RIDDLE AND MYSTERY
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 16: UU ME
BY RICHARD S. KIMBALL
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 8:21:51 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere;
Its temple, all space;
Its shrine, the good heart;
Its creed, all truth;
Its ritual, works of love;
Its profession of faith, divine living.
— Theodore Parker
Big Question: What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?
Unitarian Universalist youth often first think seriously about what our faith means to them when they enter a Coming of Age program, typically in eighth or ninth grade. Asking sixth graders to ponder the question can nurture and support their developing lives of faith through the middle school years. This session offers potential answers and a fun, thoughtful conclusion to Riddle and Mystery. It asks youth to identify common UU ideas about mystery, faith and big questions. They consider a UU teen's story about her Unitarian Universalist experience and create a final WCUU broadcast.
Plan to spend a little more prep time than usual on WCUU; it includes a presentation of WCUU lifetime press passes and a party.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: UU Understandings | 12 |
Activity 2: Story — My UU Experience | 8 |
Activity 3: WIT Time — Human Chalice | 5 |
Activity 4: WCUU — UU Youth Speak | 27 |
Faith in Action: Unitarian Universalist Service Committee | |
Closing | 3 |
Alternate Activity 1: Notable Thoughts | 15 |
Alternate Activity 2: Song — Be Ours a Religion | 5 |
Alternate Activity 3: Challenge Question | 5 |
Alternate Activity 4: Parent Time | 30 |
Alternate Activity 5: Youth Visits | 15 |
Alternate Activity 6: School Bus Talks | 15 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
With everything set to go, carve out a meditative moment for yourself. Relax. Take several deep breaths. Think for a moment about what Unitarian Universalism means to you. Were you raised UU? If not, how did you first find UUism? How do you explain Unitarian Universalism to friends and family members who are not UUs? How might you briefly state what being a UU means to you?
Smile in the knowledge that simply joining youth in their exploration of life and its mysteries is good and rewarding.
SESSION PLAN
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Greet youth as they enter, and introduce yourself to any you do not already know. If the group uses nametags, invite everyone to wear one. If new youth join this session, add their names on card stock to the Kid for the Day bag or box.
Sound the bell or tingsha chimes to call for silence.
Reach into the Kid for the Day bag or box and select a name without looking. Announce the name and place the card back in the bag or box. If the group decided to change how the Kid for the Day is selected, follow the new procedure.
If a Kid for the Day seems reluctant, allow them to pass. Draw another name or invite the participant to select one.
Indicate where you have posted the chalice lighting words. Invite the Kid for the Day to light the chalice while you lead the group in reciting "May this chalice light show the way as we search for answers to our biggest questions and seek to understand life's deepest mysteries."
Invite the group to share a moment of silence. End the silence by sounding the bell or tingshas.
If new participants have joined the group, invite all, in turn, to introduce themselves. You can do more of a check-in, but keep it focused.
You may wish to ask if anyone did any Taking It Home activities from the previous session and would like to briefly share what they did.
Announce that it is time to hear the Big Question of the day. Hand the Kid for the Day a copy of Handout 1 and help them understand and implement the instructions. Write the question—What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?—on the newsprint under the "Today's Big Question" sign.
Ask the Kid for the Day to extinguish the chalice.
Including All Participants
If the group includes youth who may have difficulty reading, be sure you allow the Kid for the Day to pass.
ACTIVITY 1: UU UNDERSTANDINGS (12 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity reinforces UU ideas from previous sessions about big questions, faith and mystery.
Distribute Handout 2 with pencils/pens and ask participants to check ten statements with which they think most UUs would agree. Once participants have marked their handouts, read the statements with them and decide as a group which best express UU ideas. The exceptions are 5 ("If I study hard enough I can correctly answer every big and little question there ever was.") and 9 ("The UU religion is the only religion with the right answers to the big questions.") Regarding statement 5, explain that most UUs agree we can never completely answer some big questions. Regarding statement 9, explain that UUs include among our Sources other religions which may offer wise responses, but not exact answers, to big questions. Say, in your own words:
When it comes to most big questions, UUs believe there are few "right" answers—only answers that are right to you. We believe that no one religion has the only right answers for everyone. We respect that different people and different religions embrace different answers to the same big questions. We can often learn from the answers or ideas of others.
When you have finished with the statements, review some ideas about faith, spirituality and religion presented earlier in Riddle and Mystery. You might re-use some discussion prompts or re-post newsprint from Session 2, Activity 5. Reviewing these concepts now will give youth confidence to speak about their UU faith, religion and spirituality as this session proceeds.
