Our Children's Religious Education Program
- Welcome!
- Our Mission
- Staff
- Programs
- Volunteer
- Our Classes
- Register
- Dates

Welcome!
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Children’s Religious Education Program at First Unitarian Society.
Our Children’s RE Program strives to create an environment in which children can ask those meaning-filled big questions and receive nurturance and guidance from caring adults. We hope that your children will come to see First Unitarian Society as a safe place where they can ask questions and seek fellowship and community with a diverse group of fellow seekers, young and old alike.
After you explore our web site, my hope is you will come to visit us and bring your children. You'll find a warm welcome. If you have any questions, please contact me. My telephone is (608) 233-9774 extension 112, or I can be reached by e-mail at kellyc@fusmadison.org as well.
Yours in growing faith,

Kelly J. Crocker,
Minister of Religious Education
Kellyc@fusmadison.org (608)233-9774 x 112

Our Mission
The mission of the FUS Children’s Religious Education Program is to facilitate ethical and spiritual development in our children. They will be empowered to become free thinking individuals who:• Know and respect themselves and others
• Contribute to their human and natural communities
• Make informed decisions regarding their spiritual paths
Our Goals
• Create community in the classroom, the congregation, and the UU movement.
• Help children and youth understand of the history of Unitarian Universalism.
• Strengthen them to stand against racism, homophobia, sexism, ableism, and other forms of prejudice.
• Help them respect the interdependent nature of all existence.
• Inspire appreciation for the Judeo-Christian world’s other great religions.
• Guide and support the development and expression of a personal faith.
• Develop integrity, responsibility, equity and love.
Meet Our Religious Education Staff and Lay Leaders
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Kelly Jane Crocker, Minister of Religious Education |
Leslie Ross, Director of Religious Education |
Alex Rodinsky, Program Assistant for Religious Education 233-9774 x 114 |
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Aiden Schmidt, Child Care Coordinator |
Janet Swanson Co-chair, CRE Committee |
Paul Stephan Co-chair, CRE Committee |
Services and Opportunities for Kids of Every Age
Our goal is to have engaging, age appropriate activities for every age.
For infants to age 3: Child Care
We have child care available for infants and toddlers during each of our worship services and during many parish events. Our silent pager system allows us to contact parents if their child is having difficulty in the child care room. In addition, our new facility will have a comfortable and sound-proof “cry room” which will allow parents to remain with their young children while listening to the service.RE Classes ages 3 to 14
We have a vibrant RE program, with nearly 500 children enrolled in our classes and over 100 volunteer teachers for kids and youth 3 to 9th grade.
- Classes meet during each of our worship times. In the early years, we focus on building a trusting community, helping children to feel safe and secure at FUS, and introducing them to UU principles. During the elementary school years we learn more about our UU history and traditions, the beliefs of other traditions, our evolutionary history, and the stories of the Bible.
- In middle school, youth visit other places of worship, comparing the basic tenets of the worlds’ religions; engage in social justice and environmental service projects; and learn about relationship development and sexuality . Our program culminates with our 9th grade Coming of Age year. These students explore some of the “big questions” in life and develop and define their own faith beliefs. More detailed descriptions of class offerings are available here.
YRUU is for High School
Young Religious Unitarian Universalists, our high school youth group, meets on Sunday evenings. During our time together, we have lively conversations about our world, our faith, and our lives. We also engage in service projects that help us to better understand ourselves as compassionate agents of change. And sometimes, we just hang out and enjoy each others’ company!
Other Opportunities
Children’s Choirs
We have several children’s choirs (divided by age), offering a special opportunity for children and youth to use their gift of music to serve our congregation. Our choirs are a strong and vibrant part of our community. They meet at various times on Wednesday nights. Please contact Heather Thorpe, our children’s choir director, for details: hathorpe@charter.net.Child Dedications
Child dedications are a uniquely Unitarian Universalist naming ceremony which offers parents the opportunity to present their child(ren) to the congregation. During this time, our congregation commits to help the child grow in love, truth, justice, and peace. Child dedications are held four times during the year. Contact the Rev. Kelly Crocker to discuss/schedule a child dedication: 233-9774, x. 112, or kellyc@fusmadison.org.Summer Fun
During the summer, concurrent with worship services, children ages 4 – 9 are invited to attend Summer Fun. During Summer Fun, children engage in arts activities, story time, and outdoor fun and games.Note to Parents
Our children paint, run, play on the playground, dig in the dirt and do other things that may get messy. Comfortable and casual clothing is encouraged!Volunteer Opportunities

