Religious Education for Children and Youth
Frequently Asked Questions
We’d like to visit the church with our children. Should we sign up?
We’d love to have you visit. If you’re able to call or email (kstrawser@wsuuc.org) , we can take time to help you prepare your children for their Sunday experience and can also prepare a warm welcome. If you’re not able to call ahead, we’d still love for your family to join us. Your family can attend the sanctuary worship together on the first Sunday you visit, or if you wish, children are welcome to attend a Sunday School class. Nursery care is also available for infants-24 months. We ask that you complete a visitor card in the Sunday School class/nursery.
When is the religious education hour for children and youth?
There are two sessions of Sunday School, which are identical for children from preschool to 8th grade. Our high school group meets only at the first session, with internship opportunities available for youth who cannot come to the first session. The first session begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 10:40 Am. The second session begins at 11:15 AM and ends at 12:25 PM. Our sanctuary services start at the same time as church school and last one hour, which gives parents some brief time to socialize before they pick up their children from class.
How do I register my child for Sunday School? Is there a religious education fee?
Registration forms are available at the Religious Education table in the church rotunda. In addition to basic information, you will be asked to provide information regarding any “special needs” and health insurance. We charge no fee for our program, as parents are expected to make a financial pledge to the church. It is our expectation that parents will ensure their children’s consistent church attendance and they will contribute at least one year of service to the religious education program for each child enrolled in the church school.
What safety procedures are in place to protect children and youth who attend your Sunday School?
West Shore Church has a board approved safety policy for children and youth. The Religious Education Committee determines the procedures to support the policy. We require adult volunteers who work with children and youth to complete an application, sign a code of ethics, provide references and submit information and consent for a background check to be made. All classrooms have two adults present at all times, and safety procedures are in place. Further requirements regarding transportation of children and youth, activities at church and off-site, etc., are stated in our Safety Policy and Procedures document.
What’s the philosophy and curriculum of religious education in a “free faith” church?
Our religious education program provides a community where children and adults can explore together the great religious questions of humanity. The Unitarian Universalist approach is unique in that it focuses on human a spiritual values rather than a creed, thus providing thoughtful assistance as each child develops an individual concept of his or her place in the world. Each curriculum has a special focus, but there are recurring themes throughout. Children are able at different ages to deal with different aspects of the same topics—birth, death, values, emotions, environmental concerns, biblical stories, sexuality, our Jewish and Christian heritages, world religions and many more. Copies of every curriculum are available to you in the Religious Education office. For more specific information regarding church school classes, please see our Religious Education Prospectus.
What opportunities do children and youth have to learn about and to practice worship?
All of our children and youth, even our toddlers, recognize the flaming chalice, the symbol of our free faith, and the age-appropriate, chalice lighting ritual begins or ends every Sunday School session. Children in Grades K-6 attend Children’s Chapel, a worship service of song, story, offering, discussion and silence, for part of one Sunday School each month. Third and fourth graders serve as chalice lighters for all sanctuary services. Our Coming of Age class (Grades 7-9) and/or our Junior Church (Grades 10-12) create(s) the congregational worship service once each year. One Sunday each month school-age children attend the entire sanctuary worship service with their family and friends. The intergenerational service’s sermon and liturgical elements are intentionally created and selected to respect and engage the range of ages within our faith community.
What opportunities do children and youth have to practice social action, to learn about giving to the community and to the world?
Our first and seventh principles, that we affirm and promote “the inherent worth and dignity of every person,” and “respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part,” compel us to teach the value of social action. All our curricula support “walking the walk.” To that end, our children give to a monthly, Children’s Chapel offering that has funded bag lunches and toiletry kits for Cleveland’s Homeless Standdown, art supplies for children in Chernobyl hospitals, and care packages for U.S. soldiers stationed in Kuwait and Iraq. In addition, individual classes have made and sold dog biscuits to support a local animal shelter, completed litter drives and collected children’s books for Cleveland-area community clinics and centers. West Shore Church has a long tradition of participation in the UUA Service Committee’s Guest at Your Table, a month-long collection for international, emergency relief, and the Giving Tree, an in-house collection of Christmas presents for women and children living in shelters, through the Cleveland Center for Domestic Violence.
What is OWL?
OWL is the acronym for Our Whole Lives, is a lifespan human sexuality education program built upon a core of UU values. We now have trained facilitators for Kindergarten-Grade 1, Grades 5-6, Grades 7-9, and Grades 10-12 OWL curricula. This program includes the dimension of spirituality and ethics, encouraging children and youth to deepen their faith and live out their values. Parental permission and attendance at an orientation session are required. For more information, download the OWL Frequently Asked Questions brochure.