Religious Education is a Life-Long Process

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

• An inter-generational 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

Children & Youth Programs

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.

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.

Family Connection

At First Parish, we understand that parents are the primary religious educators of their children. We strive to support parents in their roles as religious educators by offering a strong religious education program for children, youth, and adults, and to partner with families to bring them the richest possible UU experience.

We recognize how difficult it can be in our culture of busyness to regularly attend church on Sunday mornings (we are parents, too!), though we encourage families to come as often as possible and to strive for three Sundays out of four. After all, we have only 28–32 hours per year to be together at church — very different from a typical public school setting where children spend approximately 1,000 hours a year!

Most of our classes are designed to be “stand alone” sessions to accommodate active families, so that if a child/youth misses a week of class, he/she will miss only the content and experience of that one day. Often, First Parish teachers or the DRE will send a weekly email to registered families, so that any missed content can be explored and discussed at home.

As partners in a child’s religious education, the RG&L Committee asks the following of parents:

• Please bring your children as often and as consistently as possible (3–4 times a month). Children and youth learn better and form closer ties with their peers when they attend regularly, and it helps teachers immeasurably when class size is constant week to week.
• Please help your children be ready to engage: bring them to Sunday school well fed, well rested, and dressed for active (and probably messy!) learning.
• Please leave toys, including electronic ones, at home or in your car.
• Get involved in what your children are doing in Sunday school. Visit the classroom and get to know their teachers. Ask your children about the class and continue the conversation — look for emails from your child’s teacher/DRE about what the class is learning.
• Meet with the DRE to discuss any concerns or ideas you may have — she is always ready and willing to chat!
• Attend adult programs that will enrich your experience and understanding of Unitarian Universalism

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.