritual
  • Unitarian Universalist identity
  • Personal Growth/Relationships
  • Social Justice
  • Fun/Fellowship/Community Building
  • Creativity/Mind and Body
All programs are open to First Parish members, friends, and youth. You may register by signing up after church in Parish Hall, or by calling the church office. Each September and January the programs for the coming months are published in our newsletter and on the web site.

Nursery Care

Loving care for babies and toddlers not yet potty trained is provided by a professional staff caregiver, assisted by a rotating schedule of volunteers.

Registration Information

Registration for the church year begins in May and continues through September. To register, parents fill out a family registration form (one per family), a volunteer form (one for each adult in the family), and a child/youth information form for each child or youth being registered.

Additionally, all families (with preschoolers – 12th graders) are asked to pay a $100 registration fee per child at the time of registration, with a $200 family cap. Please contact the DRE if you would like to discuss the registration fee.

To register, visit the RG&L Committee table during coffee hour in the month of September, download and print out the forms, or drop by the church office any time during the week.