Hello, and Welcome to Religious Education at Community. All are welcome here!

I'd like to share an overview of who we are and how the learning goes down here at Community.

WE CONNECT WITH OURSELVES

On Sundays, our Children's Chapel is a place where children and youth are given space to center and share. We recognize that nurturing the spirit is regenerative, and that using tools like meditation, storytelling, and sharing joys and concerns can help us feel seen, heard, and supported in our individual journeys.

WE CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER

Sunday Chapel is followed by Religious education classes. Curriculum is rooted in our rich UU history, and guided by our principles and sources. Classes may involve stories, discussion, movement, art activities and real world projects. In Religious Education we're building an understanding of Unitarian Universalism, creating space for individual faith journeys, and providing opportunities to work together to affect the change we want to see in the world.

WE CONNECT AS FAMILIES

Food, Family Folklore & Fellowship is a new and exciting whole family RE Program. This year we'll begin a monthly rotation of virtual family potlucks! We'll invite each other to the virtual table, sharing our own rituals and traditions around mealtime, maybe some family lore around a holiday feast, and begin to uncover all the many wonderful things that connect us while sharing a virtual meal together.

WE BUILD CONNECTIONS BETWEEN UUs EVERYWHERE

Community Church is Co-Founder and Host of UU Kids Connect Programs. These are inter-congregational collaborative offerings. We are helping to build new UU community by transcending geographic boundaries and successfully connecting UU kids from New York to Baton Rouge to California, Canada and beyond.

During the school year, UU Kids Connect will offer monthly Socials for grades K-5, and grades 6-8.

The Socials are a space for fun and friendship, where meaningful connections are being made and identities are safely and beautifully unfolding within a framework of shared values and covenant.

During the summer, the UU Kids Connect Summer Program leads twice weekly classes and Friday Socials.

In 2020, our inaugural year, we used 8 summer weeks to explore all 8 Unitarian Universalist principles through stories, games, song, special guests and group discussion.

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO

Our programs for children and youth are designed to uplift and empower, and to replace fear of the unknown, with teachings about all the different ways there are of being and believing in the world. With spiritual grounding, concrete knowledge of Unitarian Universalism, and space for questioning, our young people learn that their voices matter, their hearts are valuable and that empathy, compassion, diversity and love are pillars of strength in community.

It's in this spirit that I invite you and your family to join us on Zoom to see what it's all about!

Click here to see our current online offerings!

Peace and Blessings,

Jil Novenski

Director of Religious Education for Children & Youth

jnovenski@ccny.org

Giving

Community Church of New York Unitarian Universalist is a loving, spiritual community that is committed to inclusion and a just society. We are able to carry these values forward through the kind generosity of others. Please consider following ways to donate to our efforts.