Children and Youth Religious Growth and Learning (RGL)
2023-2024
Welcome to UUCSV and the children and youth RGL program! This congregation highly values our young people and gives great support to the RGL program. We want to grow our children and youth into adults who are curious, strong, fair, ethical, moral, peaceful, and spiritual. It’s part of our church mission, “To awaken love and justice in ourselves, our community, and our world.”
How does this happen each week? Click on the links below for more details, or just keep reading.
We look forward to seeing you and your children here at UUCSV!
What is RGL?
What happens on a typical Sunday?
Safety and vaccination policies
What is RGL?
RGL stands for Religious Growth and Learning. Other UU congregations might use Religious Education (RE), Sunday School, Faith Development, or something else that fits them. At UUCSV, RGL is lifespan – babies through adults. Most commonly when someone says “RGL”, they mean children and youth; Adult RGL is called just that, “Adult RGL”.
What happens on a typical Sunday?
Hard to say if there’s a “typical” Sunday! On most Sundays, the YoUUth Group starts in their own space, while the rest of the congregation starts the service in the sanctuary. After about 15 minutes of community, the children are sent out to their various RGL groups. Once a month there is a multigenerational service for all ages, and periodically there are all-ages RGL programs or special activities.
RGL Director:
Sara Phinney Kelley is our RGL Director, and has been on staff since 2012. She is part-time, but also serves as the congregation’s part-time Administrator. Sara is a lifelong UU (actually many generations on both sides of her family). You can reach her at rgldirector@uucsv.org.
Multigenerational Worship:
Multigenerational, or all ages, worship happens approximately once a month, when everybody gets to be in the service together. These services are planned jointly by the minister and RGL director, and tend to be more interactive, experiential, and accessible to all ages, interests, and neurodivergences. And fun!
Nursery
We have a nursery for birth through preschool that is staffed by a paid caregiver each week. The kids can play with age-appropriate toys, and each other. Parents are welcome to be in the nursery with their child(ren); the service can be listened to by baby monitor so you don’t miss anything.
Elementary-age kids
For 2023-24 kids will be in a Magic Makers group, using magic to solve the big issues we face. The focus for much of the year will be on Literacy and Anti-Racism. This group loves kinetic activity, crafts and creativity, and has a big heart.
Middle School
Middle schoolers have a choice of being with the Magic Makers group, often with separate stations just for them, or (with enough adult volunteers) as a separate cohort learning about what it means to be a UU.
YoUUth Group (High School)
They pride themselves on asking difficult questions about social justice, spirituality, and religion, and searching out answers that not only help themselves but also the community and the world. The 2023-24 year will focus on a Coming of Age program for all our high schoolers, who missed out during the pandemic. They will spend the year learning about Unitarian Universalism, visiting other religious organizations, crafting their own belief statements, and capping it off with a trip to Boston in the spring!
Safety and vaccination policies
All UUCSV paid staff, teachers in the RGL program, and most class helpers have undergone background checks and online training for child safety and mandatory reporting, in accordance with current Pennsylvania law.
It is the policy of the UUCSV to require immunizations against communicable diseases, particularly for its children who are old enough for vaccinations. While we respect individual rights, and parental rights, it is vital to remember that we are part of a larger church community. A more detailed description of the policy and the health and spiritual rationale is available.
Join the RGL mailing list
To join the RGL mailing list, please email RGL Director Sara Kelley at rgldirector@uucsv.org. You’ll get notices every Thursday about what’s happening on Sunday (and maybe other days of the week!). To register your child(ren) for RGL, you can find a link to the online registration on our website, or ask Sara for the link, or fill out a paper form on the counter in the RGL Common Room.