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Children & Youth
Religious Exploration

We now offer child care for children of all ages.

Starting in January 2025, we will be offering formal Religious Exploration classes for kids on the 1st Sunday of each month.  The program will be led by our new volunteer RE Program Coordinator, Leslie Brussel-Smith.  A big thanks to Leslie for offering her expertise as an experienced RE teacher and UU leader, and to those who are volunteering to help out in the program.

For the fall of 2024, our child care volunteers provide child care in the classrooms or outdoors, if the weather allows.

If they prefer to, children and youth of all ages are always welcome to remain in the Sanctuary during the service and can take advantage of our children's area at the side of our Sanctuary which features story books, coloring activities, and a few quiet toys. 

See our newsletter for regular updates.
 

If you'd like more information about our Religious Exploration program, hit the blue button to the right to complete our Connection Card. We'll contact you as soon as possible.

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  • Our nursery/child care is open from 10:45 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. and is staffed by a lead and assistant caregiver, all other children and youth join the adults for the service.

  • The nursery is appropriate for children up to age 7.

  • If weather allows, we will take the children outside to our playground.

Schedule
Fall 2024

About Children & Youth Religious Exploration at Westside

We believe that Religious Education is about spiritual exploration and growth, so we have named our program: Religious Exploration. It is a lifelong process that starts with our children. It is more than learning something new; Religious Exploration is about recognizing that what you learn can affect your attitudes and your values. How does what you are learning deepen and enhance your spiritual journey? Religious Exploration offers an opportunity to build a community, to ask questions, to explore, and to learn.

 

Our goal is to provide an environment in which our children and youth are free to discover a spiritual path that is right for them, knowing they are a welcome part of our Unitarian Universalist community here at Westside.

 

The 7 Principles We Teach Our Children

In Westside's RE Program, we simplify the 7 Principles of Unitarian Universalism into what we call "The 7 Rainbow Principles."

Our Sources of Inspiration

 

In the words of Rev. William Ellery Channing, "The great end in religious instruction is not to stamp our own minds upon the young, but to stir up their own." Our curriculum reflects this sentiment by drawing inspiration from many sources, including:

 

  • Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.

  • Humanist teachings, which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against the idolatries of the mind and spirit. We embrace science and encourage our youth to use reason to understand and appreciate the world.

  • World Religions. We study many other major religions, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and Earth-based religions.

  • Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.

  • Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

  • Nature, Art, and Music. We guide our children to value these aesthetic sources to provide spiritual renewal and appreciation.

  • Philosophy and Ethics. We encourage our youth to think about the meaning of life and ethical ways to live in community and to act on social justice issues through service projects, guided by the sources listed above and the principles of UU.

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