Variation
Add motion to the activity by reading each statement aloud and asking the youth to stand or raise their hand if they think it represents the thinking of many Unitarian Universalists. Count the responses to each statement and note them on your handout or on a posted sheet of newsprint.
ACTIVITY 2: STORY — MY UU EXPERIENCE (8 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Tell the group that in today's story a high school senior from Massachusetts talks about her experiences in Unitarian Universalism. Mention that the story is a little like an "elevator speech" about our religion—a very short explanation of Unitarian Universalism that a person could give in the time it takes to travel between floors on an elevator. You might also call it a "school bus speech." If youth will do Alternate Activity 6, School Bus Talks, suggest they listen for ideas in the story that they might include in their own elevator or school bus speech about being a UU.
Read the story interactively, as guided.
At the end of the story, ask:
Mention, as appropriate, any programs in your congregation where older youth speak to the congregation or younger groups about their own faith.
ACTIVITY 3: WIT TIME — HUMAN CHALICE (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants create a human chalice.
Explain that you will invite participants to think like a group of Unitarian Universalists and collaborate to make a symbol of our shared faith.
Gather youth in a tight circle (or, multiple, small group circles) on the floor, sitting with their legs extended so their feet meet in the center of the circle. Place a flashlight in the center of the circle. Invite the group to work cooperatively to create a common Unitarian Universalist symbol: a chalice. There is a challenge: they cannot use their hands.
Acknowledge the chalice variations found across our faith, including the off-center chalice. Show the group examples of UU chalices you have printed out. Invite the group(s) to design and construct a human chalice as they wish.
One way to create a human chalice is for participants' extended legs to represent the bottom of a chalice bowl, and their upper bodies the wall of the bowl. The flame is represented in the center by the flashlight. Using only their feet and working together cooperatively, they can raise the flashlight so it points upward. For an additional challenge, see if the youth can light their chalice using only their feet.
After the youth create the chalice(s), ask if this work had anything in common with the work the group has done in Riddle and Mystery. Affirm that the program has asked them to work together, to find common answers while acknowledging we won't all agree on everything, to explore our faith which is co-created by all the individuals who choose to be part of it.
Including All Participants
Consider the physical capabilities in the group.
If any youth who cannot sit on the floor with their legs stretched out, have the group form a tight circle of chairs. They can form a human chalice in a few different ways: For example, they might turn their backs to the center of the circle, allowing their raised arms and upper bodies to be the side of the chalice bowl, their upper legs the bottom of the chalice bowl, and their lower legs will be the pedestal.
Another option: choose a few volunteers to form a human chalice in silence. Invite others to work together on a plan and coach the volunteers to implement it.
ACTIVITY 4: WCUU — UU YOUTH SPEAK (27 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This WCUU broadcast has four parts and involves all the youth on-camera. The parts will flow easily as the Anchor and Director, following the script, guide the participants. Here is an overview:
Part 1. Some youth will form a "youth chalice" based on the human chalice they made in Activity 3, WIT Time — Human Chalice.
Part 2. Individual youth, in turn, do two things on camera: (1) Read a statement about Unitarian Universalism and (2) share any personal responses they have to today's Big Question: "What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?"
Part 3. A co-leader joins the youth on camera, distributes lifetime WCUU press passes and announces a special end-of-program snack.
Part 4. Anchor and NUUs Analyst close the show while the group enjoys the snack.
Explain the roles in this WCUU broadcast: two On-Air People (Anchor and NUUs Analyst), youth who will make a human youth chalice and a Studio Crew. Tell the group:
Unlike our other WCUU broadcasts, today everyone including at least one leader will also have a speaking part—you will find out what these are in a moment.
Assign roles. You might offer the Kid for the Day a chance to be the Anchor or NUUs Analyst. The NUUs Analyst should be someone who is also willing to be part of a human youth chalice. Determine who will make the human youth chalice(s) and explain where they will do it—a space well clear of video equipment.
Show the group where you have posted the instructions that tell individuals what to say when they are on camera. Show everyone the basket filled with slips of paper from Leader Resource 2, About Unitarian Universalism. Explain that they will choose a slip of paper from the basket and read aloud the statement on it. Then, they may say a response of their own to today's Big Question ("What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?").
Suggest they each take a moment to plan what they might say. If the group did Alternate Activity 6, School Bus Talks, remind them of some phrases they used.
Distribute scripts to all who will need them. Engage the Director and the Anchor to determine where the human chalice will be and how youth will line up to take their turns on camera.
Make sure the Anchor has the basket of slips of paper and the on-air co-leader has the Lifetime WCUU Press Passes.
