Our Religious Education Program provides grounding in the foundations of Unitarian Universalism for the children who attend our fellowship. Our overall program goal is to help our children form values and ethics to apply in their daily lives.

Classes are based on a curriculum produced by the Unitarian Universalist Association, and taught by volunteers from our congregation. We have established a three-year cycle of curriculum content, focusing on:

• Unitarian Universalist Principles and Foundations.
• World Religions and Multiculturalism.
• Social Justice.

The 2007-2008 curriculum, We Believe, focuses on "Living and Learning Our Unitarian Univeralist Principles." With content designed for a wide range of ages, We Believe provides an opportunity for our children in Preschool through 8th grade to interact and learn across age groups.

Religious education classes are held in meeting rooms adjacent to our fellowship space during most reguarly scheduled services. Children typically begin their Sunday attending service with their families--singing and sharing candles of joy and concern. The fellowship then "sings out" the children, and they join their teachers for Sunday school classes.

We also provide a staffed nursery room for toddlers through ages three and four.

Older youth from our fellowship participate in two additional programs at the nearby Fox Valley UU Fellowship in Appleton, WI:

• OWL (Our Whole Lives), a lifetime sex education program for 8th and 9th graders.
• Coming of Age Program, a year-long program in four parts for high-schoolers: adult-youth mentoring, discussion and retreats emphasizing self-awareness and confidence-building; service to church and community; and culminating affirmation ceremony.

These programs are run on alternate years.

For more about Open Circle religious education for children and youth, contact:

Director of Religious Education
Monica Walk
Religious Education Committee Chair
Jane Dennis

Updated 8/19/07