Opportunities include:
Teaching
Most of our classes are taught by teams of four teachers. Each week, one teacher has the responsibility of leading the class, and one assisting that teacher. Each teacher is in the classroom roughly twice per month. Most of our classes use a provided curriculum that outlines what will be taught from week to week. Teaching a class has many benefits, including…
It’s a wonderful way to spend time with your child.
Being with children and youth, ministering to their spiritual development, can truly enrich your life.
It’s a great way to meet other FUS families
It’s an excellent way to expand your own religious education
Many lasting friendships have developed between teachers, and
It’s a profound contribution to the FUS community!
Classroom Support Coordinators (CSCs)
CSCs assign families to bring snacks each week in both the classrooms and the child care room. They make reminder phone calls to parents, alert snack bringers of allergies or special snack needs, schedule one or two pot-lucks during the year to encourage community-building among families and occasionally help staff a classroom or organize transportation for a special event.Summer Fun helpers
During the summer months, we need extra adults to read stories, lead activities, and generally help out with Summer Fun activities. When our Summer Fun coordinator is unable to be here, we need someone willing to take a lead on facilitating that weekend’s activities.Committee Members
Parents can become a member of either the Children’s Religious Education (CRE) Committee or the Child Care Committee (CCC). The primary task of committees is to address policy and procedural issues, to help define the direction of future growth in our programs, to assist with the nuts and bolts of some program operations (e.g. cleaning the toys in the child care room or registering families for RE) and helping with special events, such as our Teacher Orientation and Appreciation events. Our CRE committee meets monthly and has an ambitious yearly agenda. Our CCC meets bimonthly and occasionally helps provide child care if we’re in a crunch. They also help maintain the safety of our space.Special Events
During the year we have several special children’s and family events that we need assistance with. This may include multi-age children’s activities, our annual Easter Egg Hunt, or winter holiday festivities. We often need extra hands to help make these events successful.Gearing Up
During the summer, the RE Office needs a good deal of extra help to get classrooms ready for students, binders ready for teachers, materials ready for classrooms, supplies organized, and other tasks. We depend heavily on parents to help us get all our ducks in a row before classes begin!
Ready to sign up?
Great! If you are registering your children, you will be given a chance to choose a volunteer task on the registration form. Not registering? Drop Alex an e-mail at alexr@fusmadison.org.Class Descriptions
Below are short descriptions of the Religious Education classes we offer. Please click on the bar to reveal the information about each class.We are Many, We Are One
A class for 3 and 4 year old children
We Are Many, We Are One offers preschoolers the grounding of a religious community and tradition, along with the freedom to discover and express their uniqueness. Children are encouraged to use their minds, bodies, and emotions to develop their sense of identity and confidence. The curriculum is based on the philosophy that young children learn about religion through relationships. Who am I? How am I related to others? How do I treat other people? What are my responsibilities? These are questions that young children begin to grapple with as they become acquainted with themselves, other people, and their environment.
Around the Meeting House
A Class for Kindergarteners to First Graders
Around the Meeting House helps young children feel a part of the Unitarian Universalist community by introducing them to the values of our faith. The year begins with activities focused on building both self-esteem and cooperative group relationships. Children are also introduced to FUS – its people, buildings, rituals and special times. They are encouraged to grow to understand UU beliefs about life, birth, society, and other living things. Children will also participate in activities that show our value for each individual and our concern for the well-being of all.What We Believe
Second and Third Grades
What does it mean to be UU? What do we believe anyway? Using song, story and fun activities, What We Believe introduces children to each UU principle. We’ll also learn how our local society began and the story of how Frank Lloyd Wright designed our Meeting House. This class draws from three popular UU curricula: We Believe, Beginning UU and Around the Meeting House.Exploring Our Origins

