The Religious Education curriculum at UUCSH is built on three core themes: Unitarian Universalist Identity, World Religions, and Social Justice. Each year, one of these themes provides the focus for RE, both in the classroom and for special events:

• 2016-17 Unitarian Universalist Identity (last taught, 2013-14; taught again 2019-20)
• 2017-18 World Religions (last taught, 2014-15)
• 2018-19 Social Justice (last taught, 2015-16

What does this mean for the children? Regardless of the age at which a child begins to participate in RE, every student who participates for at least three consecutive years will be exposed to all three themes. The richest exposure to the themes is for those children who progress from one grade level class to another.

Unitarian Universalist Identity

What does it mean to be a Unitarian Universalist? How do we practice our free faith? This theme focuses on the students’ understanding of and relationship with our church and the Unitarian Universalist movement. They will learn about the Seven Principles and how they inform daily life and ethics.

World Religions

Our world is made up of individuals with diverse beliefs about God, spirituality, afterlife, and everything in between. As Unitarian Universalists, we embrace religious difference in our welcoming community. We seek to not just coexist with or tolerate religious difference but to respect the diverse traditions and practices unique to different religious experiences. We believe that religious literacy is more than just an important goal but a necessary goal to achieve greater understanding and compassion. Through understanding and respect we can move closer to our 6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. Students will learn about various religious beliefs, practices, symbols, deities, and sacred texts in our classrooms as well have direct experiences with different religious traditions through guest speakers and visits to other faith communities.

Social Justice

The Social Justice theme focuses on the call for Unitarian Universalists to make this world a better, more peaceful place. This call is integral to Unitarian Universalism. Throughout the year the students will learn about the history of UU social justice work, the current social justice efforts of the UUA, and UU’s across the world (Standing on the Side of Love, UU College of Social Justice, UU Service Committee, etc), and our own local Social Justice efforts. They will also participate in Social Justice events throughout the church year.