Religious Education
Our Program
Our children and youth begin each Sunday in the Sanctuary. This helps the children to become comfortable with the activities of the entire congregation in addition to making them feel like they are a part of the life of the Society.
We currently have four individual classes for children and youth. These classes are broken up by both age and the development of the child as determined by both the parents and the Director of Religious Education.
Children spend ~45 minutes with their teachers each Sunday working on interactive projects, crafts, games, or discussions. Each class has a three member teacher team that the children are with throughout the year. Dealing with the same group of teachers throughout the year helps our children get to really know a small group of adults in the congregation and helps them feel cared for.
The Society rotates curriculum from year to year in a three year cycle
with a focus on religious traditions. Our three-year cycle rotates from Unitarian
Universalism to Jewish and Christian traditions and then to a wider view
of World Religions. This gives our students a well-rounded picture of religious
traditions from around the globe, which in turn helps them to formulate their
own beliefs.
Our Philosophy
The philosophy of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland is to encourage the learning and living of the Unitarian Universalist Principles. We seek to teach our children to be critical spiritual thinkers who search out their own beliefs with the guidance of members parents, and teachers. We strive to help our children to feel welcome in both the Religious Education program as well as the larger congregational community.
The nature of Unitarian Universalism is one of spiritual growth. We encourage this growth through our Sunday services, through our community and through our Adult Education offerings. The Society offers a variety of classes and groups to meet the changing needs of our congregants. By having a variety of options we hope to offer something for all congregants to help them on their spiritual journeys.