Children’s Religious Exploration Program (CRE)

We provide children an opportunity to explore, reflect, and learn in a nurturing spiritual community. The program is offered during service on Sunday mornings. After we have welcomed the congregation and heard the Story for All Ages, the children are sung out of the sanctuary on their way to the classrooms where they light their own chalice, share their joys and challenges, then hear additional stories, discuss the story topic and create projects that solidify their understanding of the topic.

UU Childrens Religious Exploration Programs

Unitarian Universalist religious education programs offer:

Ethical growth by internalizing enduring values like justice, equity, and compassion, and gaining tools to act on them in everyday life.
Social growth by connecting with peers and people of all ages on a deeper level.
Acceptance among people who see beyond the superficial.
Spiritual growth by feeling a connection with the sacred within, among, and beyond us.

Our CRE education team designs the program using the Unitarian Universalist seven (now eight) principles for children:

We believe that each and every person is important.
We believe that all people should be treated fairly and kindly.
We believe that we should accept one another and keep on learning together.
We believe that each person must be free to search for what is true and right in life.
We believe that all persons should have a vote about the things that concern them.
We believe in working for a peaceful, fair, and free world.
We believe in caring for our planet Earth, the home we share with all living things.
We believe in lifting up those who are unheard.

The UUA is in the process of adopting an 8th principle that addresses racism in all its forms.

OUUF CRE Fall/Winter Curriculum

Grades K – 3
Each week, a new lesson is coordinated with the service, a holiday, or the grades 4+ scheduled lessons.

Grades 4+ (including middle school)
This year’s fall/winter curriculum was based on the units in the UUA LREDA Tapestry of Faith, Windows and Mirrors program, updated for 2022.

Update: Some of the children will be attending OWL at Quimper UUF starting in January. As they will be leaving at noon, the curriculum is being adjusted for limited class time. The Windows and Mirrors curriculum was set aside in favor of focusing on the holidays in November and December as well as learning about mindfulness, discussions about what is considered sacred and the associated rituals as well as the differences in behaviors between sacred and non-sacred spaces.

We will be using a flipped classroom model as well as constructivism so that students can do some of the work outside of class time. We will cover each of the principles in turn. Additionally, each of the students will choose one of the seven principles to research and the present us with a lesson/sermon/activity in the format of their choosing.

See the CRE Principles Curriculum pages for more details.

High School
At the moment, we don’t have children older than 12 years of age enrolled in our program. Children at this age would be expected to stay with the adults for the duration of service. However, we would provide support for their individual spiritual journey and discernment, if requested.