Our Whole Lives Facilitator Resources

These resources supplement the Our Whole Lives (OWL) facilitator training. To suggest additional resources for OWL facilitators or to ask about OWL program content, facilitation issues, or facilitator training, please contact the OWL Programs Manager, Melanie Davis, PhD, at owl@uua.org.

OWL Newsletter

The Our Whole Lives Newsletter provides information and resources for OWL facilitators, program coordinators, parents and others. It’s free! Sign up today!

How to Support OWL Programs during COVID-19

Was your OWL program interrupted by a pandemic-related shutdown? Are previously scheduled OWL programs on hold? In response to these challenges, the UUA and the United Church of Christ offer recommendations that are safe, accessible, creative, and values-based. Please read When You Can't Do OWL... Do This! (PDF) to help you continue to offer holistic sexuality education without in-person gatherings.

You can also share At-Home Sexuality Education Resources for Grades K-6 and At-Home Sexuality Education Resources for Grades 7-Adults. These are curated lists of books and websites:

OWL Taking Flight Webinars

The UUA and the United Church of Christ host monthly educational webinars for OWL facilitators, program coordinators, religious educators, clergy, and others. The topics are related to OWL content but are not curriculum-specific.

Note: Before you start or restart your OWL program, please review the July Taking Flight webinar “Framing Conversations About Restarting OWL Programs,” which encourages slow re-entry into group programming.

View recorded webinars:

2020 Recommended Updates to OWL for Grades 7-9, 2nd ed.: Since Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education for Grades 7-9, 2nd edition was published in 2014, understandings about sex and gender have changed. Newer and more diverse media resources have become available. Please use the guide (PDF) to mark strongly recommended changes in your copy of the curriculum to make it as accurate and inclusive as possible. If you have questions, contact owl@uua.org.

OWL Email Lists: Community Guidelines (PDF, 1 page) for the Our Whole Lives Facilitators email lists (OWL-Child, OWL-L, OWL-Adult) ensure that communications are helpful and respectful. All email list subscribers are expected to participate in compliance with these guidelines.

Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education for Grades 7-9
These resources support the 2nd (2014) edition:

2019 Update of Sexuality and Our Faith Grades 7-9 Visuals Narration is available by request, please mail owl@uua.org. The visuals are only available to Unitarian Universalist and United Church of Christ congregations using Our Whole Lives with trained, approved facilitators. They may be purchased by phone order through the UUA Bookstore. Note: The Grades 10-12 Sexuality and Our Faith visuals have been discontinued without a replacement video. Please dispose of the DVD appropriately.

Webinars include best practices for program implementation, new editions, gender inclusion, and making your Our Whole Lives program welcoming to participants of many faiths. Archived webinars are free and available to watch any time. Watch the October 2019 webinar, OWL Community Guidelines and Implementation Tips for Success (Vimeo, 57 minutes).

Sexuality Is Honored Here describes the purpose, values, and scope of OWL sexuality education for all ages. Download at no charge to print as a double-sided, tri-fold brochure.

Our Whole Lives promotional flyers are eye-catching on bulletin boards or as take-home materials. Available for each level of Our Whole Lives, they include OWL values and tables of contents.

Our Whole Lives coloring pages (PDF) created by the United Church of Christ may be used for on-topic doodling during OWL classes. OWL program participants may color in mandala-esque designs that include OWL core values (PDF).

Sexuality and Our Faith for Grades 10-12 visuals are no longer approved for use as part of the faith companion to Unitarian Universalist and United Church of Christ Our Whole Lives programs. Please remove them from your Parent Orientation and program materials and dispose of them appropriately.

Teachers of OWL for grades K-1 may use this story of human conception (PDF), by Anil Oommen. Please note that no single story can reflect every family's story. Please encourage parents to share their family's unique story with their children.

Our Whole Lives for Older Adults workshop descriptions (PDF) explain what is involved in this newly developed curriculum that is now included in all Adult OWL trainings as of 2019.

  • 2020 Recommended Updates: Since Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education for Adults was published in 2000, much has changed in terms of the language around gender and orientation as well as sexual science and culture. Development of a new edition is in the preliminary stages. Please use the guide (PDF) to mark strongly recommended changes in your copy of the curriculum to make it as accurate and inclusive as possible. If you have questions, contact owl@uua.org

Thank you for your commitment to Our Whole Lives Sexuality Education.

five brown owls standing in a field

When you can't do OWL... Do this!

Many communities that interrupted in-person Our Whole Lives programs during the Covid-19 pandemic are deeply committed to providing good quality, faith-informed, lifespan sexuality education. These recommendations (PDF) from the UUA and the United Church of Christ (UCC) will help you create a “Taking Flight” adaptation that is as safe and responsible as possible.

Facilitator Approval Through Supervision: Pandemic-Time Policy

Our Whole Lives facilitator trainings are on hold during the novel coronavirus pandemic, and online trainings are not available. Facilitator Approval Through Supervision allows someone already trained and approved at one level to be supervised into another level by a co-facilitator. The process requires pre-approval, so please read the policy carefully.