Children and Youth 
Lifespan Religious Exploration
WHAT WE DO IN LIFESPAN RELIGIOUS EXPLORATION CLASSES
“It is not a matter of thinking a great deal but of loving a great deal,
so do whatever arouses you most to love.”
— St. Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle (1575)
At the core of our Unitarian Universalist community are our seven Principles. The Principles encompass all the ingredients of a good and faith-filled life based on equality, freedom, peace, acceptance, truth, care, and love. This program explores all the Principles in the context of Beloved Community.
The program concentrates on the communities that are most recognizable to our young ones—their Beloved Communities of family/home, school, neighborhood. Participants engage in activities that emphasize the love they feel in community.
Sessions based on the Principles allow children to articulate their faith in the world. Participants come knowing they are Unitarian Universalists, and leave knowing why, as the Principles help answer the question "Why do I belong?"
Principles are introduced with opening activities and a story. The processing through wonder questions is extremely important to allow children to see the Principles at work in the world. Rather than listing the ways love surrounds us when we are treated equally, participants engage in ways to identify equality by the love shown in community. By Session 16, children will be able to articulate all seven Principles.
-Lifespan Religious Education Committee
