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Welcomes to Our Cooperative Religious Education Program
From The Religious Educator
A church's religious education program is most often defined by what is studied in the classroom without recognizing the other accompanying experiences. In our church, the whole church educates. The whole church, with its traditional forms of
- worship
- fellowship
- service
- proclamation and advocacy
- classroom study
help everyone, child and adult, to discover and inculcate the religious life. These forms, individually, collectively, intentionally and haphazardly, bind each to the wider world, both known and mysterious. It is through these forms in the collective, that is religious education.
-- Gabrielle Farrell
Program Components
WORSHIP
Story for All Ages
Integral to a child's Sunday morning, is quiet, reflective time spent in worship. On the first Sunday of the month, all children, except nursery-age, attend the first 15 minutes of worship in the Sanctuary. Middle and High School students attend the first fifteen minutes every Sunday.
Chapel Service
This service for Kindergarten through 5th grade parallels the Sanctuary service with singing of hymns, chalicelighting, prayer and story three Sundays monthly. Children participate as worship leaders. An offertory is collected which the children direct to a social justice project.
Children's Choir
The Children's Choir is open to children 3rd grade and older. If interested, please contact John Strang, the ASC Music Director.
PEDAGOGY (STUDY)
This year's focus is Stories from the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. In subsequent years, children engage stories from Unitarian Universalism and the the world's other religions, all examined through a Unitarian Universalist lens.
Nursery Care
Childcare and supervised play for infants through age two (2) is available in the Nursery staffed by two professional caregivers. Parents are asked to remain with their children until they are comfortably settled and to sit in the left balcony of the sanctuary in case they are needed during the service.
Two's and Three's
This activity-based class meets in the Eaton room and does not attend Chapel. Teachers engage children in small and limited large group activity while also respecting their developmental need to act individually. The class typically includes a chalicelighting and song, simple activities, a story, snack and monitored free play for children. Parent help is often needed in addition to the scheduled parent helper.
Young Learners (3, 4 and 5 Years Old)
This structured class morning provides experiences to grow in trust and caring, along with the freedom to discover and express individuality. The class is primarily for fours and fives not yet in Kindergarten. Children attend Chapel intermittently through the year.
Primary through Intermediate Learners (K through 5th grade)
After engaging a story from the the Jewish and Christian scriptures in Chapel, children separate to discuss and integrate the story at age appropriate levels. Chosen stories illustrate both universal and individual beliefs. Children are encouraged to begin articulating their developing individual faith.
Middle School Learners
What do the Jewish and Christian scriptures teach us about ourselves today? Is there something here that I value? Through an exploration of these stories studied through a Unitarian Universalist lens, Middle Schoolers are challenged to answer these questions for themselves. Additionally, Middle Schoolers develop and carry out long-term social justice projects, including an overnight workcamp experience.
High School Learners
This group, advised and taught by adults, meets Sunday morning for learning, fellowship, worship, and social justice work. Integration with the adult community is encouraged and promoted. Students are encouraged to direct their own learning.
FELLOWSHIP
Parent Helper
Each family is assigned to the classroom at least twice a year (for each registered child). Those families with a parent teaching are exempted.
Coffee and Lunch
Coffee and a reasonably-priced lunch are available directly after the service in two locations every Sunday morning. The fenced playground, right outside Pierce Hall and the gymnasium are open after the service. Both require parent supervision.
Classroom Events
Intergenerational events by class are scheduled throughout the year, Pizza parties, cookies and milk and others are designed to help families get to know each other in smaller groups.
WITNESS AND ADVOCACY
The Latin word kerygma, relates to proclaiming and hearing the word of God in the world. For historical Unitarians and Universalists this occurred through Scripture and preaching. In our present day tradition, we hold many sources of inspiration and truth to be our "scripture" and hold holy the description that we are a "priesthood of all believers."
Teaching
One is not qualified to teach in our religious education program by virtue of a "teacher's license, but [because of] a devotion to... [a] way of living and thinking that is so strong that it must be shared." (Hirsh)
Witness
There is at All Souls church an historic tradition of standing as social witness to injustice in our community and the world. This tradition continues today and there are opportunities for children to join adults in these places of standing together for what is just.
SOCIAL JUSTICE LEARNING
Vital to educating religiously is action predicated on principles and values in which one believes -- extending one's hands in the way of one's heart. This year, the RE Committee has partnered with the church's Social Justice Ministries to offer social justice opportunities specifically targeted for children and their families. Classes identify social issues on which they would like to collectively take action and help plan the project.
Projects will be age appropriate and most often will happen on Sunday morning. Some of these include:
- Working with a neighborhood after-school program expanding a community garden
- Preparing and serving food at a local shelter
- Preparing and collecting food for various organizations working with hunger in D.C.
- Working with an euthanasia-free animal shelter
- Helping the ASC Trash Free initiatives
- Raising money by creative and targeted fundraising efforts (i.e. Hoops for Hunger)
- Participation in an overnight workcamp in the neighborhood.
Parents and other adults are strongly encouraged to participate in this portion of our program. Families are encouraged to participate in church-wide social justice projects with their children as well.
From The Minister
I'm too alone in the world, yet not alone enough
to make each hour holy.
I'm too small in the world, yet not small enough
to be simply in your presence, like a thing --
just as it is.
I want to know my own will
and to move with it.
And I want, in the hushed moments
when the nameless draws near,
to be among the wise ones --
I want to mirror your immensity.
I want never to be too weak or too old
to bear the heavy, lurching image of you.
I want to unfold.
Let no place in me hold itself closed,
for where I am closed, I am false.
I want to stay clear in your sight.
-- Ranier Maria Rilke
From The Book of Hours: Love Poems to God
"I want to unfold," exclaims Rilke, and so, too, do the throngs of people coming to Unitarian Universalist congregations seeking spiritual growth and meaning in their lives. "Unfolding" is an apt metaphor for this growth. Ever since the time of William Ellery Channing, the founder of American Unitarianism, our tradition has held that within each person there is a "divine seed" that can be cultivated such that each grows -- "unfold" -- toward the Holy. This is the lifelong process that today we call religious education.
Welcome!
-- Rob Hardies
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
All member and non-member All Souls Church parents and guardians are asked to register children birth through 12th grade by the second week of attendance. The religious education program begins at 10:50 a.m. and ends at 12:15 p.m.
We include, to the best of our ability, all children. Knowing in advance the special needs of your child can help us plan appropriate supports for him/her. It may be that we are unable to accommodate every need, but please note on the registration form and speak with the Religious Educator.
Please note the annual fees on the Registration form. These are payable at the time of registration. If relief is needed, please include a note with your form.
If you are interested in registering children for the religious education program, please download our registration form (requires Microsoft Word).
Religious Education Dismissal
The Religious Education program ends, for all classes, except the Nursery, at 12:15 p.m. Occasional early pickups are acceptable, but if you must pick your child up earlier on a regular basis, please talk with the Religious Educator (Gabrielle Farrell, 202-332-5266, x112) about alternate arrangements.
All children Preschool through 2nd grade should be picked up in their classroom. Intermediate-aged children and older are dismissed on their own.
For more information
Gabrielle Farrell, the Religious Educator, welcomes conversations about the program, the church, your individual children or your family. Families new to the program are especially encouraged to arrange an appointment. Office hours are (generally) Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can reach Gabrielle at 202-332-5266, x112, or at gfarrell@allsouls.ws.
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