Families With Children
Faith Development Registration
Annual Registration affords us necessary contact information and details to include your child in age appropriate invitations as our programming evolves.
Sunday Mornings
At its core, UU family faith development is a journey of relationships. We try to provide opportunities for families with children to connect with each other, other families, and other generations.
Because the needs of families are diverse, we offer diverse ways for families with children to engage with our congregation. Families are always welcome to worship together during the entire service. We provide coloring pages and quiet toys in bins at the front and back of the Sanctuary to make this easier.
We nurture the faith formation of our children through shared worship, classes, and special programs. Most Sundays, families begin worship together in our Sanctuary until children have the option of leaving for Faith Development Programming during the Children’s Parting Song, about 20 minutes in.
Multigenerational Worship Services
Several times each year the entire service is designed especially to engage all generations, as children youth and adults worship and celebrate together; we call these Multigenerational Services. The nursery remains open, but we hope that most children will stay in the Sanctuary and take part in this lively and interactive form of worship.
Family Chapel
On the first Sunday of the month (October to May) parents, volunteer guides, and anyone else who would like, join children in the Community Room on the lower level for Family Chapel. Children help to lead this alternative start to Sunday worship, after which parents will head up to the sanctuary to join the larger worship service and kids will begin their classes or other scheduled activities.
Infants & Toddlers
While welcome in our Sanctuary, we also offer care for Infants and toddlers in our safe, friendly Nursery by trained adult supervisors and teen staff. Parents can sign children into the Nursery before, or at any time during, our Sunday morning worship. For children who need a parent to stay with them the first or second time, parents can pick up a listening device from the main office which will allow them to hear the service while their children become familiar with the staff and the space.
Rocking chairs are available at the rear of the Sanctuary and you may also listen to the service in the parlors with your infant/toddler if you need a quieter space. Changing tables are available in all bathrooms and the Nursery.
Faith Development Programs for Children
Nursery (Infant-PreK):
Our primary goal is that young children enjoy their time here and feel safe and cared for, setting the stage for future social, ethical, and spiritual growth in this community. The Nursery is open for free and creative play every Sunday, supervised by our trained childcare providers. Children can be signed-in up to 15 minutes before the service.
JETPIG – Values Fueled by Love (PreK-4th):
Participants explore UU Values of Justice, Equity, Transformation, Pluralism, Interdependence, and Generosity, with Love at the center, while building community! Each session begins with familiar rituals and reading and discussing a values-themed picture book, followed by a free “work” period, during which they are invited to build in the “Cardboard Creation Corner,” with blocks or legos, or use craft supplies to reflect on the theme.
Crossing Paths and Bible Stories Plus Exploration Group (5-8th Grade):
With twin goals of community-building and gaining religious literacy, participants will explore 11 different faiths over a two year period, using the Crossing Paths curriculum which embodies pluralism in the guiding metaphor of “Many Mountains; Many Paths”. Four times during the year, the team that guided this cohort during last year’s exploration of Bible Stories, will return to explore these faiths through their stories. A Parent team will be established to arrange for visits to neighboring places of worship in the second half of the year.
YUUTH (9th-12th Grade):
Youth gather to connect with each other and our UU values. Guides suggest activities and offer prompts for discussion, but allow youth to direct the group’s trajectory as they are ready.
PreK-High School: Chalice Choice
Choice Sundays allow participants to choose among several activity “stations”. With an overall theme of UU identity, stations will offer different ways for children and youth to engage with our UU values, history, and rituals. Choices might include singing along with favorite UU hymns to guitar accompaniment, coloring a piece of a collaborative UU Values mosaic, making chalices out of air-dry clay, playing an active game that demonstrates a UU value, or meditating. Some stations will remain open into coffee hour so that adult members of the congregation can participate as well.
Sunday Morning Schedule for children
Below is the schedule for typical Sunday mornings when we have Faith Development (FD) activities. Since a number of Sundays diverge from this schedule, click here to access the latest eNews blast for the most updated information on that week’s activities for children & youth. Also, feel free to check with a Welcome Ambassador about the day’s activities on Sundays when you arrive at the Meetinghouse.
9:45: Nursery opens
10:00: Worship Service begins in the Sanctuary
10:20: Preschool – 8th graders leave worship for FD activities
11:15: Worship Service ends ** Coffee Hour in the Community Room **
11:20: FD activities end – parents pick children up from their classrooms
11:20: Nursery closes
First Sunday of the month:
9:45: Nursery opens
10:00: Family Chapel begins in the Community Room while Worship Service begins in the Sanctuary
10:20: Parents join the Worship Service in the sanctuary while Preschool – 8th graders leave chapel for FD activities
11:15: Worship Service ends **Coffee Hour in the Community Room **
11:20: FD activities end – parents pick children up from their classrooms
11:20: Nursery closes