A Supportive Faith for Younger Youth (Ages 11-15)

Youths stand after sharing their Coming of Age credos with their congregation.
Youths stand after sharing their Coming of Age credos with their congregation.
Early adolescence is a tender time. Emotions run close to the surface or get stuffed far below; friends can be closer than ever or painfully absent. Our capacity for reasoning grows by leaps and bounds. Through friendships and mentoring relationships, we engage in the age-old question “Who am I?,” doing the serious (and not so serious) work of identity formation—gender identity, racial identity, and religious identity. We long for a place where we will find acceptance and affirmation, compassion, courage, inspiration and a chance to make a difference. Unitarian Universalism is that kind of place.
Parents of early adolescents celebrate the growing capacities of their younger youth, nurturing resilience in the face of the stresses of this crucial time. Unitarian Universalism offers:
Our aim is to grow people who know themselves and are valued for who they are, with all their gifts and quirks. Our programs build social confidence, personal and religious identity, and friendship bonds that cross generations and last into the high school years and beyond.
Unitarian Universalism has helped me become the person I am, a person with very few bias beliefs and a person who will go out of his way to help someone, even if I do not know them.
—Ian Wilson, 14, from the Coming of Age credo he delivered to the Community Unitarian Church of White Plains, NY
Every congregation chooses its own programs, therefore each congregation offers something a little different. Many of our congregations offer two hallmark programs for young people in middle school and early high school: Coming of Age and Our Whole Lives.
In Coming of Age programs, we explore not only what it means to be Unitarian Universalist (UU), but what it means to be you. Over the course of a year, youth gather for fun workshops, retreats, and justice projects. With mentors and guides, participants explore what they believe, what they find meaningful, and how to build a spiritual “toolkit” to help them as they face the joys, sorrows, wonders, and challenges of being human. Most Coming of Age programs culminate with a rite of passage where each youth shares a Credo, a statement of their beliefs and values. Congregations design their own Coming of Age programs, often using the Coming of Age Handbook as a resource.
Through Our Whole Lives, our groundbreaking progressive sexuality education curriculum, we learn about safety and respect. In this comprehensive program, we apply Unitarian Universalism’s seven values-based Principles to a very personal aspect of life, recognizing how our actions affect others and learning to live responsibly. Our Whole Lives programs for Grades 4-6 and for Grades 7-9 are two important components of this lifespan series.
Unitarian Universalist congregations offer many vibrant and meaningful programs for younger youth:
Engage with a congregation near you to see how it’s done!