Welcome to Religious Education at Community!
We Build Community Inside and Out!
Our Sunday School families visit the Hell's Kitchen Community Garden to rake & prep for summer, learn about composting & bee life and see shared community spaces in action. Super Fun!
At Community, we cherish being a part of your family faith journey.
Here are some of the ways we approach Religious Education.
WE CONNECT WITH OURSELVES
On Sundays, our Youth & Children's Chapel is a place where young people 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 on our individual journeys.
WE CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER
Sunday Chapel is followed by Learning Workshops. Classes may involve stories, interactive games, movement, art activities and real world applications. We write our own curriculum and are inspired by all 8 UU principles, all 6 UU sources and world religions and traditions. In our Sunday Learning Workshops we're building an understanding of Unitarian Universalism by modeling compassion, curiosity and radical inclusion. We're creating safer space for questioning in individual faith journeys, and providing a network of spiritual tools and theological understanding to support the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We have a great time and kids build community here!
WE CONNECT PARENTS
Every Tuesday night, we hold Parent Circles where parents & guardians have the chance to take a deep collective breath together, build friendships, share resources, and discuss everything from interfaith parenting to self-care tricks and tips.
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 hosts 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 programs for children, youth & families!
Peace and Blessings,
Jil Novenski
Director of Religious Education for Children & Youth
