First Religious Society: Choir & Music

Molly Sorrows,
Director of Religious Education

Welcome to Religious Education at the First Religious Society!

Mission

Our program's underlying purpose is to allow everyone to build and experience community, discover spirituality and celebrate that which is worthwhile in life. In recognition that life is a process, not an event, we seek to provide a structure that will encourage continued growth in personally meaningful ways within the larger context of a religious community.

Experiences that engage the whole self--mind, body and spirit--are at the core of our curriculum. We encourage questioning attitudes, seeing a person's sense of spirituality more as "a fire to be lit than a bucket to be filled." As Unitarian Universalists, we believe hat we are here together to "walk many paths and share the journey."

Goals

The over-arching goal of the children’s RE program is to enable the church community and parents in particular, to aid in the spiritual development of our children. To that end, we focus on the following:

Religious and spiritual development:

to understand religion as a universal quest for meaning and purpose
to become familiar with our Judeo-Christian roots and with our world's diverse religious traditions
to more fully develop personal expressions of spirituality

Exploring Unitarian Universalism:

to learn about UU principles and history
to see how Unitarian Universalism can enhance our day to day lives

Valuing uniqueness:

to affirm the uniqueness of all individuals
to value diversity in our local and global communities

Awareness of larger connections:

to enhance our sense of responsibility to the world community
to strengthen our commitment to peace, justice and freedom.

Worship

Worship can be defined as the celebration of that which is of greatest worth. As young members of our congregation, children need to be afforded opportunities to worship both with the entire church family and as children, with music and stories that are especially meaningful to them.

At First Religious Society, we hold a 15-minute Children's worship service for Grades K - 5 on the first Sunday of each month. Every other Sunday of the month children in Kindergarten and older join the adults for the first 15-20 minutes of the service in the sanctuary, prior to being dismissed to their classes. While they do not worship formally, our preschool class has chalice-lighting and prayer/thoughtful time built into every class. They are also invited to join their parents/guardians during the first 15-20 minutes of worship, if this works for the family.

Opportunities for children and adults to worship together for an entire service exist periodically throughout the year. Our Christmas, Easter, Youth and Religious Eduction Sundays are wonderful intergenerational services that bring our entire community together in celebration!