Religious Education Is Lifespan Education

Bette Rotert

Director of Religious Education

North Shore Unitarian Church

Deerfield, IL

As various groups in the church such as the RE Council, Expansion Committee and Leadership have met to discuss goals, needs and visions of our congregation, one perception has continuously surfaced. That perception is that there are two very distinct groups in our community, the children in RE and the adults in the sanctuary and each of these groups has needs that are mutually exclusive of the other. What is very clear to all of us is that this is not a perception that is accurate or one that anyone wants to continue perpetuating. It is time to put these old thoughts away and replace them with the view that we are one community and that everything we do from the babysitters in the nursery to the sermon on Sunday morning is part of sharing community. We all come to this church looking for community, a community that embraces, welcomes and serves the needs of all our members from the youngest baby to our elders in nursing homes.

Whether it is the Sunday morning service, a covenant group meeting, children's choir practice, people visiting at coffee hour, children attending a Sunday morning class, or adults coming to movie night, everything we do here should also be looked at as religious education. When an adult stops to talk about the story with a child, that is religious education. When children watch us interact with each other and model the seven principles, that is religious education. What happens each Sunday in the classrooms is also religious education. As we take this more global look at the definition of religious education we begin to see each decision we make with a wider view.

What is exciting is that we already have in place many activities that are building our community and making religious education lifespan. Some of these are:

•  Children in the sanctuary on Sunday morning

•  Intergenerational services such as Thanksgiving and Easter

•  Mentor program for Affirmation

•  Seder

•  Secret Pal program

•  Adults and Youth who teach in RE even though they don't have children in the program

•  RE Council has added a permanent voting youth group member

•  Adult Ed Chairperson who has been actively involved in the RE Council

•  The safe church policy that has been completed

•  Room 2 has been designated an adult meeting room and will be redecorated over the summer

What needs to happen next to continue this paradigm shift in our church? Here are some possibilities:

•  Move the children's snack into fellowship hall on Sunday mornings so that the adults and children can get to know each other.

•  Plan some evening all-church pot lucks.

•  Begin coordinating activities of the RE Council with church committees such as worship arts, social action and general programming.

•  When adult activities are planned, think about ways that children might be productively included.

•  Adult committees, Church Council and the Board should consider whether having youth members serving on their committees would be beneficial.

As we begin this 50 th year, and as we honor those who came before us and had the vision to create what is now our home, let us look to the future and continue to build a place where all of us are welcomed and cherished.