Tell the group when the show should end to keep the session on schedule; assign a Studio Crew member (Director or Floor Director) to watch the time.
Begin the broadcast.
Afterward, ask participants how it went. Suggest they keep their lifetime WCUU press pass someplace where it will remind them of their Unitarian Universalist connections and how our faith helps us each approach big questions.
Ask youth to put aside any remaining snack and gather for the Closing.
Including All Participants
Use your knowledge of each youth's capabilities to gently make sure everyone is comfortable with and ready for their on-camera role. Offer to help prepare any youth who have reading, vision or other limitations. Have all the youth choose a slip of paper from the basket before beginning the broadcast so anyone who needs extra time or help can have it. If someone cannot move easily to a position in front of the camera, plan to move the camera instead of the participants. Let anyone who wishes "pass" on being on camera.
CLOSING (3 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Briefly summarize the session:
Today's Big Question asks "What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?" We reviewed UU ideas about faith, mystery and big questions. We heard a young woman's story about her experiences being a UU. In WIT Time we showed our religion is made up of people by making a human UU chalice. For our last WCUU we shared our ideas about Unitarian Universalism. You each received a lifetime WCUU press pass, and we had a snack to celebrate Riddle and Mystery.
Distribute the Taking It Home handout. Suggest participants use the activities to continue exploring the themes of today's session.
Relight the chalice. Ask the group to say these closing words with you:
May this light shine on in each of us as we search for the answers to our own biggest questions.
If you wish, add a few extra, formal words of closing:
May the light shine on in each of us. May our search continue through all the years of our lives.
Add some informal words saying that you enjoyed Riddle and Mystery, and you hope the youth did, too. Thank them for being part of the program. Tell the youth, as appropriate, what lies ahead for them in religious education for the remainder of the year or their next year.
Ask a few volunteers to remain when the session ends to help clean up.
Extinguish the chalice (or ask the Kid for the Day to do it). Sound the bell or tingshas to end the session.
FAITH IN ACTION: UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SERVICE COMMITTEE
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
If this is the last meeting of the Riddle and Mystery group, lead a short discussion of what the group has accomplished and learned. For the remainder of the time, if the group has an ongoing Faith in Action project, continue work on it.
Or, consider this short-term Faith in Action project:
The UUSC and Economic Justice
Affirm that being a Unitarian Universalist means we work for worldwide economic justice. Explain that the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee promotes justice with a variety of projects around the world. Invite the group to find out what the UUSC is doing about economic justice and how they might assist.
If an adult guest is present to discuss the work of the Service Committee, introduce them and ask them to briefly describe your congregation's involvement in UUSC economic justice projects. Distribute print-outs you have prepared about the UUSC and its projects, or invite youth to use the Internet to explore the UUSC website. Have youth use computers in small groups with an adult.
What you discover will depend on UUSC operations at the time of your research. The UUSC website provides a section called Our Focus Areas; click on "Economic Justice" to see choices including Supporting Workers' Rights, Advancing the Fair Wage Movement and Promoting Fair Trade. Note that fair wages is an easy concept for sixth graders to grasp. They may wish to work on the "10 dollars in 2010" campaign, an effort to establish a minimum wage level of 10 dollars an hour in the year 2010 by writing to local legislators, making posters to interest the congregation in supporting the effort or seeking to connect with local interfaith groups which might be promoting the same cause. The action could be as simple as helping conduct the Guest at Your Table program in your congregation.
Give the youth plenty of time to learn about the UUSC—its history of the UUSC and the range of its efforts. Help youth understand and take pride in the fact that their own UU identity means that they and their families are part of the group that makes the UUSC possible.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Meet with co-leaders after the session to reflect on it. How did it go?
Talk about how the Riddle and Mystery program has gone in general. If time is short, consider meeting again soon to reflect at more length on your use of Riddle and Mystery. Plan how you will document your suggestions regarding its next use in the congregation.
Congratulate yourselves for giving a gift of time and energy to your congregation's sixth graders. Consider meeting sometime to enjoy each other's company without the pressure of making either plans or notes for the future.
TAKING IT HOME
Be ours a religion which, like sunshine, goes everywhere;
Its temple, all space;
Its shrine, the good heart;
Its creed, all truth;
Its ritual, works of love;
Its profession of faith, divine living.
— Theodore Parker
Talk about the quote. Does it seem like a good summary of UU ideas? Use the Internet to find out about Theodore Parker. Here is a little information to get you started: Parker was a Unitarian minister in the 1800s. He lived and preached in Massachusetts. He helped lead the struggle to end slavery in the United States.
