Welcome Forward Family Ministry

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• What is Family Ministry?
• Facets of Family Ministry at UUCF
• Family Ministry This Month
• Sign Up to Receive the Family Ministry Newsletter
• This Month’s RE Schedule
• This Month’s Ongoing Groups and Events
• Upcoming Family Ministry Activities and Announcements
• Information for New Families
• 2022-2023 RE Class Dates
• 2022-2023 RE Class Descriptions
• RE Policies and Procedures
• Sign Up Your Child/Youth for Religious Exploration (RE)

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What is Family Ministry?

Family Ministry is an approach to faith development that recognizes that faith development:

• Happens throughout our lives, at all ages.
• Happens wherever we are; on a walk, in a class, at home, in worship.
• Views parents, grandparents, caregivers as the primary religious educators for their children.
• Creates an intentional community of all ages.

Family Ministry seeks to meet people where they are and includes families of all kinds – as families – in the life of the congregation. It’s not just about families with children. At the same time, it recognizes that families with children require significant attention.

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Facets of Family Ministry at UUCF

• Children and youth participate regularly in Worship Services.
• Music Ministry includes opportunities for families, children and youth.,
• Religious exploration structured as small group ministry that supports and educates parents and other adults as well as children.
• Social justice and social action for all ages.
• Resources for at-home spiritual deepening.
• Whole-congregation social and educational events.

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Family Ministry This Month

March Message from the Director of Religious Exploration

Greetings parents, guardians, RE volunteers and friends,

Spring RE begins this month! For most students, classes remain the same, but Our Whole Lives (OWL) classes will begin for our first and second graders and High School youth. This congregational year is winding down, and the RE Committee and RE staff are already planning for next year. The increase in RE enrollment will necessitate returning to single-age classes next year, which means more teachers will be needed. Teacher recruitment is one of the most important tasks of the RE Committee, and I hope when you are contacted in the coming weeks, you will say yes to joining a teaching team for next year.

Sunday, March 5, is the High School Youth Service, always a highlight of the year! Our youth, in collaboration with Courtney Firth, have been working hard to create a lovely and meaningful service. I hope you can attend and show appreciation for their efforts.

Another highlight of the month is the UUCF auction on Saturday night, March 25. The auction, the biggest fundraiser of the year, is an evening filled with great food and drink and much fun. The auction child care is equally fun for children ages 2 to 12. The UUCF staff and volunteers serve up pizza and snacks, supervise games and group play, and then the kids settle down at 8:00 p.m. for a movie and quiet time. Children can come in their pajamas and bring pillows, blankets, and lovies to make themselves comfortable. Middle school youth in need of service hours are welcome to help out. Click Here to see more information about the auction and sign up to help or register to attend. And don’t forget to bid on those amazing RE class baskets!

Additional Family Ministry events are detailed below. Connection with community is important. I encourage you to join in some of these great opportunities for fun, service and learning.

I look forward to seeing you on campus soon!

Diana
Diana Maren Tycer (she/her)
Director of Religious Exploration, UUCF
dtycer@uucf.org/703-625-1935
Sign Up to Receive the Family Ministry Newsletter

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This Month’s RE Schedule

• Sunday, Mar. 5, 10 a.m. – Worship Service & Spring RE
  
• Sunday, Mar. 12, 10 a.m. – Worship Service & Spring RE. (DC Adventure trip for Coming of Age class.)
• Sunday, Mar. 19, 10 a.m. – Worship Service & Spring RE (Food Drive – 11 a.m.-12 p.m.)
• Sunday, Mar. 26, 10 a.m. –Worship Service & Spring RE
  

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This Month’s Ongoing Groups and Events

• Youth Choir meets Sun. 3/5, 3/12, 3/19, & 3/26 at 4:30 p.m. in the Music Room.
• Beginning Handbells meet Sun. 3/5, 3/12, 3/19, 3/26 at 4 p.m. in the Sanctuary.
• Revolution Ringers Handbells meet Sun. 3/5, 3/12, 3/19, 3/26 at 4:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary.
• Adult Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality education meets Tue. 3/7 and 3/21, in the Chapel, 7-9 p.m.
• Parents as Primary Sexuality Educators meets Wed. 3/8 & 3/22, 7:30 p.m. online.
• Middle School Youth Group meets Sat. 3/11, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at UUCF in Room 11.
• RE Committee meets Tue. 3/14, at 7 p.m. in person and online.
• RE Family Hiking is Sat., 3/18, 9:30 a.m. in Greenbriar Park, Chantilly.
• RE Family Potluck is Sun., 3/25, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the Commons.

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Upcoming Family Ministry Activities and Announcements

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Information for New Families

UUCF offers Religious Exploration classes every Sunday from September through May at 10 a.m., for preschool children and Kindergarten through Grade 12 on 26 Sundays, as well as seven Sundays in the summer. Additionally, staff and volunteers offer Special RE programming or Fun and Fellowship for younger children when RE classes are not in session.

Children and youth (teens) begin each Sunday in the worship service with their parents at 10 a.m. and are dismissed to their RE classes around 10:25 a.m. Children and youth are always welcome to attend the entire worship service with their parents and are not required to go to RE classes. RE offers children and youth a supportive, loving and safe environment to learn about Unitarian Universalism, engage in fun activities, and make new friends. Visitors to RE classes are always welcome! RE classes end at 11:30 a.m., allowing time for parents and guardians to socialize after worship services end at 11 a.m. or participate in post-service programming..

All new parents, children and youth are invited to participate in Family Ministry activities, like the monthly potluck suppers (usually the fourth Sundays of each month), the RE Hiking group, and music and arts events. Please fill out a blue visitors card in the Sanctuary on Sunday mornings or contact visitors@uucf.org so that we can send you information on UUCF activities.

