UU Faith Works: Promising Practices for Lifespan Learning Communities

UU Faith Works Summer/Fall 2004 in print-ready PDF Format
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Or browse the current issue in the table of contents, below.

Dear UU Faith Works Readers,

It was wonderful to see so many of you at GA in Long Beach, California, and at UU summer camps! But now the days are getting shorter and our thoughts naturally turn to RE programs and UU congregational life. Every September we gather in our UU communities of faith to begin anew our lifelong search for truth and meaning, to nurture afresh the feeling of welcome and belonging with newcomers and old friends, and to commit once again to ethical action and faithful practices. This packet of resources reflects who we are and what we value, what we stand for, and who we are becoming. Enjoy these contributions from your UU colleagues and friends.

As you plan your religious education programs, intergenerational worship services, teacher trainings, children’s chapels, social justice projects, and adult enrichment offerings, we hope you have added three new heritage resources to your repertoire – A Lamp in Every Corner by Janeen Grohsmeyer and Full Circle by Kate Erslev. Janeen’s UU storybook features twenty-one original stories that bring UU history to life for young people, from “How We Came to Be,” articulating our faith milestones, to “Who We Are,” telling our UU hero/ine stories to “What We Believe,” featuring stories of our seven Principles. Kate’s Fifteen Ways to Grow Lifelong UUs will inspire you and help your congregation raise and keep lifelong UUs through embracing our UU identity, ritualizing holiday events, providing parent handouts for RE sessions, offering intergenerational social justice opportunities, singing together, sweeping teens into immersion experiences, and much more. Finally Sally Patton’s Welcoming Children with Special Needs: A Guide for Faith Communities is available to help our congregations truly become the inclusive communities we seek to create.

May your UU programs address timely issues of faith development and timeless themes in religious education. With the violence of our times, we need to affirm our Principles through effective action in our classrooms, in worship services, and social justice projects. Check out the anti-bullying Learning Resources in this packet. With the age segregation of our times, we need to seize opportunities in intergenerational worship, mentorship, and whole-congregational fellowship to reconnect the generations. Look in the Worship and Social Justice sections of this packet. With the proliferation of family styles and lifestyles, we need to value our faith community as a common ground for children, youth, adults, and elders. Browse the Community Building and Leadership Development contents in this packet.

This coming year will bring celebrations and challenges to all of us. Please keep two UUA celebrations in mind throughout the months ahead – the GA 2005 theme “Generations of Faith” celebrating our UU family values and celebrating the five-year anniversary of Our Whole Lives programs. Gather testimonials from your families on their family-faith stories and values and from OWL participants and leaders on how sexuality education is religious education. Share them in your communities and with us! To meet the challenges of this coming year we invite you to connect with colleagues in your neighborhood, district, LREDA, and UUA. We are companions in our UU Faith Work. Stay in touch, friends!

In faith, Pat Hoertdoerfer and Jacqui James, Co-editors

The mission of UU Faith Works is to share resources that inspire faith development, educate for religious identity, connect spiritual and ethical practices, and empower religious educators, ministers, and lay congregational leaders in their roles and responsibilities of serving Unitarian Universalists throughout their lives.