REGIS: Good Morning and welcome to a very special edition of Who Wants to Be an RE Teacher! Our contestants have completed the fastest finger question. Let's see who the winner is. ...It's Cathie Badalamenti of Birmingham, Michigan. (Cathie jumps up excitedly and comes to the "winner's circle"). Congratulations, Cathie, and welcome to the winner's circle!

CATHIE: I can't believe I'm here. I'm a little nervous. I can still get confused about Unitarian Universalism.

REGIS: So, who did you bring with you today?

CATHIE: I brought my entire choir.

REGIS: (Looking at choir) And what do you do, choir?

CHOIR: Sing (Sings)

REGIS: Hey, not bad. Cathie, are you ready to play for the chance to become an RE teacher?

CATHIE: All right, Regis, I'm ready.

REGIS: You're doing great and don't forget you have three lifelines. Are you ready to play? Let's play! Here it is: for a bag of leftover rummage -- what does the abbreviation RE stand for? A. Religious Education, B. Rugrats Everywhere, C. Righteous Evolution, or D. A note in the musical scale

CATHIE: (Nervous) Let's see. I have a feeling about this. One answer stood out immediately. (Waits, thinking, agonizing)

REGIS: Cathie, it's only a half-hour show!

CATHIE: Well it's a lot harder being up here than it looks on TV. All right, Regis, I'm going to go with my gut instinct and say "A. Religious Education, final answer."

REGIS: (Sadly, shake head) Well, Cathie...you got it!

Big Sign -- Twenty minutes and six commercials later

REGIS: Cathie Badalamenti, you're just one question away from becoming an RE teacher. Let's play! (Regis spotlights Cathie with two flashlights over her head and takes away the flashlights.) Who is the real God? A. The Great Mother Goddess, B. An old man with a beard in the clouds, C. Jesus Christ, or D. George W.

CATHIE: (looks shocked) What?

REGIS: (continues as if unaware of Cathie's shock) You still have one lifeline left.

CATHIE: All right, Regis, I'd like to poll the audience.

REGIS: All right, audience, it's your turn to answer the question. Who is the real God? A...

CATHIE: (Interrupts) Now wait a minute. You can't ask them to choose one of those answers. That's only four choices. There are hundreds of ideas about God, and each one of us can have our own personal idea about just who God is. You can't expect them to answer that question -- and you shouldn't have to be able to answer it to teach RE either.

REGIS: Is that your final answer?

CATHIE: (Angrily) No, it is NOT my final answer. (Slams the table with fist) AS a Unitarian Universalist, my thoughts about God and religion are changing all the time.

REGIS: Well, Cathie, how can you be an RE teacher if you don't know the answers to those questions? What can you teach the children and youth who will look to you for answers?

CATHIE: (confident now) I can share with them the many ideas and images people have had about God, in this time and in times past. I can tell them that as UUs they can form their own ideas about God -and that their ideas about God may change throughout their lifetimes. That's what growing - and learning - is all about.

REGIS: Wonderful. Simply wonderful! Congratulations! You've just won the chance to be an RE teacher.

CATHIE: (looks pleased) I have? That's great! How do I get started?

REGIS: All you need to do is talk to Nancy Otto, Rosemary Perrenoud, or any other member of the RE council. (Hands her a yellow paper.) Or you can sign up in the social hall after service. (Arline pointing)

CATHIE: All right.

REGIS: (to audience) And you too. Volunteer to be a part of the religious education program in the coming year. The memories you'll make will have you feeling like a millionaire! (Holds Cathie's hands up like a she's winning boxer.)