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Religious Exploration
A Note from the Minister A Note from the RE Director
Mission Statement
The Religious Exploration Program is a dynamic and creative program that strives to guide our children, youth and adults in the lifelong learning process of developing their own spiritual identity, through the framework of the Unitarian Universalist principles.
Program Goals/Vision
To achieve the mission through: Worship, leadership, social action, fellowship, service to church & community.
Our Unitarian Universalist Principles
| Adult Version (from the UUA Bylaws) | Child Version (from the book, UU Alphabet, by Helen Zidowecki) | |
| We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: | We remember: | |
| The inherent worth and dignity of every person. | Everyone is important. | |
| Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. | We are fair and kind to each other. | |
| Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. | Church is a place where we learn together. | |
| A free and responsible search for truth and meaning. | We are always learning for ourselves. | |
| The rights of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregation and in society at large; | We have a say about what is important to us. | |
| The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all; | We help make the world a better place for everyone. | |
| Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are all a part. | We help take care of our world. | |
| The Living Tradition we share draws from many sources: | ||
| Experiences of God and wonder and mystery; | We feel a presence of something beyond ourselves and the wonder of a sunset... | |
| People who work for justice, and love, and peace; | We work at a soup kitchen and on the Human Rights Campaign... | |
| Wisdom and spiritual practices from world religions; | We use meditation, prayer, chanting from many religions... | |
| Jewish and Christian teachings of love of God and of others; | We learn about Christmas, the Golden Rule, stories and teachings from the Bible... | |
| Humanist teachings of reason and science; | We affirm the importance of each person and the good in people... | |
| Teachings of Earth-centered traditions that celebrate harmony with nature; | We celebrate the cycles of the universe from the Native American and goddess traditions... | |
A Note from the Minister, Jodi Cohen Hayashida
The great end in religious instruction is not to stamp our minds upon the youth, but to stir up their own...
—The Rev. Wiliam Ellery Channing
The great end of religious instruction at First Universalist is indeed to stip up the minds of our children and youth. Children are inherently religious beings. They ask the great questions about faith, life, and meaning that adults often fear to ask. Our RE program encourages this questioning. Our young people are not taught a strict set of beliefs and guidelines to which they must adhere if they are to be "good" Unitarian Universalists. Rather, they are taught to seek out truth: they are exposed to the wisdom of the great world religions; they learn how to ask discerning questions and sit gently with both their faith as well as their doubts; they discover how to embody their beliefs through the day to day decisions that they make. In short, our children and youth learn the same thing we all must - that their beliefs are their own to discover and live out. Channing, concluding his piece on religious education, writes: "…the great end is to awaken the soul, to excite and cherish spiritual life." May it be so for all of our children.
A Note from the Director of RE, Katarina Arvedson
We are so pleased that you are interested in our program. My goal is to provide a space where children will feel safe & be nurtured to grow. I want our program to expose children and youth to the values of Unitarian Universalist identity, Jewish & Christian heritage, other world religions, and social action/justice. I am my self learning alongside you. I have been a UU since 1997 and an educator since 1995. Please feel free to approach me with any questions, ideas or concerns.
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