Unity Church of Austin

Got kids? We love 'em!
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Youth & Family Ministry

Youth & Family Ministry

Unity Church of Austin is committed to offering a creative and positive educational program for its children and young people — a program that inspires, instructs and provides a solid spiritual foundation for their growth into adulthood. The church administration and board are committed to supporting the provision of a high-quality program by offering all the resources that are feasible and available to the ministry.

Our classes and instructors create environments that provide security, friendship and fun. Materials and curriculum are age-appropriate and provide opportunities for discussion, sharing, personal experience and life application. Prayer and meditation, which are important to learning to communicate with God, are a vital part of the curriculum.

“Our mission is not to entertain children,
but to call them out.

"To be 'always entertained' is to be dwarfed and dependent. To be 'called out' is to follow the harmonious law of the soul’s unfoldment. Who meddles with the rosebud? What fingers are deft enough to pry open that marvel of folded beauty? We are wise enough to leave it alone to follow the glad law of its own unfolding, but our children! Have we dealt as wisely with these buds of marvelous possibilities? Have we always remembered that they, too, must quicken and unfold through the innate law of their own genius?”

— Myrtle Fillmore, Co-founder of Unity

Children today experience "normal" challenges that were unimaginable to many of us in our youth: the increased violence on television and our streets, the high rates of divorce and remarriage, the rapid and destabilizing pace of technological change. We ourselves are frequently bewildered and frightened by the world we live in; imagine how unsettling it must be to children.

Setting aside a regular time to be still in the presence of God and to learn the stories of faith is essential to a child who needs a sense of being surrounded and upheld by God's love. Our Sunday School programs aim to be this for our youth.

CLASSES
During the adult worship service, we offer Truth for Tots (infant - 3 years) and Unitots (3 years and up). Our older children also meet during the adult worship service for Unikids (6-10 years), Uniteens (middle school), and Y.O.U. (Youth of Unity, high school).

NEWSLETTER
To read back issues of Family Matters, our Youth & Family Ministry newsletter, click here.

We teach our older children Unikids using a curriculum, Celebrating My God Self, which uses songs, crafts, Bible readings, skits and other games to teach the Five Principles of Unity, including Unity’s traditions of prayer and meditation.

The Uniteens use curricula, such as Bring On The Basics, to further explore the divinity within each of us, our relationship to God and to the world, and the power we hold to use love to change our own lives.

The Youth of Unity, or Y.O.U., have a more self-directed class, with a mentor rather than a teacher. The Y.O.U. teens discuss how the principles of Unity can help them to deal with the issues in their lives and to become the mature leaders of tomorrow.

Y.O.U. uses many different readings, such as Lessons in Truth for Y.O.U., based on one of the most important texts of Unity, and Unity Basics for Life, which furthers understanding of the Five Unity Truth Principles.

Bible stories told in a traditional way to younger children lay the foundation for the metaphysical interpretations that start bubbling up with the teenage years.

The lessons that engage the children in their classes cover a wide range of learning activities. Just like adult services, the classes offered to our children are based on basic Unity Truth principles.

Adjusted for children, these Five Basic Principles are:

The only Power in the universe is God, who is wholly good.

The Spirit of God we call the Christ is alive in Jesus and in me.

Through the power of God, my thoughts can change my life.

I can choose to let go of hurtful and limiting thoughts. I can choose to think loving and kind thoughts.

I can talk to God. I can listen to God. God listens and talks to me. I can use the truths I am learning every day.

Our staff consists of a Youth Education Director; Amaya Nelson, our Nursery Leader; and a number of loving volunteers. These dedicated people are constantly learning how to best serve our children. They teach from a spiritual understanding that each soul, child or adult has an individualized pattern of soul growth. This program is a process to assist children, teens and families to learn and grow together. Truths are emphasized through shared experiences, storytelling and creative expression (art, music, etc.). Teachers listen to the real stories that students are telling with their action and their energy and address the real needs revealed so that students may discover many options and help create their own solutions.

Love-in-Action Projects are included in the curriculum. Some of these activities are homeless projects, Compassion International, church potlucks, helping during the Keep Austin Beautiful clean-up days, creating Earth Day festivals, and other annual projects.

The desire of the entire congregation is to support and grow an education program that is dynamic, inclusive and challenging. In today's world, we want our children to have optimum support for soul growth and development.