Religious Exploration Programs for Youth

Middle School Program (7th/8th Grades)

The 7th/8th grades meet as a group together on Sunday mornings with their team of adult advisors. The activities of the group combine self-exploration, making friends, social service, religious learning, and worship. The focus of religious learning, which changes from year to year, centers variously on Unitarian Universalism; world religions; and how we put our principles into practice, both in building positive character traits, and in how we relate to the world around us.

Community worship is an important component of our religious experience. On most Sundays our middle school youth join the rest of the congregation for Sharing Services in the sanctuary. Some Sundays children participate in candle lighting, our community sharing of joys and sorrows. Other Sundays this celebration of joys and sorrows is incorporated into classroom time.

The group also meets for occasional weekend retreats and evening socials, games, and various service opportunities, such as helping at local food banks and animal shelters, and Fellowship projects. The youth plan and conduct a Sunday worship service, and have the opportunity to meet other Unitarian Universalists their age from around northwest Oregon.

High School Youth Program (9th-12th Grades)

Youth and their adult advisors plan the Young Religious Unitarian Universalist (YRUU) high school program that meets on Sunday mornings. The adult advisors meet with the youth group throughout the school year to develop friendships, trust, and community. The YRUU program strives for a balance of religious learning, social service, worship, leadership development, and FUN!

With high school youth, as with middle school youth and children, community worship is an important component of our religious experience, and on most Sundays all children and youth join the rest of the congregation for Sharing Services in the sanctuary.

Besides gathering on Sunday mornings, YRUU holds occasional Friday evening socials and weekend retreats; participates in ropes challenge courses, wall-climbing and hiking; organizes fundraising events and service projects; and helps out around the Fellowship.

Opportunities are available for YRUU youth and their adult sponsors to attend various Unitarian Universalist conferences and workshops at the regional, district, and continental levels. These experiences provide encounters with the larger Unitarian Universalist community, offering chances to connect with other UU youth and adults, and gain greater insight and understanding into the breadth and depth of our liberal religious movement.

In the past, the YRUU group has also traveled to England and Transylvania, to meet European Unitarians and to visit our partner church in Korispitak, Romania. In 2002, in collaboration with the Congregational Church-UCC, the Fellowship brought 13 youth and three adult advisors from Transylvania for a conference with 21 Corvallis youth entitled "How Shall We Live? Creating Right Relations."

Coming of Age

Every other year 7th and 8th graders have the opportunity to participate in the Coming of Age program. This program is about the transition that youth make as they move from childhood to adulthood. The Coming of Age program offers our youth a series of experiences that give them the chance to think about the choices they will make as they grow. Through these experiences, we hope our youth will learn about themselves--their gifts, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Through this program, we want our youth to gain self-confidence, and discover, celebrate, and honor their uniqueness.

Our Whole Lives (OWL):
A UUA Program of Sexuality Education

. . . for grades 7-9
The purpose of this program is to help our children gain the knowledge, life principles, and skills they need to express their sexuality in life-enhancing ways. This is a unique opportunity for our children to get honest, helpful information about sexuality from adults and each other. Youth will be free to bring up any sincere questions, concerns or opinions to the group. Their issues will be respected and addressed in age-appropriate ways. Parent orientation is required.

. . . for grades 10-12
Our youth are entering a time, or may already be in a time, when they are experiencing sexual drives and pursuing sexual interests. The premise of the OWL curriculum is to build a foundation of knowledge and to nurture self-worth so that youth can make informed and thoughtful decisions about their sexuality. This curriculum assumes that comprehensive sex education is a social justice issue. The program is an exercise in ethical decision-making that engages the whole adolescent. Parent orientation is required.



Home Page--Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis, Oregon