Nursery Care (10:15  - 11:30)
A warm, loving and consistent environment is provided for our very youngest children each Sunday by our caregiver, Samantha Pecinovsky, a young adult hired by the Parish. Care is available for babies and young children up through pre-school. Parents/guardians may drop off their child(ren) before the service, and are expected to pick up their children immediately following the worship service, prior to attending coffee hour.

Religious Education Programming for Children & Youth
What does it mean to be a “UU?” What do UU’s believe? What does it mean to be a part of a faith community? How do UUs encourage one another's search for truth and meaning? How can we help our children and youth to look both inward at themselves, and outward at the communities to which they belong? We will explore these questions all year long as we delve into our UU Identity and examine what it means to be part of a faith community. In all classrooms, we will consider our UU Identity through games and stories, art, music, discussions and social justice activities. Look for our children/youth to bring their Sunday morning experiences and wonderings home with them to share with their families throughout the week.

Grades: Kindergarten through Grade 2 - Spirit Play I
Spirit Play is a Montessori-based program designed specifically for Unitarian Universalists. It provides our children with a solid foundation for their faith development by encouraging creative exploration, imagination and spiritual wondering within a sacred space. The Spirit Play classroom is unique; the emphasis is on building community within the classroom, and creating a sacred space where children are open to spiritual experiences. Through stories, wondering questions, and creative art responses, children make meaning of our UU faith and life’s ‘big’ questions. This year our focus will be on UU identity and our Judeo/Christian heritage.

Grades 3 through Grade 5

Because of the success of our Spirit Play program with children in Grades K – 3, we are introducing a second Spirit Play classroom for our older elementary school children Our Spirit Play II classroom will follow the same general format: using stories, journaling, and creative art responses, our older elementary children will explore existential questions such as: Who am I? Where do I fit in this world? What is my purpose? What are my gifts? How do I treat people with kindness? This year our focus will be on UU identity and our Judeo/Christian heritage.

Grades 6 through Grade 8
Our goal with our middle school group is to continue to help them make meaning in their lives through the lens of Unitarian Universalism. Our curriculum this year The New You The Creator, by Richard S. Kimball, is packed with FUN, and focuses on a new experience of spirituality and an understanding of the creative forces in all of us. Four E’s inform the program: Exploring, Experiencing, Expanding, and Expressing. And ten themes run through it: Religion and Creativity, Religion and Creative Arts, Arts and Creativity, Creativity and Self, Practical Creativity, Universal Creative Force, Creative Spirituality, Creating Community, Yes You Can, and Creativity for All. Imagine how individual lives and even the world might change if our youth understood the positive power of the creative forces within!

Our Unitarian Universalist Principles

We covenant to affirm and promote:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person

• Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations

• Acceptance of one another and encouragement of spiritual growth in our congregations

• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning

• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large

• The goal of world community with peace liberty, and justice for all

• Respect for the interdependent web of which we are all a part

Our Children's "Rainbow Promises"

These promises are the children's version of  the above 7 UU Principles

• Respect all beings (red)

• Offer fair and kind treatment (orange)

• Yearn to learn (yellow)

• Grow in spirit and mind (green)

• Believe in your ideas and act on them (blue)

• Insist on peace, freedom & justice (indigo)

• Value the connections in all creation (violet)