Lifespan Faith Formation
Children, Youth, and Families
Nursery // Family Chapel // Wisdom Story // Spirit Play // Haunting House
Shared UU Values // Changemakers // Neighboring Faiths // OWL // Youth Group // Makerspace
Sundays at Cedar Lane – Growing Spiritually, TogetheR
Sunday mornings at Cedar Lane offer children and youth a thoughtful blend of learning, creativity, and community in an environment where families can feel both grounded and welcomed. Our age-based faith formation programs are designed to support returning families while making it easy for newcomers to join and feel at home. Many classes follow carefully developed two-year rotations that encourage deeper exploration, continuity of learning, and the steady development of skills and confidence over time.
Through stories, discussion, collaborative projects, games, and hands-on experiences, students are encouraged to think critically, build meaningful relationships, and develop a strong sense of self and purpose. Our programs place particular emphasis on human sexuality education, ethical leadership, inclusion, and pluralism, helping young people engage thoughtfully with an increasingly interconnected world.
We hope that children and youth who grow through our programs emerge as compassionate, intellectually curious, justice-minded young adults who are prepared to navigate life with confidence, creativity, and care for others. Below, you’ll find more detailed information about each class and age group.
Stay up-to-date on all of the ways children, youth, and families can engage in forming their faith together. Our Sunday School is just one way children and youth are invited into our multi-generational community.
Contact
Rev. Dayna Edwards, Minister of Faith Formation
dedwards@cedarlane.org
Sunday School classes are facilitated by volunteers just like you! If you have questions or would like to volunteer, please get in touch!
Nursery
ages 0 - 2, 10:15 AM - 12:30 PM
The youngest members of our community are cared for by a professional and qualified child care provider who is passionate about early childhood education. Our professional child care provider is assisted by a Cedar Lane lay-leader. This is the beginning of your child’s journey toward feeling a sense of belonging and safety at Cedar Lane.
Family Chapel
Some Sundays, 10:30 AM in Chapel
Children and youth begin their Faith Formation experience together in a way that helps them feel connected to the larger Cedar Lane community while also engaging at a developmentally appropriate level. Check the calendar for days we have Family Chapel. On other days, we will begin in the sanctuary.
Family Chapel Begin our morning together in the Cedar Lane Chapel and is intentionally designed with children and families in mind. During these opening moments, we explore the “big questions” and emotional lives of children through music, reflection, storytelling, and shared ritual. The service mirrors many of the meaningful elements of the main worship service in a format that is engaging, accessible, and age-appropriate for young people.
Wisdom Story
Other Sundays, 10:30 AM in Sanctuary
Wisdom Story: On other Sundays, children and youth begin in the Main Sanctuary alongside their families and the wider congregation. During the opening portion of worship, one of our ministers shares a Wisdom Story connected to the day’s theme. These stories draw from a rich range of sources, including world religions, literature, history, and contemporary lived experiences, helping children develop empathy, curiosity, and a broader understanding of the human experience. After the story, the congregation sings together as children and youth transition to their classes. We will begin in the sanctuary except for days we have Family Chapel. Check the calendar for details.
Creative Listening Materials: Children and youth are always welcome to remain in worship with their families for the entirety of the service. To support a wide variety of learning styles and needs, we provide creative listening materials and quiet engagement tools that help make worship meaningful and accessible for all children
SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES
(begin after Wisdom Story or Family Chapel)
Spirit Play
Recommended for Pre-K and Kindergarten
This Montessori-based religious education teaching method centers around stories. Our focus with this age group is to introduce them to the basic ideas of being in a faith community. Each week, they will light a chalice, listen to a story that is told with props found in a “storybox”, and then have an opportunity to respond to the story through art and play.
Haunting House
Recommended for 1st grade
Within the "Haunting House" children will explore relationships, share stories, discover the natural world and talk about important religious questions, including about birth and death. It is called Haunting House because the curriculum explores the various houses we find in the world, from seed houses, to our bodies which house our souls. Caregivers are invited into the classroom to create with their children several times throughout the year. The class includes an important caregiver meeting that discusses the birth and death units.
Tales, Values, and Pluralistic Celebrations
Recommended for 2nd - 3rd grade
This hands-on curriculum introduces Cedar Lane’s monthly themes along with the UU Shared Values (pluralism, interdependence, generosity, equity, justice, transformation, and love) through stories old and new, discussion, and play activities. Each session includes an opening circle with an opening question, introduction to the day’s topic, a story with discussion prompts, and a choice of physical and hands-on activities that carry out the theme of the day. Additionally, the children will celebrate beloved multicultural celebrations throughout the year.
Being a Changemaker /
Anti-Racism as a
Spiritual Practice
Recommended for 4th - 5th grade
This two-year curriculum begins with the Anti-Racist Art Activities For Kids along with other resources. Then, we explore biographies from Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints and other publications for “Being a Changemaker” in year two.
Both years focus on developing habits of dismantling oppressions and ways to improve the world. The age-appropriate and hand-on activities engage learners in identity building and skills needed to speak-up (for themselves and others) and interrupt racism.
Neighboring Faiths
Recommended for 6th-7th grade
“Neighboring Faiths” is a world religions curriculum that guides our youth to discover their faith and to increase their understanding and appreciation of religious diversity. Our classes focus on discussions around core religious questions and about how other religions practice their faith tradition. One exciting component of this program is the opportunity to visit other houses of worship not simply as observers but to experience the spirituality of that religion, to share experiences, ideas and beliefs with their hosts, and to explore their own values and beliefs. In the second year of our two-year journey through this class, we will visit different houses of worship than in the first year so it is appropriate for repeat participation.
Our Whole Lives (OWL)
Recommended for 8th grade
OWL is a transformative program that empowers our youth through a very important journey of self-discovery by equipping participants with accurate, age-appropriate information. This comprehensive sexuality education provides not only the facts about their changing bodies but also helps participants build strong bonds, clarify their values, build interpersonal skills, make informed and responsible decisions, and understand the various aspects of sexuality in a safe environment.
Youth Group
Recommended for 9th-12th grade
On Sunday mornings our youth group will deepen their Unitarian Universalist identities while creating bonds with their peers. They will explore the monthly themes with experiential and age-appropriate activities.
On Sunday evenings the teens gather for fun and friendship.
In addition to our Sunday programming, youth are encouraged to participate in the full life of the congregation, volunteering as they feel called. We also offer two off-site trips, one to a water park and one to a historical UU location, such as Boston, MA.
MakerSpace
(open on select Sundays)
Recommended for all ages
A makerspace is a collaborative workshop or community space equipped with tools and resources for people to create, invent, and learn. When people are invited into a creatively safe space they encounter the holy through the process of creation. Makerspace puts the emphasis on the process and not the product. It is a place where people of all ages can come together and use art and technology to access answers to the “big questions” that go beyond words. People who participate in our makerspace will have access to creative materials ranging from pen and paper to weaving looms, cardboard cutting scissors, and painting easels and canvases.
2026-27 Dates:
23 August
30 August
18 October
6 December
17 January
14 February
4 April
All of June
Events for Children, Youth, and Families
Stay up-to-date on all of the ways children, youth, and families can engage in forming their faith together.