Children and Youth Religious Enrichment
Welcome to our Children and Youth Religious Enrichment program, bringing our kids together with the goal of being in safe spaces where they are first welcomed as their authentic selves. Second, where they are encouraged to explore, question, discuss, argue, review, sit in stubborn frustration, and share what each finds to be true.
Registration for the Children’s and Youth 2026-2027 Religious Enrichment program year is now open. Please register children and youth, ages 18 (and in high school) and under, using this online form, or with a paper registration form available at the LRE tables in the Fellowship Hall after service.
For the safety of all, it is important that all children who are in attendance at 1U be registered and regularly sign in at the welcome table set up outside the Sanctuary on Sundays. Kids get separated from their responsible adults from time to time. It is important to know who to look for and how to reach emergency contacts – hoping to never have to use them.
Also, we are actively recruiting teaching teams to facilitate children and youth classes. If you are interested in teaching a children’s or youth RE class, please email Judith or stop by the Lifespan Religious Enrichment table during Fellowship after Sunday Service.
LRE Priorities For 2026/2027
Our overarching goal this year is to help the congregation build their understanding of our/their Unitarian Universalist Identity by:
- Providing opportunities for members and friends to explicitly explore rituals and practices that support their spiritual journey through the Unitarian Universalist lens.
- Having shared, multi-generational experiences to explore our Unitarian Universalist values.
- Offer stepping stone classes that allow our children, youth, and adults to recognize and/or measure, as preferred, their progress along their Unitarian Universalist journey.
~ Judith Stein-Farrall
Director of Lifespan Religious Enrichment
About Sunday Morning Religious Enrichment at 1U
All ages are always welcome to participate in our services from beginning to end. Many children find it a satisfying space to share with the grown-ups among us, and we want them to be here if that works best for them and their families.
Unless it is an all-ages service (see that section below), there is an opportunity somewhere in the first part of the service for those children and youth who do intend to join the classrooms to move in that direction. We generally sing them out to the song, “This Little Light of Mine.”
Special Interest All-Ages Services
- Halloween
- Stone Soup/Thanksgiving Service
- Holiday Pageant
- Animal Blessing
- RE Recognition and Bridging Service
The Nursery and Childcare
Sunday Mornings
9:15am -12 Noon
Our nursery is open every Sunday morning to children who are toddling (can walk in the event they need to) through PreK. The nursery is not available during these hours for childcare for children in elementary school and up.
12 -1pm
Whenever possible, make an effort to provide extended childcare hours on most Sundays to accommodate parents who wish to attend after service meetings. Young elementary-aged children are welcome to join the younger ones at this time. Unless otherwise indicated for a special all church event, and children are going to be on the 1U property for an extended period of time, parents are responsible for arranging for snacks or lunches for their children.
Nursery staff are empowered to limit the admission of children in the nursery when the proportion of children to the available childcare staff becomes unsafe. If this should ever become a common event (a good problem to have), we will consider adding staff and finding alternative space options.
SUNDAY CHILDREN AND YOUTH RELIGIOUS ENRICHMENT
Most Sunday mornings during the year, our children and youth will participate in the beginning of the service with the whole 1U community. After the Time For All Ages, they will be sung out to join their groups in the Enrichment Center.
Our curriculum is designed around exploring our lives through the lens of our UU Values. How we got here, through our UU History; how we embody them with traditions and rituals, how we live them through social justice and practice articulating what we individually find meaningful in our lives. We will be integrating a new UUA curriculum called Woven Faith with materials from additional tried and true programs.
About Age Groupings
While the groupings of our programs are subject to change depending on registration, we hope to include space designated for the following developmental ages:
- Primary K-2nd Graders
- Upper Elementary 3rd Grade and Up
- Middlers 6th-8th Grade
- Youth Group Age 12 thru High School
- Coming of Age 8th-10th Graders
About Youth and Emerging Adult Programming
As our children reach their Tween and Teen years, their interest in getting up in the morning for “church” often becomes more challenging. We also find this same age is when youth are most in need of finding a space for belonging and meaning in their lives. The success in these age groupings, Middlers‘ through the Coming of Age, is partially dependent on registration numbers and parents’ encouragement for participation.
Coming Of Age
Running October through April, culminating in the RE Recognition service held in May. As our youth start to age beyond childhood, they are maturing cognitively, emotionally, and spiritually. Coming of Age is a small group opportunity to engage and articulate their experience. They will work directly with mentors, one another and the wider UU community in this endeavor.
The Youth Group
Our philosophy around youth groups is to provide an adult-supervised safe space for youth-empowered development through the UU lens. The youth themselves are encouraged to lead and create their program, with guidance and light facilitation as needed. Each group of youth is different. Some groups hang out, share stories, and play tabletop games. Some get engaged in the congregation and service projects.
* Please note that the age range for our youth group is broad. If the number of participants allows and supervision is available, the groups will be divided along tighter developmentally appropriate lines.
RE Newsletter
You can sign up to receive the weekly RE Newsletter in your email.
You can also read issues online at the 1U Blog.
Judith Stein Farrall
Director of Lifespan Religious Enrichment
Office: 407-898-3621 Ext 7