“Faith development is all we do. Unitarian Universalism is the faith we teach. The congregation is the curriculum.” – Connie Goodbread

“You know it’s up to us to make it all up.  So whatcha making up?  I could make it up that you could be loved no matter what.” – Jason Mraz

As we celebrate creativity this summer, I wonder about the relationships between the children/youth and the rest of the congregation.  The young people are not separate from the adults in this congregation.  They ARE the congregation in a very real sense.   And they are learning from you.

Every time you interact (or choose not to interact) with our children and youth, they are learning something about Unitarian Universalism.  As Connie Goodbread so wisely said, “The congregation is the curriculum.”

• So what curriculum are you teaching?
• What are the young people of this congregation learning from you?
• Are they learning that this faith that truly embraces everyone and sees the inherent worth and dignity of all, no matter their age or neurodiverse behavior?
• Or are they simply being “put up with” until they grow into adults?

And what are you learning from these UU Youth?  They are not only our future.  They are our present. They are the people who are growing up in the UU faith and don’t have to deal with baggage caused by a harmful religious upbringing, like so many of us.  They understand Unitarian Universalism in their bones, and we can learn so much from them.

Developing these mutually beneficial relationships will require creativity and courage from ALL of us, not just the DFF and Faith Formation teachers.  We are ALL the creators of this church.  We ALL build the future of this faith community together.  We are ALL the present AND the future of this experiment we call Unitarian Universalism.

We can create a true community where people of all ages have friendships and know and respect one another.  We can make up a church community where stories are shared among generations, where elders and children have deep friendships.

And so I ask: “How are you participating in the creation of this community? How are you using your creativity to nurture relationships and make sure that each and every person in this congregation knows that the are “loved no matter what”?

I encourage you to reflect on these questions and on how you would like to live into your creativity to strengthen our beloved community. I can’t wait to see what we create together.

-Bridget Laflin