Coming of Age (CoA, COA) is a
Unitarian Universalist program in which a congregation fosters the transition of its
children
A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...
into
youth
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...
. Although COA programs vary by congregation, they typically mark the individual's transition from younger
religious education
In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to t ...
programs into a
youth group,
District-level/Regional
Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU), as well as National and Continental-level YRUU. Not all youth will enter into all of the levels of programming above, though entering into at least congregational-level YRUU (Youth group) is very common. At least one of the UUA districts holds a series of COA retreats to supplement congregational COA programs.
In most programs, a congregation's youth (usually aged 12 and above) are paired with adult mentors who are members of the congregation. Many programs ask youth to investigate their personal spirituality with the support of their mentors. Youth participants in the program are encouraged to develop a greater sense of what they believe. They do this through discussion, listening to guest speakers, and participating in retreats and workshops. Workshops may be designed to prompt the youth, challenge their modes of thinking, or aid them in furthering their ideas. Some congregations have also encouraged or required each child and mentor to do a social action or social service project together, or organized a service project which all participating youth and mentors do together, such as cooking and serving food at a soup kitchen.
At the end of many COA programs, youth and their mentors prepare a service in which they present "faith statements" or "credo statements"—written statements of belief and perspectives developed over the course of program. These statements vary in many ways, because there are few "guidelines" as to what youth may say. Typically, participants who do not wish to present a credo statement may communicate their findings in other ways; for example a choreographed dance or a musical piece they have written. Services vary from church to church and can involve almost anything that the participants want it to. Favorite hymns, dances, songs, and readings may be included.
For the most part, children identify with the faith beliefs of their parents and family. The Coming of Age program signals the beginning of individual spiritual searching; it is an official recognition that the youth involved have begun to search for personal truth.
See also
*
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
References
*https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022750/http://cuc.ca/archive/youth/Mentoring_and_Coming_of_Age_Summary.pdf
*http://www.uua.org/worship/holidays/174646.shtml
*http://www.pcd-uua.org/COA/coa.htm
Rites of passage
Religion and children
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