We believe that parents are the primary spiritual teachers for their children. There are many ways in which you can teach your child about our faith:

• Talk about how you practice the Unitarian Universalist Principles in your family life
  • Together make a poster or other representation of the Principles to keep near your dining room table or in your family room and refer to it when talking about activities in your family’s life. With younger children, you might want to use the version of the Principles for Children that describes these in simpler terms.
  • Articles about various issues specifically related to parenting children in the Unitarian Universalist faith can be found on the UU World Parenting Blog

• Explore Unitarian Universalist values and stories
  • The UU World magazine each quarter includes a section of faith building activities and stories to share at home. As a member you receive this magazine in your home or in a digital format for your computer or tablet (for an small additional fee). Past issues of UU World Families Pages can be downloaded from the UUA website.

• Encourage your child to ask questions and express wonder about our world and human experience
  • There are a number “Let’s Talk About…” booklets written by Unitarian Universalist leaders on topics such as loss, divorce, respect and interfaith families that might help guide your discussions.

• Reflect with your child on life’s big spiritual and moral questions
  • Unitarian Universalist Kids Say: God Is… – Some ideas from kids about God and some thoughts for parents in having this discussion with your child.
  • Some of the books in our library might help facilitate these conversations:

• Share information and stories about our 7th Principle – “the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part”
  • Talk about ways your family can help our environment and solve the climate crisis. The story of Luis and Mika, a child who lives in the Arctic meets a polar bear and learns about ways to help with global warming, might get the conversation started with your children.
  • Make a list of actions you can take around your house to conserve energy, reduce consumerism and recycle when possible and post it in a prominent location.
  • Read (or reread) the Summer 2015 edition of the Families pages from the UU World Magazine, “The Whole World In Our Hands” for more ideas and resources.
  • Sing We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands adding verses about the various components of our interdependent web that are in our hands to protect and preserve, e.g. “We’ve got the butterflies and bees in our hands…”
• Model actions that build Beloved Community in the home and beyond
  • The term “Beloved Community” was first used by Josiah Royce, theologian and philosopher to describe an ideal community of people dedicated to the cause of loyalty, truth and reality.
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. popularized the term as a global vision in which all people share in the wealth of the earth (eliminating poverty, hunger and homelessness), there exists an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood (eliminating discrimination, bigotry and prejudice) and conflicts are reconciled through peaceful, nonviolent means (love and trust over feat and hatred, peace with justice over war). Read the story about James Reeb and the Call to Selma, a Unitarian Minister’s response to King’s call to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to demand voting rights for all citizens. Talk with your child about how voting helps build Beloved Community and how this related to our 5th Principle “to affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
  • The 8th Principle of Unitarian Universalism describes Beloved Community as what “happens when people of diverse racial, ethnic, educational, class, gender, sexual orientation backgrounds/identities come together in an interdependent relationship of love, mutual respect, and care that seeks to realize justice within the community and in the broader world.”

• Let your child know how you are standing up for justice for our world and all its inhabitants
  • Find an action you can do together as a family. It may be a service project that the church is leading such as working in our Food Pantry Garden, participating in the Great American Cleanup or helping to establish gardens on our property to support pollinator and bird populations. Or it might be volunteering in the community at a local school, service organization or nature preserve. The book, Creating Justice Together, from the UUA bookstore has many ideas for multigenerational service projects.
  • Our 5th Principle calls us to affirm and promote “The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large” or in simpler language “We believe that all persons should have a vote about things that concern them.” You might incorporate voting into your family, for example, voting on a family outing or activity. Talk with your child about voting in elections and take them with you when you vote so they can see this in action. Read the story of a Unitarian minister who fought to get the right to vote for women, Olympia Brown Gets the Vote.

• Develop spiritual practices that fit with your family beliefs and needs
  • One might be to establish a practice of Family Prayers – This brochure offers short prayers, graces, and chalice lightings for children and families to use at home. They are drawn from a number of different cultures and faith traditions.
  • You might also create a sacred space in your home featuring a chalice (with a real or battery-operated candle) that you can use to gather around and share your family faith experiences.