Welcome to All Souls Religious Education (RE)! Approximately 300 children and youth, pre-school through high school, participate in All Souls Religious Education programs. Together, we explore sources and traditions of our Unitarian Universalist faith, search for meaning about life’s big questions and take time for worship and reflection. We value the uniqueness of every child and young person, encouraging creativity and self-expression as well as community building and service.

At All Souls, there are many opportunities for your family to connect with religious education programming and the All Souls community. If you are interested in joining us, please register your family online or in person at the Religious Education office.

Our 2011-2012 Religious Education Calendar, available mid-August, is a helpful roadmap for dates and program information for children and youth. RE Director Taryn Strauss and RE Assistant Carson Jones are here to help orient you, answer your questions and help your family find a place at All Souls.

We hope you find All Souls to be a place that helps to nurture your family’s religious life. We are a congregation of open minds and open hearts, and we welcome you and your family with open arms.

About the All Souls RE Program:

First Hour Religious Education (10:00 - 11:15am)
The Sunday morning “First Hour” RE program offers curriculum-based opportunities to help school-aged children develop morally and spiritually, grounded in Unitarian Universalist heritage, values and traditions. Each Sunday, a committed and enthusiastic team of teachers, parents and program staff create a safe space at All Souls for children and youth to explore liberal religious life with creativity, curiosity and openness.

Second Hour Workshops (11:15am - 12:15pm)
Our Second Hour workshops encourage children to explore varied forms of creative expression and to have fun as a group. Under the guidance of professional artists and educators, we offer a variety of workshops for children in first through sixth grades during the second hour of RE.

Children’s and Youth Choir (11:15am - 12:15pm)
As an alternative to the grade-based second-hour workshops, our children's and youth choir offers children in the first grade and older an opportunity for first-class voice training.

Programming for Junior High and High School Youth
Our All Souls youth are engaged, vibrant members of church life. Teacher-led curriculum opportunities for seventh, eighth and ninth graders help young teens explore and find meaning in their faith, lives and world. The All Souls high school youth group meets weekly for worship, community service and fun.

Worship Opportunities:

Intergenerational Worship
Featuring meaningful messages for children, youth and parents, intergenerational worship offers an opportunity for families to worship together in the sanctuary at the 10:00 am service. Intergenerational worship Sundays are noted on the RE calendar.

Children's Worship - Kindergarten through 4th Grade (10:00 - 10:15am)

5th & 6th Grade Worship (11:15 - 11:30am)

Youth Worship - 7th through 12 Grade (11:00 - 11:15am)
Sunday morning Chapel services are led by Taryn Strauss and sometimes include special church friends, community guests and All Souls ministers. Held in the All Souls Chapel near the Main Entrance, Chapel offers time for worship: music and singing songs, quiet time for meditation and prayer, sharing our joys and sorrows and giving through a coin offering to help our world. To encourage age-appropriate spiritual growth, as a part of their Sunday morning classes worship opportunities for 5th/6th graders as well as 7th-12th graders are offered, led by Taryn Strauss and All Souls Young Adults.

All Souls Religious Education Program Team:

The Religious Education (RE) Committee
The Religious Education Committee oversees the church’s program of religious education for children and youth. Working with the RE Director, the committee addresses curriculum, educational policy, special events, staffing and budget for programs that cover young people from nursery through high school.

Parents Association
The Parents Association supports the Religious Education program by coordinating parent volunteers and organizing intergenerational events such as the Welcome Back Breakfast, Halloween party, the Christmas Pageant, and Christmas toy collections and Easter basket preparation for children at Bellevue Hospital. If you would like to volunteer, please sign-up for events at one of the three PA meetings throughout the year, or contact the Parents Association co-chairs directly:

Elaine Kurman (PA co-chair): elainewood321123@gmail.com

Nicholas DuBois (PA co-chair): nbdubois@yahoo.com

Taryn Strauss, Director
Religious Education Program for Children and Youth
During her tenure as Director of Lifespan Religious Education with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, Taryn developed an RE program that offered both spiritual, centered space to children and also invited them into sacred covenant with one another. Her particular focus lay in creating a strong foundation in Unitarian Universalist identity, so that not only are we offering high quality programming to our current crop of children, but we are ensuring a strong, spiritually mature future for the church and the denomination. She also developed a family ministry program offering classes, support, and ideas for bringing the Sunday morning ideals home throughout the week. As the artistic director and founding board member of Asheville’s Scapegoat Theatre Collective, Taryn has experience in building artistic vision and creative collaboration.

Contact: taryn@allsoulsnyc.org 

Carson Jones
Religious Education Assistant
Working with the All Souls Religious Education (RE) program is one of the great joys of Carson’s life, and he is thrilled to be entering his fifth year alongside such an inspiring group of teachers, children and youth. It is such a blessing to have his son, Braden, growing up in this open and loving community. This is an invigorating time in the RE program, and he is very excited to be assisting Taryn in the year ahead.

Contact: REassistant@allsoulsnyc.org