WHAT WE DID TODAY
Today's Big Question asks, "What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?" We began by considering Unitarian Universalist ideas about mystery, faith and big questions. We heard a high school girl's story about her experience as a UU. In WIT Time, we created a human chalice. In our WCUU broadcast, we shared some ideas about Unitarian Universalism and what it means to us. We finished the session by celebrating Riddle and Mystery and thinking about what our group will do next.
TALK ABOUT FAMILY RELIGION
Talk about how much Unitarian Universalism means to your family. Are you as involved with your congregation as you wish to be? How is your religion involved with your family's actions to promote justice? To take care of the Earth? Do members of your family spend time volunteering to help others? Do you show your UU identity with chalice jewelry or a chalice in the home? You can see UU items on the websites of UniUniques (at www.uniuniques.com/main.html), the Unitarian Universalist Association Bookstore (at www.uuabookstore.org/) and others.
SHARED SEARCH
Do something new in your congregation. Find a friend to venture with you into a new area such as singing in a choir, leading younger children's religious education programs, or taking a role in worship services or hosting a coffee hour. Ask a parent, a Riddle and Mystery leader or your minister or music director to assist you with information and help you try something new. You might want to explore UU options outside your congregation. Becoming more involved could be a good thing for both you and Unitarian Universalism.
TAKE A TRIP
Visit a Unitarian Universalist place where you have never been—another Unitarian Universalist congregation, or a UU event such as a District youth event or workshop, the annual UUA General Assembly or a UU retreat center.
PHOTO CHALLENGE
Photograph something very special about your own UU congregation. Try for a shot that says something about Unitarian Universalism.
FAMILY FAITH IN ACTION —CONGREGATIONAL FIX-UP
Does your congregation have work days, when people come to fix up your building and grounds? If so, participate in the next one as a family. If not, take on your own physical project at your building. Maybe you can spruce up the entryway to make it more appealing to visitors. Probably, your congregation has a building and grounds committee that has some ideas for you, perhaps a project your family can do together with another family in your congregation.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: NOTABLE THOUGHTS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Notable Thoughts has been the first Alternate Activity in each session of Riddle and Mystery. In this two-part concluding activity, participants write their final notebook entries and make covers for their notebooks.
Part 1. Remind participants that this is a time for them to record their own ideas about today's Big Question. Distribute participants' notebooks and pencils or pens. Remind the youth that the notebooks are private and that they will take them at the end of this session.
Remind them of today's Big Question: "What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?" Say they will have about five minutes to write about anything they want. Their ideas can be as different as they wish from what you have talked about so far. If youth have nothing to record, they are free to doodle or relax.
Give them a few minutes to work quietly in their notebooks.
Part 2. While participants are writing, roll out the plain paper on a work table or the floor and set out art materials. Call an end to the writing time and invite youth to make a cover for their notebooks. Suggest they cut paper to the size of their notebook, then put a title, their name and an illustration or decorations on the paper. Invite the youths to show their covers to each other and to take their notebooks home for re-readings and possible additions. If their notebooks contain mostly (or all) doodles, they can still keep them and add some thoughts (along with more doodles) whenever they wish. Point out that keeping their notebook can help them explore and revisit, over time, how being a UU is important to their lives.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: SONG — BE OURS A RELIGION (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Remind/tell the group that Unitarian Universalists often express our ideas in hymns. Introduce "Be Ours a Religion," Hymn 1058 in Singing the Journey.
Ask what the youth think of the hymn. Does it describe the religion they know from their own Unitarian Universalist experience? Does the song describe the way they want their religion to be? If they had written the song, would they have added any words? Left any out? Changed any? If their changes were part of the song, would the song still fit Unitarian Universalism?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: CHALLENGE QUESTION (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Challenge questions guide a deeper inquiry for especially thoughtful individuals and groups. For this session, ask:
What do you think of this quotation from the Danish poet and scientist Piet Hein:
Knowing what
Thou knowest not
Is in a sense
Omniscience.
Explain that "omniscience" means "knowing everything;" the lines could be restated, "If you know what you do not know, then you know everything."
What do participants think? Can you make the same statement about other verbs (e.g., "Dancing what you do not dance is in a sense dancing everything")?
Point out, if participants do not, that the quote suggests that being aware of a weakness can turn that weakness into a strength. Ask the youth:
Remind the group that most Unitarian Universalists are comfortable living with mystery. Knowing what we do not know helps us continue to explore the unknown and be ready to discover even more that we do not know.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 4: PARENT TIME (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite youth to plan a session to share with their parents what they have done in Riddle and Mystery. Share any ideas you have or plans you have made. Lead a brainstorm and record ideas on newsprint.
