CHILDREN'S EDUCATION

{Religious Education Director | Religious Education Update}

“We are Unitarian Universalists. We promise to give our eternal friendship to each other, our families, and our world.”

Our children wrote the above affirmation statement, which they recite every Sunday during our morning service. They are an important part of our congregation and are included in the first part of every Sunday service. During “Time for our Children,” the minister, speaker, or a UUCVH member presents a story or brief conversation chosen to fit the theme of the morning. The remainder of their morning is spent in religious education classes.

Our goals include helping children to recognize their individual worth and to explore their own beliefs and intuitions. We encourage them to see themselves as part of a tradition that includes lessons from the past, but is open to the future, while fostering values developed from examinations of our shared humanity on our shared planet. Most of our curriculums are chosen from those provided by the Unitarian Universalist Association and are decided upon by the religious education director and the UUCVH Religious Education Committee (comprised primarily of parents).

Currently we have 10 children enrolled in our RE program. Classes are divided between The Good Samaritans (older preschool to early elementary years) and The Eclectics (later elementary to mid-teen years). Emphasis is placed on UUA principles and community service projects. We provide nursery care for our youngest children. Older teens and young adults may make use of the shared programs of Unitarian Universalist congregations in the district.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION UPDATE

We have just concluded our third summer of “Share Your Passion”, where congregation members have generously shared their time and talents with the children on summer Sundays. During August Cleo gave the children hands-on experience with Japanese Brush Painting, Jeanne shared the story of Koko the gorilla and other animals who have learned to communicate through sign language and art, and Vickie enjoyed interesting discussion with the class. Thank you to all of our summer volunteer teachers!

Big changes and wonderful things lie ahead for our Religious Education program. The past year saw a series of volunteer teachers from the congregation (one each month) teaching the class on Sunday mornings. In March the RE Committee decided to search for a paid Religious Education Director/Teacher. After a period of time with no responses to our ad, congregation member Celia stepped forward and volunteered to teach the RE class during the coming year. We are so grateful to her for her generosity and commitment to our children!

Meanwhile, the search continued for an Religious Education Director to fulfill the
organizational, planning and administrative duties of the RE program. Another congregation member, Cora Swass, applied for the position. After Cora’s interview with the Religious Education Committee, the Board approved hiring Cora as our new RE Director. She will share the teaching duties with Celia in addition to administering the RE program.

Both Celia and Cora have experience with and commitment to working with children. They bring new life and energy to our program. Cora has already registered for UU/RE training workshops, and has begun reorganizing and refreshing our classrooms. Celia finds working with our children very rewarding, and has expressed her desire to continue her teaching as a volunteer. We are so excited to begin the new church year with Cora and Celia guiding our children!

Our Whole Lives

UUCVH has joined with other Churches in the LA/Valley Cluster to provide the Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education program. Four youth in grades 7-9, from our Church will be participating in twenty-seven weekly classes. Lynne Webber is the program coordinator.