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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Cedar Lane Unitarian Church[/quote]

Do you go there?  What do you like about it?  I am looking for a place that is progressive, interested in social justice, strong community, has some level of religious foundation/spirituality.  We are an interfaith family - Catholic/Jewish.  [/quote]

Not the PP, but I am a member there.  We have a relatively large RE program, strong commitment to Social Justice issues, skew liberal, with many interfaith families.  We are a chatty crowd.  I like that the children that I've met in the RE program seem to have good sense and do not appear to be status-seeking in any way.  I like that my kids get to learn about all the world's religions and how certain ideas about how to behave ethically and morally are incorporated into all religions.  I LOVE the Senior Minister, who is personable, well-spoken, funny, and happens to also be Hindu.  I like that UU provides paths for behaving ethically and morally without denigrating other people's ways following those paths.  I like that Cedar Lane honors other traditions, either by incorporating ideas into service (Yom Kippur, Rosh Hoshanah) or by having separate "Soul Matters" get togethers (Diwali, Holi Day).  I like that Christmas is still a tradition with Christmas Eve carols and a reading of the birth of Jesus with all the 1st graders making animals out of cardboard to represent the various animals that came to the manger.  I like that LGBTQ and differently-abled people are welcome with open arms.[/quote]

Thank you, this is incredibly helpful.  I know others have mentioned River Road Unitarian Universalist - I'd be interested in any thoughts on differences between the two.  In particular, whether families/young children are more involved at one or the other.  (I am still stinging from an older gentleman at a Catholic mass several years ago telling me that my young child was "not welcome" because she was not pin-drop quiet.  Pretty sure God wants kids in church, and he was just a cranky old man, but it still really made an impression).  [/quote]

Ok, so, yeah - that's not going to happen - at either River Road or Cedar Lane. Been in both -both are welcoming to children.  Kids go to RE (Religious Education) during service, so the restlessness of a child would never be an issue anyway, but I've never seen anyone grouch about the kids.  There is "Time for All Ages" at least once a month where kids attend the first 15-20 minutes of service and there is a kid-centric lesson of some sort.  Cedar Lane also has a robust children's choir with an awesome volunteer music director for the little ones, and a wonderful paid music director for the older kids.  The older kids sing once a month for the congregation and meet on Thursdays for practice. The little ones meet on Sundays between services to practice and I think sing 3-4x a year (and they are SO cute).  I haven't been to RR in years so I can't really speak to its current RE program or how it compares to Cedar Lane.  I do know that Cedar Lane's RE program has grown quite a bit in the last few years.[/quote]

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