Helping Children Discover Ways To Heal the World

After Sept. 11 most of us found ways to involve our children and youth in projects that responded to immediate needs: visiting mosques, sending cards to fire fighters. But as the months passed, religious educators have engaged young people in longer-range projects.

At the Unitarian Church of Davis, CA (287 members), children and adults collected 200 sleeping bags and raised $1,880 for Afghan relief, says minister of religious education Chris Fry. The congregation also recognizes "giraffes," people who stick their necks out to help others. One 8-year-old giraffe collected 50 stuffed bears to send to New York children.

This winter children and adults at Davis focused on child labor practices with their annual jumpathon (kids are sponsored for jumping rope and shooting baskets). Donations (around $1,000) have been used to buy blankets for AIDS orphans and to support Free the Children, a group working to end child labor practices.

The congregation has a monthly Community Service Sunday. Fry says, "This is part of our effort to ensure that service becomes a regular part of our children's lives. These projects have created a greater sense of community, a deeper sense of connection to others, and a sense of being able to live out our UU values."

Children, youth, and adults at First Parish, Brewster, MA (725), donated $1,000 to Afghan children's relief through a holiday bazaar — gifts bought in bulk were sold to children and adults for $2 maximum — and sales of a calendar ($15-$25) that features children's prayer flags made after Sept. 11. "The whole community got involved," says Kathy Cronin, children and youth ministries director.

At the UU Community Church, Sacramento, CA (80), a peace and justice theme for the year had been planned before Sept. 11, using the curricula In Our Hands and Race to Justice, said Tonie Darling, children's RE chair. On Sept. 16 the junior high class role-played about being a 12-year-old Muslim youth in Sacramento.

Children and adults at the UU Church of the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel, CA (250), are creating a quilt to give to a local mosque. It includes prayers for peace, love, and connection, says the Rev. Forrest Gilmore. "Our theme for religious education is love, and the making of these quilts very much helped concretize that for the kids." The congregation also donated $4,000 to the Red Cross and the UU Service Committee and $500 to Afghan relief.

The UU Church of Arlington, VA (962), will hold a children's peace camp for the fifth year, teaching kids from 5 to 11 about peace using art, history, plays, dance, and cooperative games. "The kids learn about something important and the camp has also been a great way to build connections with the community," says Diane Dorius, a camp staffer. (For more details, see Briefly Noted).

Children at the James Reeb UU Congregation, Madison, WI (133), collected socks, hats, scarves, and mittens for homeless families in the Head-to-Toe drive. "Faced with Sept. 11, it was difficult to decide what project to focus on," said Carin Bringelson, RE committee chair. "We finally decided to do something local so our kids would know they could make a concrete difference. We don't want the needs of the people in our own community to be ignored because of world events."

A second action is planned. "Social justice for kids has proven to be a good way to get other adults involved in new ways," Bringelson says. "People who don't want to commit to teaching RE for the whole year will help with a community project. And the kids love it."