Care and formation of our children and youth

I’m delighted to report that we’ve had a great launch to this year of Children, Youth, and Families ministries! We already have over 270 kids and youth registered for our ministries, continuing our legacy as one of the largest programs in Unitarian Universalism. We’ve had two fabulous Sundays of Religious Education, several nights of youth groups, and a space after our first Community Dinner for parents and caregivers to process recent violence in our community. This coming weekend is packed with even more opportunities for kids, youth, and families: our Fall Family Overnight on Friday, our first Saturday Sprouts for Families of the year, and our High School Youth Group retreat. 

Over 65 of you are volunteering to make these programs possible – thank you! And, we are still in need of volunteers to share this ministry, and our volunteer shortage is impacting families. Right now, we do not have enough volunteers to serve all the children who want to participate in our Religious Education program at 9 a.m. on Sunday mornings. Because of our lack of volunteers, we have over 15 children on a waitlist for our 9 a.m. Religious Education service time, most of whom are unable to attend church at all until they are off the waitlist. 

If we had just five more volunteers with our Kindergarten – 5th grade age group during the 9 a.m. service, we would be able to offer Religious Education to all of the children on the waitlist at the service time that is most accessible to them. In a time when kids and families need communities like ours more than ever, it feels right and just for us to do all we can to offer the most extravagant, generous welcome to all young people. 

In a congregation of over 1,000 members, in addition to our committed, faithful friends, I am confident that we can find just five people who can volunteer their time twice a month from 9-10:30 a.m. to serve our children and, in turn, their parents and caregivers. But, we can only find those five volunteers if each of us genuinely asks ourselves, “Could it be me? Am I called to this?” I’ve heard wise ones say throughout the years, “There is no such thing as other peoples’ children,” and that’s true in our congregation: care and formation for the children of our church is the responsibility of each one of us.  If all of us assume that some other five people should fill these roles – that caring for our children is some other people’s responsibility –  these roles will never be filled at all. 

As you continue to explore the Fall Program Guide and bask in the goodness of last weekend’s Sign Up Sunday, I encourage you to discern if you could be one in the number who provides an experience of Beloved Community to our young people through volunteering on Sunday mornings. If you are interested in learning more about volunteering with Religious Education – if you are committed to making these programs accessible to ALL who want to participate – please email me at allison@firstuniv.org. 

Even as we’re seeking more folks to share our ministries at church, and even when the world tries to tell us otherwise, I know that together, we have all we need. Together, we have enough. Together – in this community – we are holding it all.