Religious Education
The Unitarian Universalist community is tightly bound by our shared values. Some of the most important of these values are expressed in our faith's seven Principles. These principles and the values they represent form the core of our religious education.
One of those principles speaks of the importance of a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning." We believe that this search for truth begins as soon as a child can think and continues throughout his or her entire lifetime. We do our best to support this search, and through religious education we give the information necessary to challenge and encourage each person's path.
Unitarian Universalist religious education is grounded in nurturing our children and adults. We give them the building blocks with which to form their own beliefs rather than indoctrinating them into a system of thought. As Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing said in the early eighteen hundreds, "The great end of religious instruction is not to stamp our minds irresistibly upon the young but to stir up their own [minds]."
Through our religious education, we offer children and adults information and support to discover and explore their own spiritual beliefs; help in expressing their Unitarian Universalist religious identity; information on our Unitarian Universalist heritage; support in developing and living by their own ethical codes; and the basic teachings of other religions, especially those from which Unitarian Universalism draws.
Congregations are free to choose what curricula they teach. In addition to their religious education staff, congregations rely on volunteers to organize and teach the classes.
Most congregations offer religious education classes for children on Sunday mornings during the adult worship service. Teen and adult religious education classes are offered at various times during the week.
This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors. Please consider making a donation today.
Last updated on Monday, May 2, 2011.
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