UU Kids Say Church Is . . .
Children describe unique relationships to their Unitarian Universalist spiritual homes. Additional resources and reflective questions included. Pack of 25 pamphlets. To read this pamphlet click here.
God is anything you want God to be.
It’s probably a portable God you can shape to fit your beliefs.
An individual God. No two alike.
For me, God is a five-year-old little girl. For my cat, God is a cat.
...everywhere
God is the earth and all spirits, everything, everywhere.
God is in us and around us.
God is not a person but a controlling force in all of us.
God is all different colors.
God is all beings and all life and all creation.
God is all those things that make up me.
God is in everyone.
God is in your heart.
God is anything that is mysterious and has remarkable power.
God could be the spark that keeps everything everything.
...like other things
God is like the wind because God is all around.
God is like magic because God has all power.
God is like a car driver because God is in control.
God is like your heart because God keeps you alive.
God is like friendship because God is loving.
God is like a chair because God makes you feel comfortable and safe and great.
God is like a protector.
God is like a fire.
God is the biggest camera ever made.
God is an old man with a white beard who is tall and nice.
God is a big woman who loves us all.
God is a young woman.
God is breath.
God is a good feeling.
God is the curiosity inside you.
God is about feelings.
God is peace.
God is the whispering of the wind, the brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, cousins, gold and silver, a cross, a star, a chalice, and the people.
...about nature
God is a rainbow.
God is a cloud and stays in the sky.
God is in the sea or up in the air.
God is the sun coming through the clouds.
...a spirit
God is a very special person who lives in the clouds and all the dead people are his helpers.
God is a spirit, not a person or an animal.
God is a spirit who looks a lot like Jesus, but not exactly.
God is someone who sort of takes your spirit after you die.
God is the Spirit of Life.
There is a god but he is invisible.
He is a she and a he.
God is a good spirit to me.
He never lies, he has intelligence, and most of all he loves me.
...a mystery
God never shows himself. Only gives symbols, images.
God might give something bad to save something good.
God can grant love but not a million dollars.
...nonexistent
I do not believe in God. I can think what I want. I don't believe in the devil either.
There are many ways to believe and every way is okay... even those who don't believe.
What is God?
Some people think that God is a feeling you carry deep in your heart,
Some people think God's all around us, the world of which we're a part.
Some people think that God is the flowers, the earth, the air, and the trees,
Some people think that God's what's unknown and to wonder is just a big tease.
Some people think that God is the stars twinkling so bright in the night.
Some people think that God is the knowledge of doing what's wrong and what's right.
Some people think that God's an old man living way up in the sky,
Some people think that God is the answer whenever we ask ourselves "why?"
Some people think that God is a puzzle, the pieces never quite fit.
Some people think that God's what you hear when you make yourself quietly sit.
We all have ideas about what is God,
Thoughts that we think on our own.
But here in this church, in this place together,
We never need question alone.
—Beth Graham
Thoughts for Parents
One of the seven principles that Unitarian Universalists affirm and promote is "a free and responsible search for truth and meaning." We believe this is as important for our children as it is for the adults. Since children absorb their religious understandings in terms that are unique to their stage of development, we as adults must be sensitive to their evolving sense of the holy. We have much to learn from our children, for their spiritual language and images seem to flow so smoothly between the concrete and the ethereal.
"Enjoy your child's personal philosophy as it unfolds," says child-study professor George Scarlett of Tufts University. "Listen to the child's thoughts about God. Try to understand and show respect for their ideas, even while sharing your own. The point is to keep a dialogue about spiritual matters going."
Harold Howe, former U.S. commissioner of education and a Unitarian Universalist, jotted these words to his minister at church one day: "Here's a definition of a Unitarian Universalist: a person who can ask children, 'What is God?' and listen seriously to their replies. P.S.: I once went to Sunday school for about 7 years, but no one asked me 'What is God?' Instead, they told me."
Unitarian Universalists find value in listening to what our children are saying about God.
The children's words and illustrations were contributed by grade school students in religious education classes from the First Universalist Church in Minneapolis, MN; the First Unitarian Church in Memphis, TN; the Unitarian Universalist churches in Sarasota, FL and in Olinda, Ontario; and the First Parish churches in Concord and Milton, MA.