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Figuring out how to staff and resource updated religious education programs so they are responsive to present-day realities faced by adults and children can be daunting.
The following advice is from Unitarian Universalist congregations that made RE changes, big and small, and experienced more engagement and increased membership.
First and Foremost, Ask Families What They Need
The UU Church of the Palouse in Moscow, Idaho, regularly asks families in the local community how to support them. Based on that feedback, it provides free childcare at every church event and hosts “Parents’ Night Out” one Friday a month: a date night for couples with three free hours of childcare at the church and free pizza for the children.
The UU Church of the Palouse in Moscow, Idaho, regularly asks families in the local community how to support them.
“A lot of our families don’t come to anything else,” says Ginger Yoder, who leads the congregation’s RE program. And when one parents’ group was no longer popular, they launched a family game night with free dinner.
Two years ago, when Allison Connelly-Vetter joined First Universalist Church of Minneapolis as director of Children, Youth, and Families Ministries, she found the largest enrollment of kids at a UU congregation in the country: 320.
Though RE was thriving at the approximately 1,000-member congregation, she asked parents what they needed and learned that they craved support and connection with each other, especially post-pandemic.
Instead of free-play only, they wanted RE to have more structure and connection to UU values, so she fosters a “low-stakes, values-based space” that’s neither home nor school.
“These kids just need space; they are so overscheduled!” she says.
A couple of Wednesdays per month the congregation hosts a community dinner with free food, followed by activities divided by age groups. Once a month comes “Saturday Sprouts” for parents with young kids where adults connect while kids engage in values-based play. Monthly church overnights are also a big part of the culture and draw twenty to twenty-five people including kids and families/caregivers.
Ask the Kids, Too
“One kid said, ‘Sunday school is boring, I wish we could play D&D (Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy roleplaying game),’” recalls Yoder. She okayed it on the condition the kids talk about how the game supported UU values.
“It went amazing—until it kind of fizzled out” when the kids’ interests moved on. So now there’s a monthly writers’ club in RE, proposed by a young girl who wanted space to write, and facilitated by two accomplished adult writers.
Make Worship for All Ages
In the traditional New England model of many UU congregations, children leave early during Sunday services to go to RE classes, which is off-putting to many families, including those from cultures or religious backgrounds where children aren’t separated from adults.
“This congregation had a tradition in the past of kids leaving after about twenty minutes, which was hard on families,” explains Katie Resendiz, director of Children’s Ministry at the UU Congregation of Phoenix, Arizona. “It doesn’t work here culturally,” where many adults were raised in the Roman Catholic or Latter-day Saints faiths, she says.
“We tell families that once-a-month attendance is regular attendance, given their busy schedules.”
So, four years ago, the congregation, which has 400 members, switched to whole-congregation worship services for all ages. It’s continuing to work well, Resendiz says, with weekly attendance pulling even with pre-pandemic numbers. About thirty kids show up on any given Sunday, although not always the same kids.
“We tell families that once-a-month attendance is regular attendance, given their busy schedules,” she says. And about seventy-four children and youth attend at least one activity each week, she adds.
Take Kids’ Spirituality Seriously
Resendiz says her role is ensuring children have the opportunity and access to be full and complete community members. That means everything from offering programming that addresses their spiritual needs to providing seating in the sanctuary where kids can see what’s happening, and structuring committees so that kids can be involved.
“If all your cousins had quinceañeras, we need to talk about that because it’s part of your spiritual path.”
The Coming of Age ceremony offers youth a full year to examine and articulate their spirituality and is culturally responsive to each individual.
“If all your cousins had quinceañeras, we need to talk about that because it’s part of your spiritual path,” she says.
Experiment—and Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
“I think RE is always in need of reimagination, even within any year in any congregation.”
If the pandemic had any upside, it was encouraging congregations to experiment with new ways of worship and RE, says Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Stevens, the minister serving the UU Church of the Palouse.
“I think RE is always in need of reimagination, even within any year in any congregation.” Leaders at the UU Church of the Palouse in Idaho experiment and “keep trying until what we uniquely have to offer connects with the deep needs of families in the wide community.”
Staff for Growth. Even in Tight Times, Put Money into RE
Congregations with financial pressures and dwindling RE enrollment may be tempted to cut back on RE staff, but RE is so essential to congregational health that it should be at the top of budgetary priorities, successful RE leaders say. If a congregation has an endowment, this may be the time to use it.
“You are sitting on savings that could be meeting the needs of your wider community now.”
“You are sitting on savings that could be meeting the needs of your wider community now,” advises Nao Bethea, co-director of Lifespan Faith Engagement at the UUA.
There are also other ways to creatively fund a congregation’s faith development, Bethea says. Consider creating partnerships with other congregations or community organizations, leveraging your space for rental income or barter exchange, combining roles such as membership or worship coordination with RE, and launching fundraising campaigns specific to the needs of your congregation’s neighborhood or city.
“Investing in RE is equivalent to growing your community’s faith in each other and the congregation.”
Provide Free Childcare
To give overtaxed parents a break, the Palouse congregation offers free childcare at every event.
Congregational leadership agrees that families must be a priority; “We have a huge childcare budget” supplemented by volunteers, Yoder says.
… and Free Food
Getting kids fed on time is always a challenge for busy parents, so the UU Church of the Palouse also offers free meals at many events. But not potlucks. Asking overtaxed parents to bring a dish acts as a deterrent to attendance; conversely, providing food for kids is a draw.
Initially, they planned to ask older members to cook meals but decided it was easier for staff to do it, Stevens says.
“The number one thing our families want is a taco bar,” says Yoder. Fully supportive of a “families first” ethos, the board has enthusiastically provided funding for food, including $4,000 in the first year they tried this approach.
Showcase Your Focus on Families
“It was intentional as showing this is a place for children and families.”
The Palouse congregation is well known throughout the community for its social justice actions; it is now building its family-friendly reputation. Many new families have learned of the congregation through Yoder, a part-time schoolteacher who moonlights at a nature school and coaches mountain biking. And the entire congregation agreed that the playground at its new building should be placed out front for all the community to see.
“It was intentional as showing this is a place for children and families,” says Yoder. “It’s a symbol of who we are.”