UUCF Ninth Graders "Come of Age"

"Throughout all my years as a Unitarian, I've been asked to look at my spirituality in different ways, observing it through the focus of different religions ... It was like trying to observe a blurry image, scrutinizing it through different types of lenses, all the while attempting to see the picture clearly."  

At a recent worship service, six of our youth - Rob Condas, Andrew Creekmore, Ocean Lewis, Nick Nelson, Katie Rinaman and Nathaniel Taylor - shared insights like this from their "credos" or statements of faith. Their credos were the culmination of "UU and You," a five-month "Coming of Age" journey that explored their blossoming religious and spiritual identity moving into adulthood. Who am I? Where have I been as a child and where am I going as an adult? What are the many ways one can view and experience god, faith, worship, good versus evil, life after death, etc? The "Coming of Age" journey explored these and many other fundamental questions, personal and family faith history, and the story of Unitarian Universalism and UUCF itself. The youth also sampled spiritual practices like meditation and dialogue, made and decorated personal life masks during an overnight at UUCF and spent a day exploring their UU heritage in downtown DC. Though Youth Ministry Coordinator Helen Rose and UUCF member Rob Creekmore co-led the program, it was a community effort with the UUCF ministerial leadership and many UUCF members teaching or serving as mentors.    

From left, Rob Condas, Ocean Lewis, Andrew Creekmore and Nick Nelson, far right, completed the "UU and You" program. Katie Rinaman was not present for the ceremony. (Linden Atelsek accompanied her friends during a vocal performance.)

Here are some more credo statements from the participants:  

"At first I thought that religion was about whether you believe in deities or not. I soon found out that I was incredibly wrong. Faith and religion are not about what is or isn't, but rather about how you want to shape the world around you."

"I believe that everyone, no matter how unusual, should be accepted, loved and given a chance ... Part of my faith practice is to try and love and accept everyone, not only for their religious beliefs, but for all their beliefs."

"This class took me from the blank slate of my future to starting with my life as an adult. I'm not going back to being a kid ... The song says 'You can tear me down but you can't take the freedom from my life and what I want to do.' I could never think of a better place than here at UUCF where nothing can take the freedom from my life."

"As I understand it at the moment, the basic meaning of this church is just to give everyone the choice and the support to search for their own beliefs. There is nothing being forced on anyone, and no one is told that anything will happen to them if they don't believe a certain thing. I often wonder if I will continue to go to a UU church after I become an adult, and after much deliberation, the answer is 'Yes.' I will always enjoy the community of this church and want to be part of it for as long as I can." 

Forging Understanding, Connections

Through Interfaith Picnic

About 70 adults and children from our congregation and a neighboring Muslim community got better acquainted at a delightful picnic held last weekend under the shade trees on our Campus.

Our guests were members of the Institute of Islamic and Turkish Studies (IITS). The picnic was hosted by UUCF's Muslim Outreach Group, which seeks to build intentional connections with Fairfax County's Muslim community.

The warmth of emerging friendships surpassed the 90-degree temperatures as families mixed and mingled and shared

UUCF's Rev. Mary Katherine Morn enjoyed the children at the picnic.

conversation while the children played games on the lawn and enjoyed the playground.

Rev. Mary Katherine Morn opened the picnic with a welcome and blessing. Imam Bilal Ankaya of IITS offered a blessing to close the picnic. All enjoyed grilled beef, chicken and lamb kebobs, prepared according to halal custom, and a variety of side dishes.

We look forward to further opportunities to stand for tolerance and pluralism, and to experience the values of learning from each other, by building and strengthening friendships between members of IITS and UUCF.

- Ann Wood, member, Muslim Outreach Group

Muslim Outreach Group members include: chair, Furman Riley, Sean Curry, John Kun, Rod Paolini, Judy Penniman, Nancy Rooney, Rich Williams, Ann Wood and Bob Young.