The Religious Exploration program of UUCCSM is dedicated to the personal and spiritual development of our children within the context of our Unitarian Universalist faith.

The 2018-2019

Nursery Care: 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.  Staffed by professional childcare providers and loving members of our church community. Located in cottage SW

9:00 AM Preschool-Kindergarten- 2nd Grade: “Spirit Seekers” This year’s curriculum is drawn from our church covenant.  (“Love is the doctrine of this church.  The quest for truth…) We have taken six themes from the covenant—Love, Service, Peace, Knowledge/Truth, Freedom, and Community—around which to organize the Sunday lessons. Throughout the year, we will take 3-4 consecutive Sundays to explore aspects of each theme, always bringing it back to our covenant.  For example, with Love, we will talk about love for self, love for family, and love for others.   We will explore these themes using storybooks and craft activities. The only exception is the Service theme.  With this theme, we will take the classroom Sunday before each Faith-In-Action Sunday to explore the aspect of Service related to the Faith-In-Action field trip. We hope you will join us! Meets in the Cottage

9:00 AM 3rd-5th Grade: “The UUniverse Story”- How do we know what we know?  All meaning stories, origin stories or creation myths, regardless of time or setting, have been a reflection of all the knowledge and technology available to its particular culture.  “The UUniverse Story” is designed to celebrate what we know in the 21^st century and to nurture a sense of awe and wonder for the world around us through a hands-on, science-based curriculum intended to give an appreciation of the incredible achievements of our species to understand the world and our place in it.  Kids will engage our UU Principles and values as they explore the chemistry of life, the ideas of evolution and change over time, and the interconnectedness of all people from our shared ancestry with each other and every other life form on the planet. Meets in Forbes Room 4

9:00 AM 6th-7th Grade: “Interfaith Quest” is a two-year comparative religions course that takes participants outside of our own walls to learn about the world’s religions through building relationships and doing interfaith service work with youth from other  religious traditions.  Participants will reflect on the unique and universal of religious experience, explore their own values as they relate to many other faith traditions, and increase their appreciation of religious diversity.  The concept for this new course was inspired by the book Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, in the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation by Eboo Patel. Mr Patel’s experience taught him that when youth from faiths who share the common value of doing good work in the world come together to work cooperatively on a service project, it not only helps to break down barriers of misunderstanding, but also deepens one’s own faith through sharing it with others. This year we will start by critically examining one of our own services and discussing the elements and what they mean and what purpose they serve.  Then we will study Hinduism, Buddhism and finish the RE year studying some Native American Religions.  We will also be taking time out from "study" to have fun, to bond, to create community and to do service.  Meets in Forbes Room 3

9:00 AM 9th-12th Grade: Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) empowers teens, with the guidance of adult advisors, to create their own vision and mission for their program.  YRUU youth will explore what it means to be young and UU, how our UU principles inform how we live our lives, and what power young UU’s have to change the world.  YRUU also takes part in social justice projects, organizes social gatherings, and will plan and lead a Sunday worship service for the congregation.

Multi-Age Class 11:00 AM -We are "Soul Explorers"  For our 11 AM All Ages class we will be exploring the monthly topics used in our congregation from Soul Matters.  Children will be engaged in stories, art, music, meditation, nature and service. We use an experiential rather than a “school” framework. In other words, each session strives to engage children in four fundamental spiritual experiences; what we call “the four  S’s”:

The Four S’s” of Nurturing the Soul

• Silence  meditation, listening, mindfulness
• Service  leadership, helping others
• Sunshine  connection with nature and our bodies through outdoor activities or movement
• Silliness!  (We will have fun)

Safe Sitter® Essentials With CPR