Religious Education for children 3 to 12 years old is available from 11AM to 12:20PM throughout the September-June church year. During the summer, a forum is held (10AM) and child care provided (beginning 9:30AM) each Sunday, but there is no service or religious education program. (For adult programming, see Adult RE .)

Our children are in the beginning stages of forming their beliefs about community and spirituality. At Third Unitarian they are free to discuss their non-beliefs a well as the ideas they are sure of, and do so knowing their teachers will respect and encourage their opinions, and questions. At the same time, the history and foundations of various beliefs are introduced in the spirit of Unitarian inquiry and respect for human diversity. See Spirit .

Children ages 3 to12 years of member or visiting families are invited to participate in the Sunday morning Religious Education program. Babies and toddlers are cared for by their parents. See Child Care .

Schedule and Curriculum

11:00AM Sunday Service: About 10 minutes of the service is set aside for the Director of Religious Education to conduct a brief lesson with the children who gather on the dais. It is interactive, usually on a social issue or history theme, and interesting to the congregation present.

11:15AM Religious Education class: This portion of the morning is a planned exploration of religious themes through classroom based activities. Materials may be locally developed or derived from the extensive collection of UU curriculum materials developed by the denomination through the Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Association. Always drawing on active involvement and personal experience, some themes are: World Religions, Exploring Unitarian Roots, UU Peace and Justice Heritage, Caring for the Earth, the Power of Feelings, and the Search for Truth.

Classes end at 12:20PM. The children are provided refreshments and welcomed to conversation and fellowship at the coffee hour that follows the 11AM service.

More on UU curricula at www.uua.org/re/childprog.html.

John Munger, Director of Religious Education

Christina Leone, Assistant Director of Religious Education