RE Program

The KUUC RE program provides engaging opportunities for children ages four years old through sixth grade to learn Unitarian Universalist values and principles in an environment that emphasizes active learning, a sense of community, and joy.

On most Sundays the children start off in the service with the adults, join in with the opening hymn, and may be invited to the front of the sanctuary to hear a story during the Time for All Ages. Then the congregation sends them off with a song and they spend the next 45 minutes or so doing youth activities like the ones mentioned below. Everyone reunites after the service (usually around 11:10 am) for snacks and coffee hour. The first Sunday of each month is different: it is a multigenerational service during which the children remain in the sanctuary with their parents. In some of these services the children are offered a choice to participate in acting out a play or sharing a song or project.

In all of our RE classes children engage in thoughtful discussions about important topics, like what it means to practice flexible thinking, or to be generous, or to question ideas that might be taken for granted. These discussions are always coupled with a story and an enjoyable activity (either indoors or outdoors) such as singing, making crafts, going on nature walks, baking holiday cookies, planting flower bulbs, building bird houses, and collecting food for those in need.

One class a month is centered around working with unit blocks, the familiar wooden blocks usually seen in early childhood classrooms. The children use this modular system to collaborate on building a wide range of structures, from temples and churches to food banks and astronomical observatories. Unit block-building provides many levels of learning, including the basic math and physics concepts inherent in the material itself. Each Block class is also a laboratory for practicing creativity, communication, cooperation, negotiation, compromise, and problem-solving, all while having fun. The Block Program is integrated with our other RE offerings and is very popular with all age groups.

Our RE committee is working towards adding more youth programming in 2024. We are in a bit of a rebuilding phase with more children joining us now than there have been in several years, and we’re excited to keep adding to our numbers!

RE Coordinator – Mallory Hicks

I’m so excited to be filling the role of Religious Exploration Coordinator (REC). I grew up in a family of UUs, I’m a 3rd generation which is rarer on the west coast where I was raised than it is here. I always say I was raised by UUs, as most of my childhood wasn’t spent in church weekly; but the 7 principles were our core.

My grandparents and extended family have always been incredibly active in the church. My husband Lewis , as many of you know, is active duty in the USN (retiring next year yay!) and we have 3 kids, Atticus (11) Remington (9 on Halloween) and Oliver (3) When in Keene, we landed we knew that we wanted to get involved with the church right away, having 3 kids that needed a good steady community. We participated in the outdoor RE gatherings over the winter and into spring and summer. They were so important to us and beneficial to our children.

I really feel we’ve found a home, after so many years of moving from town to town, state to state, and twice across the country with littles in tow. I cannot wait to see how the RE program grows and how as a community and congregation we can come together to provide a safe and exciting place for all of our children to explore their world and learn our principles.

Mallory Hicks