Whole Church RE: Gathered in community. Centered in love. Growing, together, in faith.

Growing a Unitarian Universalist Identity in people of all ages through UU community is a high priority as we answer the call of Love. Our congregations are often disconnected, with the most prominent silo being age, where religious education is often defined as a program “for children and youth”. As a result, adults have usually had the least engagement with UU faith and identity formation, though they are asked to volunteer as RE teachers. And children and families often don’t have the chance to be fully integrated in congregational life, — especially in a denomination where their energy and presence is an essential part of our sustained growth and thriving.

Whole Church RE is a new way in UU faith development, offering both a pedagogical foundation and adaptable, values-based resources. We invite you to engage with them! Our hope is that all our “whole churches” can connect and learn together with practices that deepen shared UU identity, strengthen covenantal community, and sustain vibrant, thriving UU congregations with love — and Faith Development – at the center.

In the coming weeks, you’ll find a growing collection of activities, resources, and tools in the Whole Church RE content section. In each resource, you will find references to the faith development goals the activity supports. They include: Multigenerational Connections, Identity Formation, Spiritual Development, Justice Making, Beloved Community, Pastoral Care, and Covenantal Leadership. You will also find a list of the embodied learning practices that activity or tool uses to reach those goals. They are: Sacred Stories, Faithful Conversations, Creative Contemplation, Community Making, Public Witness, and Joyful Connections. You can read more about them here.

Ready to explore with your church community — or learn more? We invite you to attend the Whole Church RE sessions at General Assembly in Baltimore later this month, and while you are there, please stop by the Whole Church RE Engagement area in the back of the Main Hall/Plenary. We will have information to take home, and resources to try out — in a space curated to be especially accessible and inclusive for families, but welcoming for all ages!

Need a refresher from our previous post introducing WCRE? Whole Church RE is an approach that combines three things:

1. what we have heard from UU leaders about the need for shared experiences that connect people and build covenantal community, an essential part of our non-creedal faith
2. what we know about lifespan faith development’s role in shaping and strengthening UU identity and commitment within and among individuals and their co-learning communities
3. what we have cultivated in the uniquely engaging and powerful practices common to religious education (RE) — but underutilized and underrepresented in adult or all-ages spaces and experiences at church

WHOLE CHURCH RE is NOT a call to change everything—you don’t need to move to fully multi-generational worship or stop offering curriculum-based classes, for example, to engage with Whole Church RE. There are multiple places in every church where faith development is already happening. Where is the energy for growing, for community, for action, for connection, in your church? Is it coffee hour, the building and grounds or social justice committee, worship?Faith development is already happening there; when we can share the unique gifts of RE, we benefit the whole church.