Religious Exploration for 12 and Up

Equal Exchange Fair Trade Store and Cafe

At the UUCRT youth starting from age 12 through the teens can run the Fair Trade Store and Cafe Sundays between 10am and 1pm. Our youth sell products from Equal Exchange, whose mission is “to build long-term trade partnerships that are economically just and environmentally sound, to foster mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and consumers and to demonstrate, through our success, the contribution of worker co-operatives and Fair Trade to a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world.” This service-learning project is supervised by our minister. In 2018 Equal Exchange recognized UUCRT youth for achieving sales in the top ten percent of all congregations of all denominations nationwide!

The UUA Common Read

Common Read invites participant to read and discuss the same book in a given period of time in order to build inter-generational community in our congregations and our movement by giving diverse people a shared experience, shared language, and a basis for deep, meaningful conversations.

The UUA Common Read Selection Committee selected An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (Beacon Press, 2015) and An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese (Beacon Press, 2019) are the new Common Read.

Purchase the books at the UUCRT Welcome Table beginning October 6 at a reduced price.

The Common Read Group meets in the Minister’s Office (Room 20) at 9am on the following Sundays:
October 20
November 17
December 17

This is an intergenerational book study and youth ages 12 and up are encouraged to read the Young People edition and participate in the group discussion with adults.

Religious Exploration for 14 and Up

Youth Envoy to the UUA United Nations Office

The UU UNO Envoy program is an opportunity for UUCRT members and friends ages 14 and up to get involved with the UN and serve as a bridge between the UN and the congregation.

Youth Envoy Responsibilities:

• Share information and resources to raise awareness and support of UN issues and UU-UNO programs within the congregation and youth group.
• Mobilize other youth in the congregation to take action for international social justice, peace, and development.
• Collaborate with other congregants and youth to lead a multigenerational United Nations Sunday service once per year.
• Participate in Youth Envoy conference calls, virtual training sessions, and networking events, connecting with other Envoys and Youth Envoys around the U.S. and Canada.
• Help the congregation to achieve Blue Ribbon Congregation status.

2020 United Nations Spring Seminar

Our 2020 Seminar will take place April 16-18, in New York City. (Youth and sponsors arrive April 15th for orientation.) Addressing the 2020 theme of climate justice, participants will consider both local and global engagement with issues such as:

• Understanding the impacts that climate change is already having in places around the world and expected expansion into the future.
• Individual and structural changes that can transform lifestyles to enhance sustainability and climate justice.
• Work for climate change mitigation in conjunction with dismantling systems of imperialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, and other forms of oppression.
• United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially SDG 13: “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts” – and all its associated targets.                                                                      Registration for all attendees will be open from December 2019 through February 2020.

Youth Justice Summer 2020

In these intensive, immersive and interactive programs, participants who attended high school (grades 9-12) during the 2019-2020 school year will have unforgettable experiences build community with their peers while deepening their understanding of spiritually-grounded social justice activism through the integration of hands-on learning and reflection. Alums of these programs frequently call them “life-changing” and you can read more on our blog about the power of Activate in the words of past participants.

Registration will be open in January 2020.

The General Assembly (GA) Youth Experience

General Assembly 2020
June 24-28, Providence, RI

Attending the annual General Assembly as a high school aged youth (grades 9-12 in the preceding school year, or the equivalent for home-schooled youth) is an incredible experience. Not only do you get to worship, witness, learn and connect in a multigenerational continental community, you can get to know hundreds of other youth and participate in making an impact on the Association through the democratic process.

Teens from the UUCRT can raise money to cover the cost of registration and travel for all these religious exploration offerings through the Fair Trade Store and Cafe.

Contact the minister for details.

Religious Exploration for Children 7 – 11  

Beginning September 15, 2019 the Religious Exploration Program at the UUCRT will be held the first, second and fourth Sunday of every month.  This program will continue through the end of May, 2020.

After the Time for All Ages portion of the service, interested children will depart the service for their RE lesson.  The lessons will follow the Wonderful Welcome curriculum available on the Unitarian Universalist  Association website, UUA.Org.  All Wonderful Welcome sessions follow the same structure. Between an Opening and a Closing, activities guide participants to explore and experience an intangible gift and how we, as Unitarian Universalists, share that gift with others.

Through the Wonderful Welcome lessons, we will strive to:

• Expand children’s understanding of their relationships with others, including people they know, people they will meet and all life that shares our planet
• Create opportunities for children to identify and practice a wide variety of welcoming behaviors; activate children’s capacity to welcome many manifestations of the interconnected web of life, including people, animals and the natural environment
• Teach children the concept of “intangible gifts,” qualities that can be shared but cannot be seen or held
• Teach the importance of welcoming as an act of Unitarian Universalist faith and as an expression of our Unitarian Universalist Principles
• Develop and enrich children’s sense of belonging to their religious education peer community, their congregational community and the larger Unitarian Universalist faith community
• Introduce practices of stewardship
• Help children create a shared atmosphere that encourages a sense of reverence, awe, gratitude and wonder.

Babysitting services will be available every Sunday from 10:15 until 12:15 beginning in September 15 2019 and continuing through June.