Our children walk out together, following our Keeper of the Flame. We pause in the lobby of our Multi Purpose Building at our RE Altar. There, our Keeper of the Flame lights our chalice and Erin says our chalice lighting. It is the same each week; “We light this flame in friendship, to learn how we are different, to learn how we are the same, to learn to grow together.”

Then we break into our class or all go into one classroom if it is an All Ages class that day. Once in class, we settle down onto the rug and do our class opening. Our opening words for class are: “We are the church of the 2 Us. Unitarian Universalist. We are the church of the open mind, helping hands, and the loving heart. We are the church of the flaming chalice that lights our path to peace, truth, and love.” We have hand motions that accompany this, and our regularly attending children know it by heart. They even recite it at home!

After the opening, we check-in and share a joy or sorrow. We then move into the story or lesson. Our children especially love games and cooperative art. Snack time is very important as well! We focus on healthy snacks and we drink water. Children that are finished with the activity for the day help with snack. After snacks, we go to the playground, which is another favorite activity. We just began using Spirit Play, but it has already been a great success!

Our youth use “Popcorn Theology,” by Michelle Richards, which uses movie clips to stimulate discussion. They requested it again this year, they enjoy it so much!

We also have a youth group on Wednesday nights. We follow the Beacon Youth Group model that is used throughout Florida. It is a youth empowerment model that gives youth the power to run their group with supervision from the advisors. Not all youth that attend on Sundays are involved in Beacon Youth, and vice versa. Florida Beacon holds Youth-CONs once a month around the state. A CON is a weekend-long “lock in.” The hosting church’s group plans and runs the CON. It is a well-loved institution among the youth involved, and they work hard to maintain it. Building community is the main goal of Beacon Youth — community that is open, supportive and loving.

Each year the RE Committee hosts a Tree Trimming Party the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We decorate our tree with ornaments made in RE, drink hot cocoa, listen to holiday music, and play games together. The entire congregation is invited and it’s always lots of fun! At Easter we host an Egg Hunt that happens alongside a congregational potluck. Both events are well-loved traditions in our RE program.