Faith CoLab: Tapestry of Faith: Families: A Jr. High School Youth Program that Explores the Diversity, Commonality, and Meaning of Families

Introduction

Part of Families

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss

In this session, participants start to integrate their project work. They focus on creating a representation of themselves that will accompany the final collective display. In addition, participants create family prayers. Through these activities, participants start to synthesize their experiences.

An alternate activity in this session invites you to start working on assembling the photo-documentary project. If you believe the group needs more than one session to assemble the project and scheduling additional sessions or time outside of the sessions is prohibitive, use this alternative activity instead of the regular activities. Prepare by reading Session 11 ahead of time so you know the steps involved.

Goals

Participants will:

  • Value each individual's perspective as an interpreter of our world and as a teller of our stories
  • Build and foster the ability to understand multiple perspectives
  • Develop the ethics of care and responsibility through the intimate and ethical process of representing others
  • Engage in the shared ministry of focusing—literally and figuratively—on the faces and narratives of congregation members
  • Grow and deepen their naturally compassionate souls
  • Engage joyfully in the creation of art
  • Learn more fully that there is no "objective" point of view
  • Learn how the fundamentals of photography translate to our way of living and interpreting the world more generally
  • Engage as leaders of a project that serves the greater congregation and affirms more deeply their place in interdependent, multigenerational, congregational life
  • Collaborate with peers
  • Experience the roles of photographer/artist and storyteller—visual and/or text—within a faith community

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

  • Reflect on the process of representing others and how this relates to our Unitarian Universalist values
  • Create self-representations
  • Photograph peers
  • Learn about the elements of a prayer
  • Create a prayer