A gathering with parents can run as long as the group wishes and be held at any time. Parents might join you for half an hour following the religious education time or for half an hour before a worship service. Or, include a sixth grade youth-and-parents time as one activity in a congregational family night.
At the event, youth might perform a favorite WCUU segment, ask parents for their own thoughts about a big question or two, or share other activities from the program.
Including All Participants
Be sure that the plans will involve all the youth. Make sure each youth has an opportunity to present something.
Avoid scheduling the gathering for a time when some youth might not have transportation, or when you think some parents' work schedules prevent them from coming.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 5: YOUTH VISITS (15 MINUTES)
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite older youth from the congregation to visit the group to talk about what Unitarian Universalism means to them. Perhaps some participated in Coming of Age programs and can talk about the process and what it meant to them. Perhaps they might share a credo they have written. Some may have participated in UU youth camps, conferences, volunteer projects or other events, and can report on their experiences and their meaning to them.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 6: SCHOOL BUS TALKS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants practice talking about their faith.
Remind participants:
An elevator speech about being a UU is a short explanation of what being a UU means to you.
Say that youth probably speak more often with others their age on school buses rather than on elevators. Ask them to imagine they are riding a bus home from school on a Friday, thinking about their plans for the weekend. When they mention a church event, someone asks, "What is a UU, anyway?" How would they describe Unitarian Universalism or their UU congregation to a friend who is not a UU? Invite the youth to develop brief "school bus talks" about being a UU. (It does not matter if youth actually ride a bus to school. The talk can be used at any time or place.)
You can do this in three different ways:
If the group has been using Notable Thoughts notebooks, they might be helpful in this activity.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 16:
STORY: MY UU EXPERIENCE
"My UU Experience" is taken from the website of the First Universalist Society in Franklin, Massachusetts, and used by permission of its author, Margaret Barthel. The UU Congregation of Mendon and Uxbridge, like the Franklin congregation, is in Massachusetts.
Note: Members of the Franklin congregation who use the "FUSF" abbreviation usually say the four letters in a row.
Leader: What is it like growing up UU? Think about that for a minute. Then listen to what a high school youth had to say about the subject. The youth is Margaret Barthel. This is how she told her story to her own congregation at the First Universalist Society in Franklin, Massachusetts.
What's it like growing up UU? Well, first of all, the Elevator Speech is great in grade school. Imagine this: You're a fifth grader, and a bunch of your friends are all stating their religion. "I'm Catholic," says one. "I'm Jewish," says another. And then someone asks you the question: "Hey, what religion are you?" You smile slowly (milking it for all it's worth) and then enunciate proudly: "I'm a Unitarian Universalist." Of course, your announcement has the desired result: The kids all look at you in awe; they all clamor to know what those really really long words mean; the earth shakes; lightning cracks the sky in two; and you are queening it over all the fifth-grade cosmos, simply because you are a Unitarian Universalist and no one else knows what in heck that means.
Leader: Have any of you been asked similar questions? How have you replied? When somebody else asks what the long UU words mean, what do you say? [Allow some responses.]
All levity aside, this growing up UU question is a poser because being UU is such a personal experience for me. I'm not really sure where the growing up UU piece of my childhood stops and where the vast rest of it all begins, because Unitarian Universalism has always been inextricably tangled with who I am.
So, I guess the only thing for it is to describe snapshots of my life that have UU things in them. You be the judge of whether my experience is accurate or not.
The first thing I remember about growing up UU was my brother and [me] standing up on the pews so that we could see the hymnal over our parents' shoulders, since we were far too short to see anything otherwise. The pews in question were the pews of the first church I ever attended, the Mendon-Uxbridge UU church. . . .
I remember other things about these years: How excited I always was to get to dress up to go to church. How the parish hall was big enough to play games in. How I was a shepherd in one Christmas pageant and an angel in the next.
But all good things, even pew-standing, must come to an end. . . . Eventually we moved to this church, First Universalist Society in Franklin, affectionately known as FUSF.
And so, as a transplanted nine-year-old, I put in my first appearance at FUSF's Marvin Chapel. Church still didn't mean a whole lot to me, other than that it was something to do on Sundays, but now it was fearsome because I had to meet a whole other bunch of people. Nevertheless, I got signed up for UU Journey and Sunday school and the whole bit.. . .
Leader: UU Journey is a program in which FUSF's third and fourth graders learn about the UU Principles. [If your congregation has a similar program, draw the analogy for the youth.]
