Religious Education Social Action Project

Social Action Sundays for Children

In conversations and surveys parents in our community have, time and again, indicated their desire for hands on experience with social justice work for their children and youth. In response to this desire we have developed a plan where each year we have between 4 and 6 Social Action Sundays. Each of these begins with a childrenís worship which introduces the project and the reason for supporting it, and is followed by the actual project. Preschool and Kindergarten classes take part, but in their classrooms. Grades 1-6 work together in our social hall. Grades 7 & 8 work on the project in their classroom, or on a similar project planned by our Director of Youth Programs. Our high school group chooses their own social justice focus and a series of projects to support over the year. Each year we try to offer a range that includes some service within our church community, some service to our wider community, and some project with an international focus.

On these special Sundays our teachers are given a break and parent volunteers work with our children. Because of their age our youngest groups work in their classroom on a related project that is appropriate to their age level. We are careful to make sure we are not in any way burdening the children with ideas not appropriate for their age or that might make them worry. We focus on using our helping hands to benefit others.

Two examples of social action projects we have done for a number of years are Birthday Bags and the Mitten Tree. Birthday bags contain all the items needed for a birthday party and are given to the families at East Metro Place, an affordable housing project in White Bear Lake. Items for for the bags are donated by the children and members at WBUUC. We prepare many of these each year and gratefully accept your donations anytime.You will be notified when we will be assembling bags as a social action Sunday project. Your shopping list would include: cake mixes, frosting, candles, plates cups and napkins, and a small age appropriate gift. We prepare these for children from ages 1 to 18 so we can use a variety of gifts. The mitten tree is a collection of warm hats, mittens, gloves, scarves, socks collected during the month of December. These are donated to a number of organizations in the Twin Cities, including the Community University Health Care Center in Minneapolis. Many of their patients are new to this country and have no proper winter wear.

As parents, you can help in several ways. Prepare your children for the fact that the routine may be different these Sundays and that their regular teacher will not be there. If your child is in grades 1-6 make sure they know that they will be coming to the social hall when dismissed, and that they will be working in a large group of mixed age children. You could also volunteer to help, especially if you know that your child has difficulty adjusting to a new routine.

We are always looking for ideas for something the children can make or do in connection with these social action projects. If you would like to help with this, choosing social action projects, or with story telling or music for the childrenís worship that goes with these special Sundays, please donít hesitate to contact me.

At one of the conferences I attended, a speaker from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee shared with us her favorite social action quote: "Let us give those who are hungry bread, and those who have bread a hunger for justice"

Won't you be a part of giving this "hunger for justice" to our children and youth?

Janet Hanson, Director of Religious Education, 2008

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