I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Rev. Rebecca Froom, Minister of United First Parish Church in Quincy, MA (UFPC), to learn more about Spirit Circle, an innovative religious exploration program they have offered over the last two congregational years. From seedlings to blossoms, this program has engaged members of the congregation across a range of ages, shedding light on the truth that faith formation is for everyone.
It’s no secret that the now moment we find ourselves in has presented some challenges for fostering participation and growth within religious exploration programs across religious denominations. Though we have moved through the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, people of all ages continue to feel the reverberating effects of isolation, exhaustion, and over-extension with more limited attention and capacity for activities they engaged in pre-pandemic. The same holds true for folks in our congregations as we continue to define a new normal for how we show up for one another.
However, folks are still showing up to our congregations. We want to be with one another. We want to ask deep spiritual questions and to search for meaning in community. Our world that is increasingly stressed by political and interpersonal violence, the climate crisis, and more, needs more creativity, intergenerational community building, and joy. So, the question becomes, how do we do that in 2024? How do we re-envision our RE programming to fit the needs of not just our youth and young people, but to meet the needs of everyone in our congregation? How can we get creative in resourcing activities that will build relationships across identities within our communities?
For United First Parish Church in Quincy, Spirit Circle emerged out of this sense of curiosity. A visioning process led by the congregational board illuminated UFPC’s desire to focus on family ministry with the goal of fostering connections between children, families, and others in the congregation. What was needed was less of a focus on school-centered learning and curriculum and instead more shared, multigenerational experiences.
As such, Nan Moore, Lay Community Minister and previous Religious Educator for UFPC, offered to create a program that could be supported by a very part-time Religious Educator or by other congregational leaders in the absence of one. Having been in relationship with the congregation for over a decade, Nan has a deep understanding of UFPC’s mission statement and was able to outline focus areas, or specialties, that align with it: creative expression, freedom of thought (ethics and action), and spiritual practice. Spirit Circle is a new way to promote UFPC’s shared values of “Learning, Leadership, Social Justice, Worship, and Socialization for ALL, from cradle to grave.”
Since Nan lives outside the United States for half the year, the goal was to develop a program that could function without an on-site supervisor. For the first year of Spirit Circle in church year 2022-2023, Nan hired three specialists/instructors, each providing programming once a month on Sunday mornings. For the 2023-2024 church year, there were four specialists: a visual arts instructor, a music instructor, a mindfulness and Tai Chi instructor, and an instructor who has taught about care for the earth, connected to Holly Hill Farm in Cohasset, MA. These specialists loosely adapt the Soul Matters monthly theme and RE resource packet when crafting their lesson plans, which go to Nan ahead of time for her review. On Sunday mornings, members of the RE committee are paired with Spirit Circle specialists to support them and to be the second adult presence, in alignment with UFPC’s Safe Church Guidelines.
At this 100-member congregation, the one-room schoolhouse-style RE programming in the morning is for families, with outings open to everyone in the congregation. Outings include hands-on learning days at Holly Hill Farm, led by one of Spirit Circle’s specialists, and trips to services of other religious faiths, similar to the suggested activities in the Building Bridges Tapestry of Faith program. At the farm, members of the congregation as young as four years old learn about how food is grown for the local food pantry. Over the course of the last church year, Spirit Circle held three trips to local religious organizations, with the highlight being a trip to a local mosque with members of the congregation between ages two and 72.
Spirit Circle explorations and nuggets of joy and connection find their way back to worship as well. When the worship theme for one month was Transformation, children brought butterflies they made to complement Rev. Rebecca’s message for all ages. A member of the RE committee and a teenager acted out a story about butterflies, and the children’s creations came to life to add another dimension to the experience.
Rev. Rebecca also shared a number of learnings with me that she and the congregation have encountered over these past two years. One such piece of wisdom is that having designated specialists commit to once a month offerings reduced the amount of preparation specialists had to do, kept the number of volunteers low, and made the program feel more sustainable. Other points she highlighted included the importance of surveying the congregation for the best times for them to meet for outings, and incorporating feedback from year-end surveys for parents about themes they would like their children to explore with Spirit Circle specialists.
A key takeaway from our conversation is that the folks at UFPC have learned that it’s okay to try new things! Some congregations may want to try the Spirit Circle model without hiring specialists, but rather leaning on the inherent gifts and skills their members possess and might share. This could also be an opportunity for youth specialists to teach other youth and/or older members of the congregation. The possibilities here are endless!
Rev. Rebecca recalls a mantra from a workshop led by wren bellavance-grace in 2018: “Learn, discern, experiment.” These words, in any order, continue to offer guidance for UFPC’s piloting of Spirit Circle. May they also be a reminder to the rest of us, too, who are constantly adapting and dreaming of what might be in our congregations.
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