Lifespan Learning

Lifespan Learning Includes...

Our Ministry with Children and Youth
Our ministry for children and youth includes weekly Sunday Morning programming for under-eights and 8-11 year-olds, a monthly Messy Church service for our youngest congregants and their parents and grandparents, as well as our Coming of Age personal religious exploration program for 12-14 year-olds, and a monthly yUUth Group for 11-17 year-olds. Visit our Children's Religious Exploration page, and our Youth page, for more information.

Adult Learning
The First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa offers a variety of programs for people who wish to explore new topics and experiences.
Take a look at the Lifespan Learning Guide for more information, and read on below.

Click for a copy of the latest Lifespan Learning and Events Guide.

Adult programming at firstu

We offer three types of adult programs:

One-Time Events: A one-time class or workshop, led or facilitated by an instructor(s). Often requires registration and may have a fee or suggested donation to the congregation
Courses: A number of classes with an instructor(s). Often requires registration and may have a fee or suggested donation to the congregation
Ongoing Groups: Meet regularly on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis for an activity and/or discussion. Newcomers are always welcome. The group may have an instructor(s), and a suggested donation may be involved

Examples of Lifespan Learning Courses for Adults at FirstU

Mapmaking
Unitarians believe many things. Some of us are atheists. Others have active prayer lives. Some consider themselves in both of those camps. Together we'll explore the commonalities and uniquenesses of our beliefs, as each participant creates a Credo statement - an account of how they understand themselves as people of faith.
Designed for new UUs, but open to everyone who wants to explore their spirituality, Mapmaking offers you the chance to deepen your spirituality while clarifying what you, personally, believe and why. You'll also have the opportunity to explore your potential role in your congregation and build significant relationships with your fellow UUs. Get to know each other, and yourself, even better.

Reproductive Justice
Rooting us in our religious history and theological callings, this six-week curriculum outlines the distinctions between reproductive “health,” “rights,” and “justice”; opens awareness of reproductive oppressions; offers opportunities to learn about ourselves and each other as sexual and reproductive beings; and equips us to move forward, out into the world, with integrity and vision.
Unitarian Universalists (UUs) are called to answer the chilling political debate on reproductive rights with calls for reproductive ‘justice’ and respect for the fullness of every person’s reproductive and sexual life. This curriculum was written to help UUs take a call to action.
View the curriculum here.

Compassionate Communication with Lucie Larose
This workshop offers language and skills which reinforce our natural (but not necessarily habitual) capacity to connect with our humanity under many different situations, even the most trying. The intention in compassionate communication is to remind ourselves of our choices in every moment, and to make clear, conscious and compassionate decisions for self and others, in the now. This approach to communication gives us practical ways to live out our highest purpose in every relational interaction, as it teaches what we still need to learn. Compassionate communication allows us to restructure our thinking, acting, listening and speaking through radically honest and authentic presence and compassionate listening to self and others.

Some of the tools we will use are: pure observation, awareness of feelings that describe our state of being only, and understanding of basic human needs we all have. We will begin to practice how to clearly request what we need, without being attached to the outcome, knowing that fulfilling our needs is our own unique privilege and responsibility. ~ based on Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication www.cnvc.org.