I am so pleased with the plans we have for our scheduled sessions of religious education for children and youth this year. The children, youth, and their teachers will be using stories, art, service, and learning to help the children and youth develop their UU faith. But, as I’ve said to the teachers, more than anything, I would like our RE sessions to be focused on helping children and youth make connections with each other and with their teachers. And I’d like them to develop a sense of belonging. This may seem rather superficial. “Why not concentrate on teaching the Seven Principles, our UU history, and the beliefs of other religions as we have done in the past?” you may be asking.

In many ways, it feels like our congregational life has “recovered” from the pandemic; however, many of our children and youth are continuing to deal with its effects. Even if they have lots of extracurricular activities now, children and youth may be developing or re-developing their social skills and emotional resilience; they may feel the loss of community and security; they may be wondering how to make meaning of their lives. Helping children and youth to develop their faith is the work not only of the RE teachers and the parents and caregivers – it’s the role of the whole congregation. By our simple acts of caring, by sharing our stories, by singing together, eating together, and playing together, each of us demonstrates to our children and youth our UU values of compassion, inclusivity, and tolerance.

This Sunday morning is our multigenerational Ingathering Water Communication service. And we’ll have a picnic with activities afterwards. I hope you can come, and I also hope you’ll look for other multigenerational events and services this year. Our children and youth need to learn from you, and it all starts when we come together.

— Leah Purcell, UUSS Interim Director of Lifespan Religious Education