UU Journey was a turning point for me in understanding what it meant to be a UU. I have always liked when things are written down on paper, assignments that I can check off in an orderly way. So, when I got that UU Journey workbook, I got right down to business. Suddenly, church and the Seven Principles weren't just something that I went and did on Sundays—they were things that I was supposed to live by throughout the week.
Leader: Do you agree with Margaret, that Unitarian Universalism and the Principles are things you should live by even when you are not here together? Does anyone have an example? [Allow some responses.]
... [A]ll in all, it has been a great ride here at FUSF so far, full of self-discovery and happiness. Need some examples? Well, there's how I overcame the idea of being the second little violinist in church. There's how awesome Youth Group is—so awesome that we've all gone swimming in Lake Pearl when it was 65 and rainy and stayed up half the night at lock-ins. There's how I did my Coming of Age credo and lost most of my fear about speaking to large groups. There's how I'm on first-name and hugging terms with our minister. There's how I get to sing in the choir and complain about the high notes before 9 in the morning. . . .
Leader: [Explain, as appropriate, what the Coming of Age program is like and when it is offered in your own congregation. Explain that a "credo" is a statement of belief.]
What good memories do your youth have of their experience in your own congregation? [Allow responses.]
Margaret has some more stories, too.
There's how I get to make you all laugh at the Senior Youth Service. There's how I've found wonderful friends of all ages.
I hope I'm making it clear that I think this is a very special community, one that I can count on to be accepting of me no matter what. As a teenager trying to navigate the tricky social maze of being not quite a child and not quite an adult, this place and this religion are havens. Isn't that what Unitarian Universalism comes down to, after all? Unconditional, respectful, and compassionate acceptance of the individual and their beliefs? It doesn't matter how many people I'm friends with at school, or how I dress, or what my aspirations are. I love that. That's the reason I don't quit coming to church, even when all my other obligations crowd in—because Unitarian Universalism is no-holds-barred love.
Leader: Do you agree that this is what Unitarian Universalism comes down to? Unconditional acceptance of the individual and their beliefs? Are there any limits on that? In other words, could somebody believe something or act in ways that other UUs simply would not accept? [Allow some discussion; affirm that we promote individuals' freedom to find their own beliefs and that Unitarian Universalist Principles guide us to treat others with respect and compassion. Actions that hurt others are not in keeping with our Principles.]
This coming year I'll be a senior, so my days at FUSF as a regular member of the Barthel row are numbered. While I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to find a church community like this when I go to college, you all have made a deep UU impression on me.
I'll leave you with this: at most of the colleges I've been considering, I check around for UU things on campus or in the surrounding area. . . .
Leader: That is the end of Margaret's UU story—for now. Do any of you know older UU youth who have gone off to college or other places? Has finding UU connections in their new locations been important to them?
You are in the middle of your UU youth story right now. I wonder where it will go from here... That is another big question.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 16:
HANDOUT 1: TODAY'S BIG QUESTION
For the Kid for the Day:
You have two jobs: The first is getting the group excited about hearing Today's Big Question. The second is announcing the question.
1. Say to the group, "Give me a drum roll!" Then wait for a minute while the drum roll builds. (Here is how to do a drum roll: Everybody slaps their thighs, one side first with the same side's hand, then the other, back and forth, beginning gently and getting louder and louder.)
2. When the drum roll is good and loud, hold up your hands to signal, "Stop!" Then read Today's Big Question:
What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 16:
HANDOUT 2: UU IDEAS
Here are 12 statements about mystery, faith and big questions. Ten of the statements are ideas shared by most UUs. Read the statements and put check marks next to the ten you think most UUs share.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 16:
LEADER RESOURCE 1: WCUU SCRIPT — UU YOUTH SPEAK
To the Anchor:
In today's WCUU program, everyone in Riddle and Mystery will be part of the show, forming a human chalice and sharing thoughts about being a Unitarian Universalist. Your job is to follow the script, read your part and otherwise keep things going.
Before the show begins, make sure everyone knows where to be at different times during the broadcast. As the show begins, you are standing alone on camera.
[Director: Cue the station break.]
[Director: Cue the Anchor.]
Anchor: This is WCUU, Wisdom of the Community of Unitarian Universalists, on the air.
[Director: Cue the theme music.]
Anchor: Good morning. I am [say your real or stage name], here in our studio for our final broadcast. Joining me now to form an unusual human chalice are many of the sixth graders at [say your congregation's name.]
[Director: Cue the human youth chalice to get into formation. Cue camera operator to focus on the human youth chalice.]
