U u Letter U introduces Unitarians and Universalists coming together as Unitarian Universalists. An example is Juliet Underwood, as the UU Women’s Federation was organized.

MATERIALS: Construction paper Letter with hole punched in top, yarn for necklace

Snacks—No suggestions

GETTING STARTED:

Welcome. After each person says his or her name, the group responds, “Welcome, (name).” For a child who is attending for the first time this year, add name to the letters that have been posted and to the attendance sheet, and make a nametag during or after the session. Leave an empty chair for someone who is not present or for someone who has not joined the group yet.

The Letter of the Day:

Talk about the Letter.
Give the Letter Necklace to a person with that initial.
Talk about the things that the children have brought for the Letter, and/or Letter Bag.
Put the things related to the letter in the Special Place

SPECIAL PERSON: Juliet Underwood (August 3, 1909-October 15, 2000)

We have talked about girls and women not being allowed to do the same things as boys or men. For example, Florence Nightingale and Beatrix Potter could not go to school and had to learn at home. Sometimes women were not allowed to do some jobs, or were paid less than men to do the same job.

Both Unitarians and the Universalists organized groups for women to address some of these problems. Julie Underwood was elected to the Board of the Alliance of Unitarian Women in the late 1950s. The Universalist women's group was the Association of Universalist Women. The Unitarian and the Universalist groups came together in 1961 to form the Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation. Julie was the first president of the UUWF.

Julie met with the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, when he invited the volunteer presidents of women's organizations to the White House. President Kennedy wanted the support of women of the country for their Civil Rights program.

As part of that support, Julie joined the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963. There were 250,000 people gathered to hear Martin Luther King, Jr.'s talk about the need to fight for rights of the Negros (now called African Americans or blacks).

Julie Underwood was President of her church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and on other committees. She also was on various committees of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

AFFIRMATION: Reread all of the Affirmations.

These Affirmations or Principles were developed in the 1980's, after the Unitarians and Universalists had been united for about 25 years. This is a powerful statement of what we are trying to achieve in our religious tradition today.

THE LETTER U IN THE CHURCH

Unique and Unrepeatable: Sing the song to the tune of “Three Blind Mice” (found in several other curricula):

I’m unique and unrepeatable.

I’m glad I’m me!

You’re unique and unrepeatable.

I’m glad that you are you!

We’re unique and unrepeatable.

We’re glad we’re UUs!

A-B-C

Animals: Unicorn (a mythical animal)

Body: Umbilical cord (navel, belly button) as a source of nourishment before we were born.

Calendar:

Note the date of the session and any special events for the day, including birthdays.
Note items beginning with that letter
Note events between today and the next session.

CLOSING: Gather around the Special Place where the things related to the letter have been placed. "We give thanks for the Letter U. We have shared and learned about special people and animals and ourselves and our church. May we leave in love and peace. Next week we will meet again. Our letter will be ____ and our leader(s) will be ____________________." Make sure that people take home things that need to go.

VARIATIONS FOR OLDER CHILDREN

Historically, look at your church. Was it Unitarian or Universalist in background? Or did it start after 1961 when the Unitarian Universalist Association was formed? We talk about ourselves as Unitarian Universalists. Does your church use both Unitarian and Universalist in its name? (If not, you may want to ask a leader of the congregation why not.)

If two people or groups decide to have a relationship what are some of the things that they need to think about? This would be like getting married or living together, or two stores or businesses coming together. Some of the fthings to consider are:

What the two parties have in common or how are they alike?
What is a good reason for coming together?
What are some of the concerns or reasons for not coming together?
What kind of things need to be moved, if they are living separately or have separate property?
What things will be the same if they come together? What things will be different?
How will each group feel part of the new group? (Name or identity?)

Some of the things that were alike for both the Unitarians and the Universalists were:

Both groups had been part of the history of the United States and Canada for over two hundred years. (Look at the timeline: John Murray, Benjamin Rush, Universalist; Joseph Priestly, Unitarian.)
Both groups had been active in making the world better (Clara Barton, Universalist; Dorothea Dix, Unitarian)
Both groups had had Sunday Schools or Religious Education programs for children a long time. In fact, the people who planned and worked on material for Religious Education came together over ten years before the other parts of the Unitarian and Universalist associations did.

Both groups saw Jesus as a great teacher and that made them different from the other churches around them, which thought that Jesus had a special relationship with God or even was God.

The two groups talked about coming together many times over the two hundred years in the United States. There was a lot of planning, and talking with the churches, and having each of the churches voting along the way. (The Session on Susan B. Anthony includes the Democratic Process as involving people in things that are important to them?)