RE FAQ Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions about CLF, Unitarian Universalism and Religious Education

What does “religious education” mean to UUs?
Religious education, or religious learning and growth, is the life-long process by which we come to more deeply understand who we are in the world, what our lives and actions mean, and how we are connected to the past and future of humanity. It is the on-going process of maturing, of growing souls, of coming toward the fullness of our human potential. Religious education is classes, books and conversations, attentive walks in nature and prayerful moments of silence. It is all of the ways we come to more deeply understand our connections with “the interdependent web” of life, with the great teachers throughout history, with our neighbors and with the strangers whom we come to understand are our neighbors as well.

How do I do RE with my kids at home?
CLF religious education resources can be used in a wide variety of ways. For you, RE might happen as “teachable moments” arise, as your child asks questions about God or death, or is working through the ethics of how to negotiate playground arguments. Or maybe RE questions come up as you think about celebrating religious holidays. To figure out how to respond in these moments you might want to check the questions listed in Between Sundays or check out the thematically arranged RE Listings.

Or, you might make a monthly commitment to sit down with your kid(s) and do a more formal RE session. You can use the KidTalk page, with its monthly information on holidays and famous UUs, as well as its suggestion for a social action project, and focus on one of our UU principles, to shape a session that helps your children understand how we move in the world as Unitarian Universalists. For that matter, there's enough material on the KidTalk page that you could adapt it for use in four weekly sessions.

If you'd like to do at-home RE every Sunday, the easiest way is to use CLiF Notes: A Curriculum for Families and Small Groups. CLiF Notes provides a complete lesson plan for each Sunday, and is designed to be used with small, mixed-aged groups of kids (or parents and kid). CLiF notes comes out monthly, and distributed free to CLF members either through our CLF-RE email list (contact lungar@uua.org to subscribe) or through RE Express, which is a monthly mailing including not only CLiF Notes, but also links to other resources (contact bmurray@uua.org to subscribe) Those who are not CLF members can get a year's subscription to RE Express, which includes access to our online index of CLF resources, for $129/year (contact bmurray@uua.org to subscribe). Additional resources include Curriculum for a Quarter, which has complete some complete sessions available online, and the Curriculum Plan, which offers suggestions for sessions designed for different ages in a coordinated, cross-year plan. The sessions in the Curriculum Plan do, however, require the use of curriculum resources that you will need to purchase through the UUA bookstore or borrow from the CLF library.

Or, of course, you can just browse among the CLF offerings to find something that works for you and your family. The RE Index mentioned above is a great way to find resources on just about any topics you might think of. If you're a CLF member, but don't subscribe to RE Express, you can get the password to the Index from Beth at bmurray@uua.org. We love to know about creative ideas people come up with, so please share them with Lynn, our minister for lifespan learning, at lungar@uua.org.

Do UUs do child dedications? How would that work with CLF?
Unitarian Universalists do not do baptisms in the traditional sense of cleansing children of original sins. Most UU churches, do, however, do child dedication ceremonies, in which the child is officially named and welcomed into the community, and at which the community pledges its love and support for the child.

Obviously, the far-flung nature of the CLF makes it impossible for us all to gather together to welcome and bless a child. However, you may wish to have a ceremony of welcome for your baby, to which you invite family and friends. There is no one right way to design such a ceremony, but you can look at the Handbook of Religious Services which you received when you joined for an example of a baby dedication.

Can I give my children both a religious education and the freedom to chose their own beliefs?
In a word, yes. Religious education, at least for Unitarian Universalists, gives people (both children and adults) the opportunity to both learn about what the great thinkers of the world have taught us, and to explore our own beliefs. Following a “free and responsible search for truth and meaning” (one of our UU principles) should include learning from what has gone before, whether it is UU history, world religions or sacred scriptures such as the Bible. It should also include opportunities to reflect on our own experiences and beliefs, and to figure out how the teachings of the past inform those beliefs and experiences. People are only free to choose their beliefs if they know what they are choosing among.

Furthermore, most UUs regard ethics and values as being at the heart of religious life. Religious education provides a context for parents to transmit core values such as respect, honesty, compassion, and open-mindedness. Whatever conclusions our children may come to about belief in God or the afterlife, they will need to learn to embrace and live out life-giving values.

What do I teach my child about God?
The first, and perhaps most difficult, piece of talking with your child about God is to become clear about your own beliefs. Then you are in a position to say; “People have many different ideas about God, and many different pictures in their heads of what God might be like. Since God is not something you can see or touch, there's no way to say for sure what pictures or ideas might be right, or even whether there is anything at all that it would make sense to call “God.” I think …. What do you think?”

How do UUs celebrate Christmas? What about Easter?
For most UUs, Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter are both cultural holidays and celebrations of the life and teachings of Jesus, whom we regard as a great, but not divine, religious teacher. For suggestions on talking about Christmas and Easter with children of various ages, see the RE Index as well as the REsources columns in seasonal issues of Quest.

How do UU families of mixed religious background celebrate holidays?
One of the great things about UUism is that our inclusive attitude encourages the celebration of holidays from different traditions. By affirming that our “living tradition draws from many sources,” we make a way for families from different religious backgrounds to affirm the truths in each person's heritage. Our KidTalk page is a great resource for finding out about holidays from a wide variety of different traditions.

How do I learn more about UUism in general?
The CLF offers a variety of ways to learn more about Unitarian Universalism. Our online learning center, www.clfuu.org/learn, offers “The New UU,” an introduction to Unitarian Universalism and the CLF, as well as providing a self-study guide to the book A Chosen Faith, which introduces UUism through chapters devoted to the sources of our living tradition. Both of these courses are free of charge. We also periodically offer other online classes further exploring Unitarian Universalism. The website of the Unitarian Unversalist Association, www.uua.org, is also a rich source of information.

Do you offer anything for adults who want to continue their religious growth?
The Online Learning Center (www.clfuu.org/learn) mentioned above provides a variety of online courses on topics ranging from social justice and ethics to spiritual practices and more at a modest cost. The CLF also offers email-based small groups designed to be communities where members can explore significant issues. Covenant Groups offer structured sessions featuring time for both check-in and personal exchange, as well as questions designed to promote deeper discussion in an email format. These groups are limited in size, but CLF members can join the waiting list by contacting lungar@uua.org. Additionally, we have less formal groups, called Shared Interest Groups, (SIGs) designed around particular life experiences, such as a group for retirees and a group for people facing life-changing illness, or particular theologies such as UU Christians or UU pagans. SIGs have open enrollment for CLF members. You can find out more about online communities, and subscribe to groups, through the Online Community menu on our website (www.clfuu.org).

Last updated May 5, 2007