"Visions for Religious Education"

Tricia Genereux and Barb Roth, September 22, 2002

INVOCATION

The mission of Children’s Religious Education at Second Unitarian Church is to encourage the learning and living of our Unitarian Universalist principles.  We strive to provide a spiritual, accepting and caring environment where we explore religious ideas together.  We pledge to walk in the ways of truth and affection as best we know them now or may learn them in days to come, that we and our children may be fulfilled.

SERMON

Tricia Genereux

As I prepared for this talk, I looked back over the last 5 ½ years of my involvement in the RE program at Second Unitarian.  When I joined the church those 5 years ago, I joined for one reason only:  because my daughter Allyson, who was only 3 months old at the time, needed to be educated religiously.  What I thought the church school was going to teach a 3 month old, I have no idea, but now at the age of almost 6, she has blossomed into a child with her own individual ideas about our religion and God.  Discussing this with many of my friends from other Christian based religions, I found their children don’t share some of the same thoughts and feelings mine does, and I am quite glad of that.

Interestingly enough, while reading The Essex Conversations, which is a compilation of essays written by Unitarian Universalist Religious Educators, I came across the very statistics I was needing to back this point up… there is steady growth in UU Congregations and families account for a significant number of new members to our churches.  Most parents cite their reason for returning to church “we came back for the sake of our children.”  In a survey conducted by Dr. Wade Roof Clark, author of A Generation of Seekers: The spiritual journey of the baby boom generation, findings showed that 52% of the people who return to church after an absence are married couples with children.  And what are these parents looking for in a church school program; they want a sense of belonging and religious identity, a place to nurture spirituality, a moral and ethical framework and help answering the difficult questions of religion and life.

Having assisted the RE committee 3 years ago write our mission statement, I keep going back to that sentence “We strive to provide a spiritual, accepting and caring environment where we explore religious ideas together.”  I often question, as I am teaching a church school class, what those kids are really getting out of it, what they take with them.  Then I read what Annie Walden wrote for the youth service at First Unitarian Church and I know that even if a lesson fails horribly, as some actually have, that its what the kids take with them in the long run that really matters.  

Before I can go on, I need to tell the story of what is now known in the RE circle as the Hell Lesson, though there are a few of us that refer to it as the lesson from Hell.  The Treasure Hunting curricula we used that year taught the children about our UU history, principles and so on… so of course there was a lesson on John Murray, who was known for preaching his message of Universal Salvation.  Since we knew this might be a disconcerting subject for younger kids, we spoke with the parents of the children enrolled in that class ahead of time to prepare them for the questions their young ones might come home with.  Feedback from the parents was extremely positive, they knew the concept of hell and damnation was something their kids would run into, so we went ahead with the lesson.  Throughout the class, the teacher was met with blank stares from all the kids.  They simply did not understand what was being taught to them.  After Anita Jeck and I discussed it, we decided the lesson was too important, and we needed to try and get that concept across to those kids, no matter what. So after checking other curriculums and comparing our story with other religious educators, the lesson was revised a bit and the following week, it was taught again.  And once again, we were met with blank stares, in discussion, the children just could not understand why a God, who is good in their minds, would want to send people to a place like hell.  So we decided that concept was better left to the older age groups after that experience.

When I think about the future of Religious Education here at Second Unitarian, of course I envision the children’s wing, built and paid for by some generous benefactor.  A wing that includes classroom space for an ever growing program, with sinks in all the rooms to provide for easy teacher cleanup, a large well-stocked supply closet, and of course a full time DRE to run the program.  But what I really hope for is more of the same thing we do on a week-to-week basis downstairs.  That we continue to provide that accepting and caring environment where the children feel they can voice their opinions on everything from Bob the Builder and how he relates to Unitarian Universalism, as the younger kids always find a way to bring their favorite television characters into our discussions, to appreciating the contributions and value of religious thought and scientific research and method in understanding our world.  

Our goals and objectives have been clearly laid out for many years; though a few years ago we decided it would be a good idea to revise them.  Surely goals and objectives written in a time when typewriters were the only way to produce them without using penmanship needed to be revised.  After months of wrestling with them, debating this point and that one, we changed two words in the document, and I think that was just to state something more clearly.  Our vision for RE has not changed from the time we educated 5 children to now, when we have 50 children, and I don’t see it changing going forward.  We will always encourage our children to develop an understanding of Unitarian Universalism, our Judeo-Christian heritage and a general knowledge of all major world religions.  Why?  It’s the basis of our program.  It’s why many parents love the UU religious education programs.  They know their children will be exposed to a large base, and will learn to respect and honor other beliefs in our world.  All of our youth deal with racism and oppression as a part of their daily lives.  By providing the children with a basic framework, they learn not to oppress others for their beliefs.  What a wonderful quality to instill in our children.

We will always have that loving, caring, respectful community downstairs, just as I hope we always do up here amongst the big people.  We encourage our children to share their joys and concerns, just as the adults do.  We want them to see that they are a connected part of the congregation, and have respect for the people who teach them, care for them, and whom they meet at intergenerational functions.  We hope that in that connection they will feel respectful to the larger community, the world they have to live in.

We will always help our children develop critical and creative thinking skills necessary to meet the challenges of today, the future, and in exploring and pondering the mysteries of life with an open, ever questioning, and ever wondering mind.  We want the children to recognize contradictions between some religious concepts and science.  And as in the Hell lesson, we want them to question what others believe, and to use their own resources to come up with their thoughts and reasons – so maybe that lesson from hell worked after all.  The children thought, then questioned how God could be that way.  I would call that a successful lesson.