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2023 RE Class Dates

Please mark your calendars for the following RE Class Sundays:

Mar. 5, 12, 19, 26

Apr. 16, 23, 30

May 7, 21

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2022-2023 RE Class Descriptions

Preschool & Kindergarten

Hello Friends – for children ages 2 through 5 all year.
The Hello Friends curriculum is chock-full of songs, stories, crafts and activities. Friendship is the theme, with lessons on how to be a friend, making friends, animal friends, being a friend to the earth and much more. Hello Friends was created with the littlest UUs in mind. The overall goal of this class is to provide children with a loving and welcoming experience, to help model a community of friendship and to lightly introduce Unitarian Universalist themes.

Grades 1-4

Moral Tales – Grades 1 & 2. Fall 2022 through winter 2023
This curriculum draws upon many of our Unitarian Universalist sources, portraying moral dilemmas and paths to goodness and justice through a variety of cultural and religious lenses. Moral Tales gives children the spiritual and ethical tools to make better choices and to act in accordance with their Unitarian Universalist beliefs and values.

First Grade Our Whole Lives (OWL) – Grades 1 & 2. Spring 2023.
This is the first course in the highly regarded comprehensive lifespan sexuality education curriculum created by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. This eight-session class explores concepts of family and bodily autonomy, and celebrates the wonder of the human body. This class introduces basic concepts of sexual intercourse, pregnancy and childbirth in the context of family. Parent orientation is required.

Soul Matters – Grades 3 & 4. All year.
Developed monthly by the Soul Matters Sharing Circle, this curriculum is based on monthly worship and small group discussion themes. Each month’s theme is explored through stories, songs, meditation, projects and play. This curriculum was crafted using an anti-racism/ anti-oppression lens and is designed to foster inclusion, equity and justice.

Grades 5-6

Inclusive Virginia History – Grades 5 & 6. Fall 2022.
Developed to supplement the Virginia History curriculum taught in schools, this 10-week class discusses the impact of colonization on the native populations of Virginia and explores how the growth of slavery in the 1800s impacted the lives of people of color before and after the civil war. Racial politics of the 20th Century, including Jim Crow laws and the civil rights movement, are reviewed. This class includes a field trip to the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture.

Fifth Grade Our Whole Lives (OWL) – Grades 5 & 6. Fall 2022.
This is the second course in the highly regarded comprehensive lifespan sexuality education curriculum created by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. This ten-session class focuses on puberty and the physical and emotional changes adolescents can expect. In addition to explaining sexual reproduction, workshops also explore gender identity, peer pressure, consent, prevention of sexually transmitted infections and contraception.

Love Connects Us – Grades 5 & 6. Winter and spring.
This course celebrates important ways UUs live our faith in covenantal community. The sessions explore our legacy, from both Universalism and Unitarianism, of living our connections in loving service, inquiry and action for social justice. Children explore topics of love, peace, kindness and spirituality in the context of UU identity. Many activities require participants to work in teams or small groups, emphasizing their experience as individuals working together in community.

Heeding the Call – Grades 5 & 6. Winter and spring.
This curriculum, designed for middle school, but adapted for upper elementary students, delves into the values underpinning Unitarian Universalism and introduces students to the activism inherent in UU theology and faith practice. Through reading, discussion and action projects, students gain leadership skills in social justice work and learn to live their faith.

Middle School & High School 

Coming of Age – Grades 7-9. Full year.
The class begins with a ceremony and ends with a worship service. The 9 months in between are a journey of discovery for the youth. They learn UU history, delve into the philosophy and theology of the UU Sources and thoroughly explore the meaning of the UU Seven Principles. Ministers and congregational leaders visit their class, and the students visit important UU heritage sites in Boston and DC. With the help of a mentor along the way, their journey ends with the development of their personal credos, which they state before the congregation at the Coming of Age service in May.

8th Grade Our Whole Lives (OWL) – Grade 7-9. Full year.
This is the third course in the highly regarded comprehensive lifespan sexuality education curriculum created by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. The 26-session course far surpasses what is offered in public school and provides accurate information on reproduction, sexual health, prevention of sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy prevention and options for unintended pregnancies. Additionally, the curriculum explores, in a positive, inclusive manner, topics of sexual orientation, gender identity and healthy sexual relationships.

Crossing Paths –  Grades 7-9. Full year.
An updating of the long-popular Neighboring Faiths Curriculum, Crossing Paths explores the major religions of the world (including Hindusim, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity) and how they compare and contrast with Unitarian Universalim. Students spend 4 weeks learning key information about each religion and do site visits to other faith communities to learn more about rich and diverse faith traditions.

Youth Group –  Grades 9-12. Fall and winter.
Youth Group is a relaxed fellowship and guided discussion on topics of concern to youth, moderated by adult facilitators and the Youth Ministry Coordinator. In addition to class meetings, the youth group enjoys social events and trips and undertakes social justice activities together.

HS Our Whole Lives (OWL) – Grades 10-12. Spring 2023.
This is the fourth course in the highly regarded comprehensive lifespan sexuality education curriculum created by the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ. This seven-session class is offered in the spring to high school juniors and seniors. The class helps prepare students to take full responsibility for their sexual health and sexual relationships as they head to college. Prevention of STIs and pregnancy are thoroughly reviewed. Topics of sexual harrassment and sexual assault are explored in depth and students practice asking for and giving consent. In addition, the course discusses pornography, sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, and the current political environment for LGBTQ rights and reproductive rights for women.

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