Unitarian Universalist Congregations use the term “Lifelong Learning” to describe programs that go beyond Sunday morning worship. It’s the idea that our faith continues to form all life long, just as our self-understanding and perceptions about our world change and grow.
Mission Statement:
Guided by our seven Unitarian Universalist principles, Lifelong Learning at UUCM will create a joyful, spiritually nourishing environment for learning and living, that fosters healthy connection with self, our congregation, the greater community and the earth.
Goals of the UUCM Lifelong Learning Program:
- To foster an attitude of acceptance of self and of others, a feeling of uniqueness and self-worth, and an openness to ideas and feelings.
- To teach the history, traditions, and ideas of all religions, to encourage a sensitivity to them and an awareness of their relevance to our own religious lives.
- To convey a clear sense of the meaning and experience of Unitarian Universalism, as well as its history.
- To model and to reinforce values of social responsibility and democratic process in both an advocacy and an activist mode.
- To provide an experience of community, of acceptance, love, and compassion, to be cherished.
- To create an environment for children to explore, develop and celebrate their own spirituality and an affirmation of life; to provide times and places for reflection and centering.
- To guide the children’s questioning and search for meaning, including an acceptance that sometimes there are no answers, and to provide an ongoing challenge to newness and growth; to foster a sense of personal responsibility, integrity, and courage of one’s own convictions.
- To provide support, assistance, and clarification, leading toward individual empowerment in dealing with difficult life problems and with ethical concerns.
- To develop experiences and an environment which encourage awe and wonder of the natural world and awareness of the interconnections of all of life.