Value Based Religious Education As Unitarian Universalists, we envision children and youth who...

• realize that they are moral agents, capable of making a difference in the lives of others, and in the health of our planet.
• feel safe & free to form their own answers to life’s great religious questions.
• become familiar with, and show respect for, history and wisdom of other religious traditions.
• recognize the importance of community, the importance of families of all kinds, the importance of relationships among generations.
• experience joy, awe, and gratitude in response to life’s gifts...and find hope and healing in the face of life’s challenges.
• appreciate the religious heritage of Unitarian Universalism, and feel at home and among friends in this faith community.

Parental Responsibilities and a Covenant Between Us
Our RE ministry is a cooperative of parents who make common commitments for the mutual benefit of all children and youth. These include:

• Striving for consistent attendance, which demonstrates that the congregation and faith are important. Building trust and friendship nurtures our common life.
• Showing our commitment to South Nassau UU Congregation by making a financial pledge for the year.
• Staying informed by reading the Open Line, the Wednesday eblast and emails from the RE program.
• Remaining in the building while the children are in educational programming and picking them up when the program time has ended.
• Providing timely feedback (both positive and constructive) in order to help assess and improve the program.
• Offering each other mutual support and encouragement as we strive to live within the covenants of SNUUC and move as UU parents toward spiritual growth in our homes.

Unitarian Universalist Principles
We are a covenantal faith community with NO creed to which members must subscribe.

We convenant, however, to affirm and promote the following principles:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of and encouragement for one another as we work toward spiritual growth in our congregations;
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right to apply conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence, of which we are a part.

Sources of the Living Tradition
In pursuit of these principles, we draw wisdom from the continuously revealed sources named below:

• 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 upholdlife;
• Words and deeds of prophetic women and men. These challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
• Inspired wisdom from the world’s religions which helps guide us in our ethical and spiritual lives;
• Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
• Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
• 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.

 

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