Threshold Conversations is a project in process, the work of religious educators from several UU institutions including the UUA, the Liberal Religious Educators Association, and Starr King School for the Ministry.
The goal of Threshold Conversations is to update, reimagine, and renew the work of Essex Conversations: Visions for Lifespan Religious Education, first published in 2001. Like the contributors to Essex, we seek to understand and attend to the emergent needs of our Unitarian Universalist communities—but also of a complex world beyond it that needs our faithful attention, grounded in the values and principles we share as UUs.
Like Essex before it, Threshold Conversations seeks to lift up and promote the essential work of religious education as the learning process through which we grow in faith; ideally as a lifelong endeavor, for all UUs. And now, Threshold Conversations seeks to expand that vision of religious education.
Each year we explore a different topic. Below you will find some more background to our approach and collections on each topic.
Join the Conversation!
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J.L. Shattuck writes, “We are emotional beings who sometimes think —our deepest longings can never be accessed or met through logic alone.”
By J.L. Shattuck | December 5, 2025 | For Multigenerational | From Threshold ConversationsTagged as: Multigenerational Faith Development -
Videos from the Whole Church RE Wave Cohort created during General Assembly 2025.
Video | December 3, 2025 | For Multigenerational | From Threshold ConversationsTagged as: Multigenerational Faith Development -
Covenant is at the core of who we are as Unitarian Universalists. How can a Whole Church approach to religious education help us practice living into covenant across generations? This question and so much more will be explored on JUUst Breathe.
Video | December 3, 2025 | From Threshold ConversationsTagged as: Covenant -
The 2021 Commission on Appraisal report, Unlocking the Power of Covenant, examines the nature, substance, and structure of covenants within Unitarian Universalism.
Book | December 3, 2025 | From Threshold ConversationsTagged as: Covenant -
Delve into topics of Unitarian Universalist theology of covenant. What is a covenant, and is such a thing relevant today? What is the lived value of covenant? Explore what it could mean to call or be called back into covenant.
October 30, 2025 | From Threshold ConversationsTagged as: Covenant, Covenant -
Join us in the Fall of 2024 for Threshold Conversations about Whole Church Faith Development!
By Marisol Caballero | August 26, 2024 | For Multigenerational | From Threshold ConversationsTagged as: Multigenerational Faith Development -
This Threshold Conversation explores the transformative power of faith development, not just for ourselves, but for our communities & wider culture.
By Marisol Caballero | January 25, 2024 | From Threshold ConversationsTagged as: Change, Change & Conflict, Culture, Faith, Faith Development, Multiculturalism -
Coming of Age Conversations from Threshold Project panels, writings, and more
September 12, 2023 (reviewed July 2024) | From Threshold ConversationsTagged as: Coming of Age, Coming-of-Age, Middle School-Aged Youth Faith Development, Professional Development for Religious Educators, UU Theology -
The why, and efforts and ask, aka Background of the Threshold Conversations
September 11, 2023 | From Threshold Conversations