For children in
fourth and fifth grades
Exploring Our Origins (EOO) provides children the intellectual and spiritual space to develop a sense of their own place within the cosmic narrative of the evolution of the universe and life on Earth. Children use the vocabulary of both science and reverence to be able to express not only respect for nature but also wonder and awe found in the mysteries of the natural world.
EOO emphasizes the free search for truth and meaning using several methods, including hands-on science activities, videos, music, painting, and outdoor observation of nature. It also draws from Native American spiritual teachings to convey the mysteries of the origins of life.
FUS members Nancy Sheehan, Tamara Bryant and Paul Stephan developed this exciting curriculum.
Neighboring Faiths
Sixth Grade, Saturdays at 4:30 & Sundays at 9 a.m.
Sixth, Seventh & Eighth Grades, Sundays at 11 a.m.
Neighboring Faiths offers youth the opportunity to learn about the beginnings, beliefs and rituals of worship practiced by people of other religious traditions. It will include visits to different places of worship and interviews with people of other faith traditions.
The material covers Jewish, Christian (Catholic and Protestant), Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic traditions. It also offers an overview of UUs religious heritage. Enrollment in this course requires some flexibility in schedule to allow for visiting other places of worship.
Social Justice
Seventh Grade, Sundays at 9 a.m.
In Social Justice students develop a more complex understanding of inequity, oppression and intolerance, while discovering avenues for creating positive change in their community. Teachers and students decide on specific issues and service projects, such as homelessness, human rights, environmental protection, immigration and labor issues.
Through information shared in class, guest speakers, activities, visits to local agencies, and service projects, students become more critical thinkers and active participants in our community. Participation in this class gives students an excellent opportunity to put their UU values into action. This class requires some flexibility to accommodate service projects and site visits.
Caring For the Earth
7th Grade, Saturdays only
Caring for the Earth is an experiential class reinforcing UU spiritual connections to the environment and nurturing youth as stewards of our fragile planet. We’ll look at how we as UUs can have a positive effect on our natural resources by living up to UU principles that respect those resources. What is the impact of population growth, global warming and material consumption on our Earth and our lives? How does our new green building reinforce our principles?
We’ll also engage in some low-impact outdoor adventures, and visit area sites with environmental significance. Field trips will require some flexibility with the schedule.
Mind, Body & Soul
Eighth and Ninth Grades, Saturdays
Eighth Grade, Sundays at 9 a.m.
Mind, Body & Soul is the merging together of two excellent curricula: Our Whole Lives and Love U2.
In this class, youth explore issues related to relationships and sexuality. They learn to know themselves and their hopes better, to communicate with others, and to define their boundaries. This class offers much more than a typical health class in school offers by focusing on gender differences, emotional needs, stages of intimacy, gender orientation, sexual arousal patterns, sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy options in addition to some of the more traditional topics covered in school Our goal is to create a safe community of youth and adults where teens can honestly discuss sensitive issues that profoundly affect them – mind, body & soul.
Regular attendance at this class is imperative to create and sustain a trusting bond and to most benefit from the lessons! A Parent Orientation will be held prior to the class starting.
Coming of Age
9th Grade
Coming of Age is a program, a passage, and a pilgrimage. During the year, youth will strive to define who they are and what they believe. They will grapple with some of the Big Questions in life: Is there a God? What happens after we die? What is faith? They will explore how their answers fit or do not fit within Unitarian Universalism. Each youth works on the development of a personal faith statement and is involved in creating the Coming of Age worship service at the end of the year. In June, participants and their advisors will make a pilgrimage to either Boston, MA (our Unitarian Universalist Association headquarters) or to the UUA’s General Assembly (which will be held in Salt Lake City, UT in 2009).
Participation in Coming of Age involves a significant commitment from parents and youth. The youth spend time in class, in service projects, at overnight retreats, and in fund-raising activities to help defray the costs of the end-of-year trip. The estimated cost for the end-of-the-year trip is between $450 and $650. Scholarships are available.

2008 - 2009 CRE Registration Form
Important Note: Please use this form to register only if you plan to pay via credit card (Master Card or VISA only) or Pay Pal. You will be taken to our secure server at the end of the form. For a paper form, please click here.Be sure to have your current Children's RE Brochure handy so you can look at the class descriptions. You can look at one on-line here (PDF file). Thanks!
Important Dates for 2008/09
- May 25 – August 24 Summer Fun on Sundays at 9 and 11 a.m.
- August 16 Teacher Orientation
- September 6 & 7 Saturday and Sunday Water Communion Services for All Ages
- September 20 & 21 CRE Classes Begin
- October 4 & 5 Child Dedications
- October 25/26 Halloween Parade at the end of all three services
- November 9 FUS Annual Art Fair
- November 29/30 Thanksgiving Services for All Ages. No CRE Classes
- December 7 Holiday Decorating Party
- December 14 SmALL Music Sunday at 10 a.m. No Sunday Classes
- December 16 Solstice Service at 7 p.m.
- December 24 Christmas Eve Services:
- 3 p.m. Away in the Manger Service (For children under 5)
- 7 p.m. Family Christmas Eve Service - January 3/4 Child Dedications
- January 17/18 Banner Parade
- March 8 Daylight Savings Begins
- March 14 Teen Performing Arts Fundraiser
- April 4/5 Child Dedications
- April 11 No Saturday Service or Classes (Easter weekend)
- April 12 Easter Family Services at 9 and 11 a.m. No CRE Classes
- May 3 Sunday Coming of Age Service at 11 a.m.
- May 10 Bridging Ceremony at 9 a.m. for graduating high school seniors
- May 16/17 Last Weekend of Classes
- May 16 Saturday Flower Communion Service
- June 7 Sunday Flower Communion Service