Anchor: Now there is a wonderful youth chalice! Let's hear what these youth each have to say about our faith, Unitarian Universalism, and today's Big Question, "What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?"
[Director: Cue camera operator to focus on the individual—someone not in the human chalice!—who will read the first statement and give their own answer to the Big Question. Cue the other youth to queue up as you decided before the show. Cue the Anchor to hand the basket to the person for them to choose a slip of paper.
Anchor: [Name of the first youth], what do you have to tell us?
First youth: [Reads their slip of paper aloud and then briefly answers "What does Unitarian Universalism mean to me?"]
[Director: Cue youth who are part of the human chalice to quietly separate and join the queue. Continue until all the youth have spoken.]
Anchor: That was wonderful! Thank you all! Um... I did not get a chance to say anything about today's Big Question. [Anchor chooses as slip of paper from the basket and reads it aloud. If they wish to, they may also provide their own, brief personal answer.] Oh good. Well now we know how some UUs respond to the question of what Unitarian Universalism means to them. Let's ask NUUs Analyst to tell us what this means.
[Director: Cue NUUs Analyst to joins Anchor on camera.]
[Director: If you have decided to do so beforehand, cue the youth to remake the human chalice (without the NUUs Analyst this time).]
NUUs Analyst: Good morning [use Anchor's name].
Anchor: Good morning to you, NUUs Analyst. Now, what can you tell us about what Unitarian Universalists have to say?
NUUs Analyst: A whole lot. There are about 165,000 adult members of UU congregations and about 56,000 children and youth. That means at least 221,000 answers to today's Big Question. Unitarian Universalism means lots of different things. It is a wonderful way to explore mystery and all sorts of big questions. It helps all its members and friends on their faith journeys. It gives them a way to participate in great social justice programs. It gives them a faith community, and it gives them much more.
Anchor: Thank you, NUUs Analyst. That is a wonderful summary.
NUUs Analyst: But that was only four answers. I have about two hundred twenty thousand, nine hundred and ninety-six to go!
Anchor: Sorry, NUUs Analyst: We don't have time for that.
NUUs Anchor: So can I come back next week?
Anchor: Sorry about that, NUUs Analyst. WCUU goes off the air today. This is the end of Riddle and Mystery.
NUUs Analyst: It is? I didn't know that. [Begins to sob uncontrollably.]
Anchor: It isn't that bad, NUUs Analyst. We can find something else that is fun to do!
NUUs Analyst: [To the youth who are back in the human chalice formation] Did you hear that, guys? Riddle and Mystery is ending today. You should be crying too!
[Director: Cue the youth in the human chalice to begin sobbing uncontrollably.]
Anchor: Help! I don't know what to do.
[Director: Cue Riddle and Mystery leader to join Anchor and NUUs Analyst.]
Leader: I can help. Stop weeping, guys! I have two surprises for you.
[The crying stops.]
Anchor: Oh yeah? Surprises? What are they?
Leader: The first one is this. Our WCUU broadcasts might be ending, but our UU search is not. It never really ends. So I have a WCUU Press Pass for each and every one of you, with your name on it. Your press pass entitles the bearer to explore the riddles and mysteries of the universe through all of life, and maybe beyond. Keep asking those Big Questions!
Anchor: Wow! Cool!
[Director: Cue youth to come forward to get press passes.]
Anchor: So what is the second surprise?
Leader: Because this is our final meeting of Riddle and Mystery, we have a special, celebratory snack.
[Director: Cue youth to start eating snack.]
Anchor: Let me at it!
Leader: We will get the snack out, Anchor. You go ahead and close the show so all our viewers don't have to sit around watching us eat.
Anchor: Okay. Let's go with the music.
[Director: Cue the theme music.]
[Director: Cue the station break.]
[Director: Cue the Anchor.]
Anchor: This is [your real or stage name] signing off for WCUU.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 16:
LEADER RESOURCE 2: ABOUT UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM
Some people ask if Unitarian Universalism is really a religion. The answer is "yes." Unitarian Universalism is a community of people engaged in search for answers to big questions — religious questions. That is what a religion does. And a religion helps people decide what is right and wrong; helps people make meaning of life; helps people find purpose. Unitarian Universalism does all of these.
Unitarian Universalism is a community of more than 220,000 people — children, youth and adults — gathered in congregations in the United States. [[Many more adults in the U.S. who are not members of congregations also say they are UUs. And more Unitarians, Universalists, or Unitarian Universalists live in other countries.]
Unitarian Universalism is a creedless religion. There is no written creed that all members must accept as truth. But UUs share a great many beliefs and values.
