Coming of Age
ceremonies, marking the transition from childhood to young adult, are as old as history.
They have included ritual abductions, vision quests, and bar and bat mitzvahs, all to help
youth learn about themselves and prepare for adulthood.
Many UU congregations mark this transition with year-long Coming of Age
Programs, which generally include four parts: pairing youth with adult mentors;
discussions and retreats that emphasize self-awareness and confidence-building; service to
the church and community; and a culminating affirmation ceremony.
Latest News, August 2006:
The UUCGL's Coming of Age Program is published! see below
UUCGL's Coming of Age
Program was presented at the 2006 General Assembly in St. Louis, MO.Speaker(s): Kathy McWilliams, curriculum author;
Teresa Putnam, Director of Religious Education (DRE), UU Church of Greater Lansing; Anna
Putnam.
Message from our Board President -Judith
Rowell-DeVaney
One of my most memorable and proud moments at GA this year was attending the Coming of Age
workshop presented by our own team--Teresa Putnam, Kathy McWilliams and Anna Putnam. They
gave two workshops in which they presented the curriculum written by a team from our
church headed by Kathy McWilliams. Additionally they had a booth where they sold the
curriculum. At first, I wanted to attend this session especially to show support for our
team, thinking I was familiar with the curriculum. I quickly moved to awe and amazement at
the quality of their presentation and their materials. It was one of those moments when I
wanted to shout-"I am from UUCGL!" This was a class act, enhanced by Anna Putnam
speaking from the point of a participant in Coming of Age. Please see Kathy, Teresa or
Anna to find out more about the curriculum or their experience and to CONGRATULATE them
and say THANKS!
The curriculum we developed for middle school,
"Coming of Age: Deepening Ties Within Your Congregation," is now officially
published. Last week we sent over 50 copies to other UU congregations, and new orders
continue to arrive. This is the culmination of a tremendous seven-year team effort. Many
thanks to our team:
Colleen McNeilly-Murphy -- co-creator, facilitator, and
source of endless inspiration, encouragement, and creativity.
Ralph Putnam -- facilitator extraordinaire. Ralph’s
experience as an educator simply made the lessons better and deeper.
Deb Mosher -- facilitator who created the Skittles
lesson, deepened the meaning behind the service project, and kept us laughing during this
journey.
Kermit Johnson -- facilitator and all-around good sport
who tried whatever we asked, had faith that everything would turn out alright, and always
enjoyed working with the youth.
Anne Brereton -- helped create our first Coming of Age
Program, and worked tirelessly near the end getting permission for us to borrow material
from a multitude of sources.
Elizabeth Fedorchuk -- typeset the manuscript, added
pictures and graphics, and made it look like a real book. She was endlessly patient with
our last-minute changes.
Anna Putnam -- creator of our Powerpoint presentation,
and co-presenter at General Assembly. Anna’s voice led credibility, humor, and life
to our workshops.
Kathryn Bert -- without whom we would not have been able
to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of re-writing both retreats in a matter of
days. Kathryn’s support and encouragement were vital to this project, and greatly
appreciated.
Teresa Putnam -- co-creator, guide, sounding-board,
administrator, and all-around miracle-worker. Without Teresa, this curriculum simply would
not exist.
And we can’t forget the valuable contributions of:
The mentors
The parents/guardians
And the youth themselves - Louis, Sam, Emery, Maddy, Rachel, Molly, David, Maeve, Allie,
Emily, Jeana, Taylor, Jason, Jack, Sasha, Anna, Alex, Jacy, Eva, Rob, Colin, Dylan, Aaron,
Alanna, Maura, Katy, Anna, Gideon, Josh, Jori, Justin, Emma, Kelsey, Hans, Christopher,
Lindsey, Dagan, Laura, Rhys, Kelvin, Jenna, Tikka, Emma, Bob, Christopher, Conor, Thressa,
Kelsey, Maddie, and Amber. (Did I miss anyone?)
It was a big job, but it was a big team!
One point I would like to clarify is that at General
Assembly, I was elected President of the UU Curriculum and Resource Developers (UUCARDS).
UUCARDS is a network of independent UU curriculum writers, not the UUA organization that
develops curriculum. UUCARDS is the organization for folks who develop curricula at their
own churches, and then choose to publish them to share with others.
So many thanks to the cast of (almost) thousands who
helped create our Coming of Age curriculum. We have a lot to be happy about. --Kathy
McWilliams
From the UUCGL 2005-2006 Annual Report:
The Lifespan Faith Development Committee obtained 2 grants to complete and present the
Coming of Age curriculum. Lifespan Faith Development Committee goals for the future:
Identify Coming of Age facilitators.
Work toward publishing the Coming of Age curriculum.
Teresa Putnam, Director of Religious
Education
351-4081, ext. 3 office@uulansing.org (put RE in subject line)
Unitarian
Universalist Church of Greater Lansing
855 Grove St. | East Lansing, MI 48823 | 517-351-4081
