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Becoming!
A Soul Matters Coming of Age Curriculum
Helping our youth shape their own UU identity and embrace the values that will shape their lives.
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We are thrilled to offer Becoming, our Soul Matters coming of age curriculum. This program supports youth as they explore, develop and articulate their personal values and faith identity. Curriculum Structure This curriculum is developed for 9th and 10th graders and ideally would come after a program that engages youth in interfaith exploration, like our neighboring faiths' curriculum, Crossing Paths. The core content is organized into 18 one-hour sessions, with additional material including eight optional offsite Faith in Action activities, a mentorship program guide and an end-of-year celebratory worship guide. 3 of 18 sessions/lessons are devoted to helping youth craft their personal mission/”north star statement” (our version of a credo statement). These numerous, bite-sized sessions provide flexibility, allowing you combine sessions and run the program over 3 months, 5 months or longer if you wish. Each of our offsite Faith in Action optional activities are designed to help youth explore their faith identity in a hands-on way. For example, the Faith in Action activities tied to the lesson about courageous faith suggests a high ropes course followed by spiritual reflection. Unique Components The Three Dimensions of the Spiritual Life: Becoming’s theological approach frames the spiritual life around three core themes and questions:.
The Big Questions: Within these three general areas, we invite youth to wrestle with more specific questions as they shape their personal religious identity. For instance, under Belonging we invite youth to ask themselves such questions as “What values am I committed to?” “How do I balance my responsibilities to family, friends, society and the faith community to which I belong?” and “How do I resist exclusion and support the belonging of others?” Questions related to Becoming involve asking “How do I bravely honor my true self?” What does it mean to live with authenticity and integrity?” “What parts from my upbringing do I want to hold onto and let go of?” Questions related to the Beyond involve asking “What is my relationship to the sacred?” ”Is life random, indifferent, trustworthy, loving, dependable, threatening, cruel, good?” and “What are my responsibilities to needs greater than my own?” The Five Lenes: Finally, we use five unique lenses to address all of these core identity questions. On their way to answering these “big questions” for themselves, youth first explore how they are answered by…
Publication Schedule We are still in the process of shaping the content, so the entire curriculum will be available by August 1st. Cost We offer two subscription levels, one for larger congregations and another for smaller ones:
Samples In order to help you better discern if Becoming is right for you, we are making the Welcome guide and the first two sessions available for free. You can download those on our Samples Page. Those three free items will be available by the end of June. Becoming Orientation Webinar Be sure to attend our “Welcome to Becoming” orientation video happening in early August. To register, go to our Webinars & Trainings Page. If you can’t make the webinar, you can view a recording of it on our Recorded Webinars page. This webinar will discuss the program’s distinctive components, implementation tips and any questions you have. This webinar will be especially helpful to those leaders facilitating the program. Questions Email our Director of Middle School Resources, April Rasario, at dre@firstparishtaunton.org |
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