In her 2013 Minns lecture, Sticking with Stories: Unitarianism and the Creation of Children’s Literature, Rev. Andrea Greenwood described the emergence of books for children as a genre separate from mainstream literature. One unintended consequence of this separation, which I find intriguing, is...

Does your congregation struggle to integrate children into Sunday services in a meaningful way? Join Rev. Christina Leone in exploring ways to use the “Wonder Box” as a Time for All Ages.

It was an August night at Ferry Beach, a UU camp in Maine, and many had already gone to bed. Those of us on the youth crew lingered on the beach enjoying the rhythmic sound of the ocean, the feel of the sand, and the gentle night breeze....

His name was John. He was a Nigerian immigrant about my parents’ age. I was a suburban 18-year-old, living in Boston with college friends the summer after my freshman year. John and I rode the MBTA together after our shifts as dishwashers in a fancy Harvard Square restaurant. I don’t know how...

William Ellery Channing described principles of Sunday schools including what and how they should teach.

I was a Girl Scout leader for many years, at one point leading a troop that ranged in age from nine to fourteen. They loved to go camping. Together they planned the trip, including food, equipment, and the shared labor of set-up, cooking, clean-up, and breaking camp. Wonderful, insightful...

Edward Wemytewa is a storyteller, and so am I. We worked together with several others this spring to plan the religion/spirituality track for the International Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Conference, hosted in Phoenix, AZ by Tonatierra, one of the UUA’s 2012 Justice General Assembly...

One of my favorite quotes, one that guides my religious and spiritual life, comes from Universalist religious educator and minister Angus H. MacLean (1892-1969). A Presbyterian Canadian farm boy of Scottish heritage from Nova Scotia, MacLean grew up to be a beloved professor and dean at the...

In the desultory days of summer, it’s common for faith communities to abandon the structure of the congregational year. Worship attendance may slide. Religious professionals may take vacation from their usual duties. Yet many of us have the energy and need to stay connected. What kind of faith...

May 21 is the World Day for Cultural Diversity Dialogue & Development, established by the United Nations to support the 2001 http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13179&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&amp… Declaration of Cultural Diversity. The day gives an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the...

I was the religious educator at a historically Universalist church. Fifteen years earlier, I had left the Christian faith of my childhood to embrace a Unitarian Universalism that had no room for the traditions and beliefs of my growing up years....

The Faith Development Office in the Ministry and Faith Development staff group of the Unitarian Universalist Association maintains this blog site....

I remember reading that Natalia Averett would be representing the Joseph Priestly district on the UUA Board of Trustees. I first met Natalia at the UUA’s Multicul… Leadership School in 2010. Recently, I worked with Sana Saeed, a co-author of Building Beloved Community, a program on...

A colleague reminded me about a campaign to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day in 2010. It included practicing one environmental, earth-friendly personal action every day from Earth Day until May 27th, the birthday of Rachel Carson. ...

Hateful violence and natural disasters touch all of us. You want to help your children emotionally and spiritually process what is happening in and outside our communities. For UUs, action is a valid response; it is important to ground that action in compassion and make it part of your own healing.

[The day before our blog was set to launch, explosions at the 2013 Boston Marathon finish line killed three people and injured at least 100. Our scheduled first post, on awakening our environmental stewardship on Earth Day, will appear later this week. —Editors] My son Owen, who lives in Atlanta...

Faith development happens all the time. From a young age and continuing over a lifetime, our moral, ethical, spiritual, and religious self is shaped by encounters we experience, and our own responses. Religious education, however, is something different. It is intentional faith development....