So other than the hopes of the future Religious Education Wing addition onto the church that I suppose I now must discuss with Rick Bell at length, just in case that generous benefactor comes along after services today, I really hope for our program to stay with its basis and foundation.  It’s a strong, amazingly built foundation.  I have taught many of our older children (when they were younger) and am continually amazed at their depth of thought and consideration of some ideas that I struggle with understanding.  Teaching them has helped me to better understand my beliefs, though I continue to formulate them on a day-to-day basis.

Barbara Roth

I feel like the Fall religious education sermon should be a mixture of a presidential campaign promise and state of the union address.

I found it difficult to narrow the scope of this talk. To begin, I had several questions: When a child “graduates” from a UU church, what do we want him/her to take with him? And when that child grows into an adult, what memories and feelings will he/she have when they reminisce of their childhood church? Will that child choose to remain in the Unitarian Universalist church?

It is quite grim to read in Essex Conversations that only 10 percent of youth raised in our faith return as adults to be members of Unitarian Universalist congregations (pg. 48 Essex). I don’t have other faith percentages to compare that to, but it does seem awfully low.

How to keep them (our children) coming back. What to offer them? Who’s responsible for them and their religious education?

Perhaps we should combine these into one question: What things can we do to provide our youth positive experiences that will keep them coming back?

In no way do I pretend to have answers to these questions, but upon researching for this talk, I discovered some interesting and worthy opinions. I can tell you that the main reason I had for attending this church was to find meaningful experiences in religious education for my children. I wanted something that would promote a sense of inner exploration, a yearning for the spiritual things in life, and the desire to unravel its mysteries.

Did I think there was a church out there specializing in this? No. I had very narrow experiences in religious education. I didn’t know there could be anything out there that would offer anything close to what I was after. In fact, I would roll my eyes at Dan when he mentioned, “trying out a church he heard on NPR.” I didn’t want anything to do with “church.” I’d been there and done that. But, after reading the religious education information, the mission, goals and objectives of the program that Tricia has talked about, I had to experience it for myself. And I brought in the kids. And then we were hooked. Not only on the church RE program, but the church community. Which, as I will elaborate, are entirely interconnected.

In fact, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that as Maria Harris suggests in her book, Fashion Me A People, the responsibility of religious education is shifting from Sunday school teachers, ministers, and directors of religious education to the whole community. Because it really does “take a village” and as Rev. Bowens states in the Essex Conversations, “...the whole church is religious education." Even though a child may be downstairs attending a separate worship and class, he/she is in no way separate from this community. From the time a child enters through the doorway and is greeted with a smile and “hello” that child knows he/she is a part of something. That the people he encounters while at church show a compassion and tolerance for all people including his self will stick with him. That the people he encounters take the time to encourage questioning and are patient will stick with him. That the people he encounters treat him like family will stick with him.

I had asked earlier what a child might take with him/her as they look back on their UU upbringing. I asked Doddie Robison to have her daughter, Laurie share a story with us. Laurie reflects on her decision to want a Unitarian religious education for her own daughter in an essay entitled, Everything I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Unitarian Religious Education as she states...

”My husband and I are getting ready for our first child and have found this a very reflective time...In addition to her being healthy and happy, I also discovered how much I wanted her to experience what I was able to experience in Unitarian religious education. The old joke has new meaning for me now-Why do Unitarians go to church? Because they have children!”

Early in my religious education I was exposed to the Interdependent Web. We learned about the importance of water conservation before I ever heard it on the news...I learned to Celebrate Diversity before it became a catch phrase. We participated in The Church Around the Corner, which introduced us to many different religions...I also remember wondering ‘why were there so many different religions and who had it right?’ My church proved to be a safe pace to discuss these questions.“

In her essay, Laurie discusses specific classes and lessons (how many of you can remember the topic of your childhood religious education classes--truly this had an impact in her life). Laurie ends

...So you may be wondering, at this point, if maybe these things you can teach your child yourself? Well, maybe not! Why? Because you need to be a part of a caring community to really understand the value of our interdependent web. Because you need to be amidst diversity to truly celebrate it. And because you need to participate in thoughtful discussion with your peers, led by a caring and non-judgmental adult to help you find out who you really are.”

This is the community we have and I know and want for my children. This is where not only will they receive a religious education, but they will know they are a valued member of something larger. Our children learn to appreciate life and nature by participating in it. They learn that one person can make a difference. They learn they are not alone and that their actions or inactions affect the people and world around them. We want for our children to celebrate life and all it has to offer and be prepared to handle the difficulties that inevitably will arise. Thus we bring them here where they are surrounded by a family that has a stake in their future. Because our children are our future.

As for keeping our children coming back, we cannot guarantee it, but if we have done our best, we can feel good knowing our children are equipped with the tools to make it and make a difference in this world. But if we are not satisfied to stop there, I believe there are things we can do to give our children a strong bond with Unitarian Universalism. Be proud of your religion. Talk about it at the dinner table, discuss it with friends and let your children hear and be a part of the discussion. I think because we are UU, we sometimes are afraid to promote ourselves for fear of indoctrination charges. But, if we do not show pride in our religion, what messages are we sending?

We are doing many good things in our religious education program for our youth. We have caring, dedicated individuals who really make the program what it is. In just these first few weeks of classes, I have witnessed so much creativity and enthusiasm in both the children and teachers. If you haven’t taken a look lately, check out what it is we are doing downstairs. Ask a child what he/she did today. When a child looks back on his/her childhood church, maybe he/she will remember a time when you took the time to include him in your conversation, complemented him, or gave her a smile. These are the things a child will remember.