Religious Education Program

The Religious Education Committee sets policies and organizes special events:

Heather Hedden, Sue Lohrer, Rick MacDonald, Jackie Schaefer – Chair, Lura Taylor

Director of Religious Education (DRE)

Alison Saylor oversees the Sunday morning nursery care and RE classes. She works with the RE Committee to ensure that the children are in a happy and safe community of learning through age appropriate activities. A typical Sunday morning has the children sitting with their family for the first portion of the 10:00am Sunday service until they are dismissed to their Sunday School Class held in the downstairs classrooms. They rejoin their families for Coffee hour, which typically begins at 11:00am.

Nursery caregivers Asia Forcucci, Chasidy Jaquith, Peter Fox, Kathy MacDonald (parent), Gavin Saylor,

K-2 Teaching Team; Lauree Eckler, Christine Lear, Sue Kirk,

Harriet Ketchen (assistant)

3-4 Teaching Team; Sue Lohrer, Lura Taylor, Nancy West,

Amy Bergquist (assistant)

Junior Youth Group (5-8); Coordinators –  Jackie Schaefer

Coming of Age grade 9; Linda Simmons

Senior Youth Group; John Redding

Adult classes; Reverend Diane Miller

1) Unitarian Universalism 2)World Religions 3) Bible Stories

First Sunday Children's Service

On the first Sunday of the month the children Kindergarten to 4th grade meet as a group in Union Hall with the DRE, teachers and teaching assistants and have their own service with an emphasis on Unitarian Universalist (UU) Principles, UU themes, and UU songs.

Sunday School classes 3 year cycle

1) Unitarian Universalism 2)World Religions 3) Bible Stories

The theme for the current year is Unitarian Universalism

What we will teach your children:

Be nice to everyone. The Golden Rule of “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” is a universal theme of religions and a good rule to live by.
What do Unitarian Universalists (UUs) believe? Some UUs are Humanists some Christian, Jewish, Agnostic or even Atheist. All are welcome. “Love is the Doctrine of this church and
service is our prayer.” Although we celebrate many religious holidays, the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter are given the most attention. Unitarian Universalists do not use the word God very much. Some say  Spirit of Life or other phrases that help describe the undescribeable. We talk more about God in the RE program than the adults do upstairs in the Service.
We say Jesus or Jesus of Nazareth rather than Jesus Christ. We will  teach the stories attributed to Jesus and the stories of the life of Jesus. If you are Christian you will need to teach your beliefs about “God the Son” to your children as they will not get taught that in our RE Program other than in the form of “some people believe...”
Be kind to those in need. We look for hands-on ways to help those who are hungry sick lonely or in some way in need. These might be members of our own congregation, those in nearby towns or people thousands of miles away. We look to the FRS Pastoral Concerns committee to let us know who in our congregation needs support and to the FRS Social Action Committee to tell us how we may help those further  away from our community.
We teach environmental awareness. We try to model recycling, organic growing methods, energy saving ,and buying locally grown food to instill a core value of love and appreciation for the environment.
We try to make learning fun. This is not school. There are no homework, quizzes or writing assignments. There is learning through doing story telling art and drama.
Why are we called the First Religious Society in Carlisle? Yes  it is a funny name, but one we have inherited from those that came before us. We used to be called The Meeting House, as our building was the Town Hall and the one and only place of worship in Carlisle and surrounding area for many, many years.
We want more families to belong to our church. We have a lot of good ideas we want to share. Our historical building is a wonderful place to have potluck dinners, movie nights, musical events, and other gatherings. We want to encourage new families to join the First Religious Society in Carlisle.

The religious education program at FRS invites families to be part of the church community, learning about Unitarian Universalism, strengthening values, exploring beliefs, and participating in social action projects. Sunday morning classes are offered for children in kindergarten to 8th grade, with activities and care provided for nursery and preschool children. The senior high youth group meets in the evening, on the 2nd and 4th Sunday each month.

What should I expect on a Sunday morning?

Typically, children begin with their parents in the 10am worship service in the sanctuary for about 20 minutes. This time generally includes a hymn, a spoken covenant, and a story or message. Children are invited to bring a contribution of non-perishable food or money to donate to the Open Pantry of Lowell. Following these worship elements, they are guided to their classes by the religious education director and class leaders, where their classes include stories, activities, and projects around the week’s lesson. Young children are met by parents in the classrooms following the service, and all attend coffee hour for snacks and informal visiting.

OWL Information for 2013