First Parish of Watertown invites all of our children to join together for meaningful worship and growth. We want our children to personally experience our Unitarian Universalist faith and all the wonderful ideals that it embodies. With this intent, First Parish's Religious Education program will be offering a unique curriculum based on the UU Principles and Sources. Our goal is for our children to have the opportunity to experience the loving spirit of our UU principles. We also want to introduce our children to the rich heritage and traditions that have positively influenced our faith … these are known as our "Sources".
In our Religious Education program, we will share stories and activities that bring our UU faith to life. Most significantly, we will spend time together sharing worship and wonder, love and friendship, kindness and compassion, and enlightenment and growth. We will highlight the fundamental UU belief that we are all free to believe our own truths and celebrate a coming together that honors the unique individuality we all carry with us. We will think about those challenging "life" questions that people of all religions wonder about - Is there a God? How did the world begin? What happens when we die? How do I know what to believe?
To do this, we look to our UU Principles and Sources for guidance and inspiration. We will introduce our Principles and Sources to our children as tools to promote deeper understanding about ourselves, our relationships, and our world. Our wish is that each of our children will be able to understand the important message of each Principle and to appreciate some of the valuable traditions from each Source. Our hope is that all of our children will enjoy joining us on our quest to experience our UU faith.
One component of our children’s religious education will be the opportunity to participate in small group explorations of our UU faith. These small groups will enable our children to deepen their UU Faith in settings that are designed to be safe, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate.
Introducing our Sunday Morning Groups:
“Principle Activators”
This small group offers our 11 to 14-year-olds more autonomy as they begin carrying our UU principles into the world with unique activities and community service projects.
“UU Travelers”
This small group offers our 9 to 11-year-olds the freedom to travel around our world and explore how other traditions can meaningfully enhance our own UU faith.
“UU Explorers”
This small group offers our 8 to 9-year-olds an exciting adventure as they deepen their UU faith by trying to capture the spirit of our UU principles and sources.
“Rainbow Seekers”
This small group offers our 5 to 8-year-olds the chance to work together to practice the loving actions of our UU principles.
“Treasure Hunters”
This small group offers our 3 to 5-year-olds the incredible opportunity to discover some of the special “gems” of our UU faith.
“Friendship Finders”
This small group offers our 1 1/2 to 3-year-olds a safe and loving space to learn wonderful lessons about our UU faith simply by doing some fun activities with their church friends.
“Chalice Babies”
This small group offers our babies age birth to 1 1/2-years-old a safe place to play while their parents listen to the worship service. Chalice Babies are also welcome to stay with their parents in the worship service or have the DRE arrange for an adult babysitter so they can attend the worship service.