Sundays in RE at TVUUC:                              Choose Your Own Adventure!

TVUUC’s programs provide a nurturing environment for our children and youth to explore and develop their own religious identities and where they can learn more about Unitarian Universalism, its Principles and Sources, values and history, through a variety of freely-chosen experiential spaces offered each week, all engaging with a common spiritual theme. Across our program, we are intentional about providing opportunities to deeply engage with the following four elements of UU faith development: community building, spiritual practices, religious exploration, and community service & action.

We’ll begin together in our sanctuary as one community of all ages with ritual, song, and a Story for All Ages that invites congregants young and old into engagement with the theme of our exploration for the morning.  Following the story, children, youth, their families and our program volunteers are invited to participate in one of our experiential spaces for the next part of our morning.  These include:

Nursery

Babies and toddlers are kept safe and happy with loving care.  Our nursery room is a warm and welcoming place for you and your children.  Led by staff childcare providers.

Our nursery is open from 9:30 am – 10:45 am for pre-service childcare for ages 6 mos. and up, and from 10:45am through 12:30 pm for nursery aged children of 6 mos. – 2 years. We have rocking chairs, appropriate toys, and a diaper-changing area. Please introduce yourself and your child to our caregivers and take some time to help your child feel at home. Bring any special items (marked with the child’s name) that will help them feel happy and secure.

You are also welcome to keep your child with you during the service. In addition, the E. E. Cummings Room at the back of the sanctuary is a place where you can hear the service while your child has a bit more freedom to move around. Our sound system also allows you to listen to the service from the comfort of the nursery.

We require parents to let our childcare staff know how to locate you. When you sign your child in, please indicate where you expect to be in our building, set your cell phone on vibrate, and leave your number. We also ask that you list who will be picking up your child.

Note to parents: Our regular caregivers are paid by TVUUC to ensure that we always have a minimum level of responsible staff on duty, but we occasionally need additional help from parents and other adults to be sure that we have an adequate number of caregivers for the number of children present. In the event that the childcare area reaches the maximum number of children per adult, our staff will post signs on the doors indicating that no more children can be accepted without an additional volunteer.

(Ages 3-5)

A warm and welcoming classroom experience for young children best served through one special space they can experience as their own.  Led by a small team of volunteers who build comfort through being consistently in class together.   Here we make friends, feel love, learn about being UU through stories, art and movement, and explore UU values such as kindness and fairness.  We also learn about the wonder and awe inherent in being human, being part of our world, and being in community together.

Each week participants will choose between 2 or more of the below RE spaces for further exploration engaging mind, body and spirit:

(All ages welcome)

In this space, we put our hands and heart to work for our values by partnering with members of TVUUC engaged in service within our church and/or the wider community. Each time HH gathers we’ll engage in a service project, offering an authentic opportunity to live out our congregational mission as members of one faith community of all ages.

(Particularly well-suited for 3^rd-6^th graders; all ages welcome)

Here we offer a “Creative Challenge” as we make meaning together through engaging our  imaginations and connecting with others through hands-on projects that help make concepts more concrete. We’ll connect with our UU principles, learn about people who exemplify the values we hold dear, and will model our beloved community in the ways we create together.

(Particularly well-suited for K-2^nd graders; all ages welcome)

In this space we share stories, drawn primarily from our Children’s Diversity & Justice Library collection, that explore our spiritual themes followed by self-directed art-making in response.

(All ages welcome)

This is our space for engaging in spiritual practice and contemplation.  With a central question for reflection that ties to our theme for the day, we introduce a spiritual practice – yoga, meditation, singing, and more – and young people are also welcome to make use of the many contemplative tools in our space in their connecting with the theme.  This is intended to be a calming, sensory-friendly space for reflection and renewal.

(6^th-12^th graders)

This program, developed especially for older youth, centers the importance of connection and play after an unprecedented time of stress and upheaval in young people’s lives.  We believe many moments of learning and faith development emerge through play, sharing and caring for each other, and working together towards  common goals.  What many of our young  people need most right now is the opportunity to connect and reconnect, to have fun, to get to know each other, and to contribute in a fun, caring environment.  Activities here will focus on team and community building through   discussion, games, play, crafts, and service activities.  Our UU covenant and principles will be seamlessly integrated throughout these sessions.

We also offer additional non-Sunday morning programming for youth to come together with peers for social connection, fun and service.  Sometimes our monthly events are purely social, and sometimes we will put our hands and hearts to work for our UU values in acts of love and service!  Activities such as miniature golf, firepit and s’mores, ice skating, greenway cleanup, little free pantry stocking, bowling, scavenger hunts, etc., as well as a youth Dungeons & Dragons group which will meet twice monthly.

Sanctuary
(All ages welcome)

Remaining in the sanctuary for the service is a great way to engage the spirit and reflect on our theme. We have a special spot available up front for young people, with a soft rug, kid-sized table and chairs, some quiet focusing tools, and a great view of what’s happening. Arranged around the sanctuary are additional “Soul Work” options for older children, youth and adults to engage in spiritual hand work as we connect with the service.

Save