The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine’s program of Faith Development & Religious Education offers a way for congregants, young and old, new and experienced, to learn about Unitarian Universalism, its heritage and values. Religious Exploration allows us to deepen our understanding of our common faith and our individual faith journeys. Programs offered at UUCC nurture and affirm each individual’s sense of identity, spirituality, self-esteem and tolerance.
Children
The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine has a strong practice of welcoming, valuing, supporting, and respecting children in a safe and loving environment. The Faith Development & Religious Education program assists children in the development of their own faith and spirituality while creating a strong Unitarian Universalist identity. The Faith Development program increases the children’s awareness of the world’s religions and the interaction of the religions to strengthen the spiritual and ethical world community.
Weekly activities are designed to provide lessons and projects guided by the seven Unitarian Universalist Principles. Past learning activities have revolved around Old Testament stories, places of sanctuary, religions of the world and community projects designed to develop the awareness of working in groups and begin productive members of society working to create a spiritual and ethical world.
The Faith Development & Religious Education program is overseen by the Faith Development Specialist. That person is responsible for developing a curriculum that aligns with the mission and goals of the program, designing weekly plans for age-appropriate activities and guiding and teaching the learning activities.
The children’s program is a 12-month program. Sundays in June – August are more relaxed and include more activities and less instructional content. The children’s program runs concurrently with the Sunday morning service from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. followed by juice and snacks enjoyed with the whole congregation.
Adults
Faith Development continues throughout one’s life and older youth and adults are part of the congregation’s lifespan Faith Formation programming. Programming for adults and youth is conducted at various times and in a variety of formats as requested and offered by the minister, ministerial intern, or other teaching facilitators.