UUs have seven great Principles and six wonderful Sources (seven counting our own Unitarian and Universalist history and heritage as a Source!).
UUs respect the interdependent web of all existence and believe in the stewardship of all living things and Earth itself. And UUs believe our faith communities make a very special, interconnected web of members and friends.
Unitarian Universalism is a humanistic religion. Some UUs believe in God. All UUs believe humans have great responsibility for our own actions, for all other people and all life, and for what happens to the world and universe.
UUs celebrate mystery.
UUs trust science and reason and observation. UUs trust themselves.
UU congregations are wonderful places for adults, youth and children to make friends with people of all ages.
UUs proudly embrace all kinds of diversity.
In different UU congregations, you may see very different worship services and find different beliefs.
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion. This means it offers freedom of belief, accepts people with very different beliefs, is open to new ideas, and welcomes change in response to new understandings.
Unitarian Universalism supports equal marriage. We think any couples who love each other should be able to get married. We have a hymn that says, "We are gay and straight together."
Ministers are very important in many UU congregations. But ministers do not run the congregations where they work. The members do.
Unitarian Universalism has great religious education programs. One of them is called Our Whole Lives. That is a program about human sexuality.
Unitarian Universalism does not tell kids what to think. However, it does try to help us think.
UUs talk a lot about faith in action. More importantly, UUs try to put their faith into action by living our values and trying to make the world more just.
The Unitarian Universalist Association has its national offices in Boston. (Every UU district also has offices.) The UUA is the national organization of Unitarian Universalist congregations.
More than 1,000 congregations support the UUA. Most try to send members to an annual national meeting called General Assembly. The GA meets in a different city every June.
You need to believe in God — and in a certain concept of God — to belong to some religions. That is not true of Unitarian Universalism. You can be an atheist, an agnostic or a theist and also be a UU.
When you ask UUs a purpose of faith, some say it is to seek truth.
Many people in many religions say they have answers to all the big questions. Many people in the UU religion say they have found friends to join in the search through life's great mysteries.
Christians say the night Jesus was born was a holy night. A UU religious educator named Sophia Lyon Fahs said, "Each night a child is born is a holy night."
Many UU congregations have middle school and high school youth groups. These groups meet together to build community, have fun, do social action, develop leadership, and find out more about Unitarian Universalism. The youth have a lot of say about what their groups do.
Many religions have special symbols. A symbol of Unitarian Universalism is the flaming chalice.
Some UU congregations meet in old-fashioned church buildings. Some meet in very modern buildings of their own design. Some meet in other people's buildings that were made for other purposes.
Not all UU activities take place in congregational buildings. There are many fun UU retreat centers. Some are at the ocean, some are in the mountains and at least one is on an island. Some UU families go to such places every year, often in the summer.
Hebrew and Christian scriptures (the Bible) are important to Unitarian Universalism, just as it is to other religions. But most UUs who read the bible read it for its stories and wisdom. They do not believe it is a literal history of the human race or the only source of answers to our big questions.
RIDDLE AND MYSTERY: SESSION 16:
LEADER RESOURCE 3: LIFETIME WCUU PRESS PASSES
WCUU
Lifetime WCUU Press Pass
Issued to: _______________________
Valid for the life of the bearer... and perhaps beyond.
WCUU
Wisdom of the Community of Unitarian Universalists
This pass signifies the completion of participation in Riddle and Mystery. Moreover, it entitles the bearer to enter and explore the riddles and mysteries of the universe through all of life and perhaps beyond.
FIND OUT MORE
A Sense of Belonging in Unitarian Universalism
The quarterly UU World magazine provides a lively section, Families, drawn from religious education materials produced by the UUA Resource Development Office of the Ministries and Faith Development staff group. Find informative, inspiring stories, reflections and activities to support your personal understanding, belonging, and lifelong inquiry in Unitarian Universalism.
In a 1990 pamphlet, Unitarian Universalist Views of Church edited by Rev. Lawrence X. Peers, several Unitarian Universalist ministers and members discuss their views on what it means to belong to a UU congregation. Read the pamphlet online (at www.uua.org/visitors/uuperspectives/55666.shtml); order from the UUA bookstore.
Theodore Parker
Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt's UU World review (at www.uuworld.org/2003/03/bookshelf.html) of American Heretic: Theodore Parker and Transcendentalism by Dean Grodzin provides background on the minister's life, ideas and influence.
Piet Hein
Find more Piet Hein short poems (at www.archimedes-lab.org/grooks.html), which he called grooks, online.