Nursery and Childcare
For the youngest of children, loving nursery care is provided during both the 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. services. Babies and toddlers will find many toys, books, and hugs in the nursery. Very simple activities are introduced for the older two-year-olds. Parents who wish to keep infants with them are welcome to bring babies to the sanctuary. Also, there is comfortable seating in the Dodson Room immediately off the Sanctuary in which the service is audible. (Please be aware that this room is not soundproof.)

Education and Classroom Study
For older children, our course of study provides a background in the history and wisdom of many traditions and a strong knowledge of and connection with our own traditions. Each year, the classes engage three themes: Unitarian Universalist Identity; World Religions; and Jewish and Christian Heritage. Classes are a combination of active and reflective learning opportunities. As the children progress through the program, these subjects are looked at with deepening intellectual sophistication in recognition of their cognitive development. Children are guided to appreciate the wisdom and knowledge in these areas as they go deeper into understanding religion and developing their own religious values.

Our Religious Education program involves two sessions of classes and activities for children on Sunday mornings. We invite you to read the fuller explanations of our 9:30 children's programming and our 11:00 children's programming.

Fellowship
Our need to belong and feel loved is our first enduring religious experience. Attending church regularly and consistently is essential for your child's attachment to the community. On Sunday mornings, your child will enjoy attending Coffee Hour with you. At this time you and your child can purchase a baked good, peruse the Bookstore and Opportunity Shop, and chat with friends and acquaintances. For those children wishing to have free playtime, there is a child-care attendant in one of the pre-school rooms or outside when the weather permits.

Each class holds a family fellowship event which provides families with the opportunity to get to know one another. These events are scheduled throughout the year. They include functions like the nursery gathering for Cookies and Milk, pre-school class Stone Soup, and Kindergarten and First grade Cornbread Potluck.

In addition, the Religious Education Committee plans several all-church intergenerational social activities like the all-church Stone Soup Potluck and puppet show and the St. Patrick's Day Party. Please check the calendar and watch the church newsletter for details about these fun events.

The Religious Education Committee and the Adult Religious Education program offer special workshops and discussion programs for parents and families. These are designed to deepen the significance of our religious and ethical strivings in our family lives. Watch the newsletter for details on programs like Parents as Resident Theologians, which helps adults articulate their religious experiences and beliefs in order to more effectively respond to children's religious questions and Evensong, which helps families listen to themselves and other family groups.

Community Service
Acting upon values is an essential component to the religious education of children. Our program includes yearlong attention to social action in the community and pastoral concern in our own congregation. Some activities are for the whole Sunday School and others are in the various classrooms. Following is a description of some of the activities.

SSDN (formerly known as the South Side Day Nursery)
In 1886, Unitarian women founded this nursery with the goal of providing a safe, clean, and educational facility for the children of poor women who needed to work during the day. While still providing nursery/day-care options for low income families, the organization has grown to include many facets of community development. The Unitarian church has maintained a strong relationship with SSDN and many Sunday School efforts support the organization. In a typical year, the church children may solicit holiday gifts for the children of SSDN with the Sheltering Tree project, collect needed clothing and toys, and participate in work and clean-up days at the nursery.

Sandwich Making
Every second and fourth Sunday of the month, our congregation is responsible for preparing sack lunches for the chronically homeless, distributed by Gateway Homeless Services. Each Sunday School class participates in this project with an in-class lesson about stewardship and mission, followed by the actual preparation of the lunches. Parents are encouraged to participate with making the sandwiches, and you and your family can deliver the sandwiches to the center, as well.

Helping Hands Collection and Food Collection
Gateway Homeless Services also has an ongoing need for toiletry items and kid's magazines. We collect both of these items in a basket located in Hope Chapel. These items can be specially purchased or it is always easy to pick up hotel soap and shampoo when traveling. Also, have your children bring in their magazines when they have finished reading them.

    Our congregation also supports a food pantry maintained by Trinity Episcopal Church. Donations of nonperishable food items may be left on the shelves outside Fellowship Hall. When the shelves are full, the Youth Group delivers the food to the pantry.
  

Mitten Tree
Each winter, new hats, gloves, mittens and scarves are collected and adorn a Mitten Tree in the foyer of the church. The items are donated to SSDN and Gateway Homeless Services. This is a wonderful way for children and adults to share the warmth of their lives with others.

UUSC
Each Thanksgiving, the children and entire congregation participate in the Guest at Your Table program, which supports the human rights work of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC). Each family takes a box home and at every meal or snack, a few coins are contributed to the box. The individual boxes are collected after the first of the year, and the cumulative collection is donated in our church's name to the UUSC. This collection is an easy way for children to learn that we can easily share the bounty of our lives with others.

Worship, Personal Reflection, and Prayer
A number of opportunities are offered for quiet, individual spiritual development. All classes begin with a chalice lighting, which includes quiet, a unison affirmation, and the sharing of Joys and Concerns. Once a month, all children and youth join their parents for either the first or last 15 minutes of the worship service in the sanctuary. Several times a year (Christmas Eve and Easter, for example), families are together for the entire worship service. In addition, there are times during the church year when the children actively participate in the sanctuary service. These include the Cornbread Communion at Thanksgiving and the Flower Communion in the spring. A touching highlight every December is the traditional Christmas Pageant, with the children portraying the roles in the Nativity story.

Most weeks the children attend Family Chapel. This service is held at 10:35 a.m. in Hope Chapel. Here, children and their families engage in a service that is similar to the sanctuary service but is geared to meet the spiritual needs and questions of children and their families. The service includes a chalice lighting ritual called Memory, Hope, and Reverence; hymns; and a short story, message, or reflection. Children participate in the service as chalice lighters, as readers, by providing music, and by serving as ushers. Individual families are encouraged and invited to present the service once a month.

Chapel for middle school and upper elementary (grades 5 through 8) youth is held on Sunday mornings at 9:35 a.m. in Hope Chapel. This is a chance for the young people to contemplate issues in their lives and the world. Readings, songs, and music compose the service.

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