We believe that you are the primary Religious Educators of your children and youth.  Our hope is to support your efforts by providing a structured opportunity for religious and spiritual exploration in the midst of a caring faith community.  We hope that you as parents/guardians will make every effort to have your child attend Children's Church as often as your schedule will allow.  Consistent attendance is critical for the proper functioning of our small groups.  Children and youth will get much more from a program where there is a consistent group of peers with whom they can explore and share ideas.

Ours is a cooperative religious education program.  For our program to be successful the participation of everyone is essential.  The program operates only through the sharing and expertise of our congregational members who act as leaders, facilitators, and helpers throughout the year.  All parents whose children have been enrolled in any RE program are expected to assist for at least 6 programming Sundays.  No special training or knowledge is required to help out.  We ask only that you are willing to give time to be present with the children and youth as they move along their faith journeys.  In doing so you show them that they are a valuable part of our faith community.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Children's Church Behavior Guidelines

One of the major goals of our Religious Education program here at First Parish is to provide an atmosphere of mutual respect. We strongly believe that children and youth need a safe and respectful space to explore their developing sense of spirituality. To help us achieve this goal, we will be expecting, modeling and encouraging appropriate behavior from our children and youth at all times. Children in each classroom will create a behavioral covenant (rules for how to treat each other) that will be posted in their meeting space throughout the year. This will serve as a reminder to all to be respectful members of their church community.
On those occasions when a child or youth's behavior is repeatedly disrespectful of others and disruptive in the classroom, the following actions will be taken:

1. The child/youth and classroom leader will discuss the unacceptable behavior and possible solutions. The classroom leader will remind the child/youth about the agreed upon solutions and will work with him/her to improve the behavior. The vast majority of classroom issues will be handled at this level.

2. If the unacceptable behavior persists, parents will be notified by the DRE, and solutions will be discussed. It is our expectation that parents will work with the DRE and classroom leader to insure that the child/youth understands the importance of appropriate classroom behavior.

3. If all efforts to improve behavior are unsuccessful, the child/youth will lose the privilege of attending Children's Church for the remainder of the Session, and will be encouraged to attend church with his/her parents.

We very much appreciate parents' support of our efforts to create a safe space for all.

Holiday Programming for Religious Enrichment Classes

Throughout the year there are several Sunday's when we will be offering Holiday Programming rather than Regular Programming.  These are the popular long weekends and school vacations.  During the Holiday Programming Sundays, we will offer supervised cooperative games/videos during Religious Education time.

The Religious Education Committee