Child Spiritual Development

At the Unitarian Society of Germantown, we encourage Wonder, Compassion, Mindfulness, Service… and Fun!

Sunday Mornings this Month

December 7th: We’ll be making fun holiday crafts with the help of Deb Kish-Silver! We’ll have different crafts including small wreaths, pomanders, and pinecone bird feeders. This will be a one-room schoolhouse, children’s chapel style CSD and everyone will be in the Assembly Room after service. Coming of Age will be on their trampoline adventure and will not meet at USG. Wiggle Room will be open and staffed.

December 14th: The annual No Rehearsal Pageant got postponed to Christmas Eve due to weather.

December 21st: Join us for a multigenerational Solstice worship. We’ll all be together in the sanctuary to honor the darkest day of the year with stories and songs. The Nursery will be available at the back of the sanctuary to get extra wiggles out. 

December 24th: 2pm Family Friendly Christmas Eve Service 
Join us for a delightfully unrehearsed Christmas Pageant in the Sanctuary. There will be enough costumes for everyone but please show up early (1:45pm) if you want a specific costume. Toddlers are welcome to be part of the pageant but the Nursery will be available at the back of the sanctuary to get those extra wiggles out.

December 24th: 6pm Traditional Christmas Eve Service
Our traditional service will be at 6pm. Kids and youth are still welcome, but this is a quieter and more contemplative service. The expectation is that kids will stay seated in the pews during this worship. Play packs will be full and available for any families that choose to attend the later service. 

December 28th: To celebrate Kwanzaa, we’ll head over to our neighbor congregation, the UUs of Mt. Airy. Their building is at 6900 Stenton Avenue and the service starts at 10am.  

January 4th: Help us ring in the New Year and say goodbye to the Old Year with our annual Jazz Funeral! Kids and youth are more than welcome to stay in the sanctuary to enjoy the music, but it won’t be as interactive of a service as our recent multigens. Any kids or youth that would rather play or do an activity are encouraged to go to Sullivan after the Time for All Ages.

Special Events

Winter Solstice Potluck and Celebration 
Sunday, December 21st from 6:00 to 8:00pm
On December 21st, we’ll honor the darkness of the Winter Solstice. Join us in the Dining Room before we head outside together. We’ll walk the labyrinth together and then joyfully roll a wheel of fire down our parking lot. Afterwards, please bring something to share at our potluck as we enjoy the warmth of each other’s company. 


Please REGISTER your child or youth. We appreciate a new registration form each year. Thank you.

Check out the new CSD guide! Inspired by our Teen Zine Night and the CSD service on creativity, we made a guide to CSD in the form of a zine. You’ll find a schedule of what to expect on Sundays, a loose calendar of events for the year, and some information about our age group classes. There will also be printed versions at USG. 

     Our Wiggle Room space is now in the Committee Room, which is at the end of the Dining Room. Parents can drop their little ones off with Susan before service starts or keep your kids with you through the Time for All Ages before taking them to the Wiggle Room. 
     The Nursery at the rear of the Sanctuary (the room formerly known as the Wiggle Room) will be available for the very littles and their parents.

We ask that parents pick up their kids from class after service if they are younger than 6th grade. Take a look at where they’ll be! 

  • Infants and Crawlers can be with their parents in the Nursery at the back of the Sanctuary 
  • Ages 1-3 will be in the Wiggle Room off of the Dining Room
  • Preschoolers and Kindergarteners will be next door at the Cooperative Nursery School 
  • 1st and 2nd graders will be in Sullivan 1 
  • 3rd through 5th graders will be in Sullivan 2
  • 6th through 8th graders will be in Daskam Room
  • Coming of Age (8th-10th) will be in Sullivan 3 

If you have any CSD questions, please contact Zoë Johnston, USG’s Director of CSD, at dsd@usguu.org. 

The Mission of our Children’s Spiritual Development (CSD) program is to:

  • Provide developmentally appropriate education that supports the lifelong process of learning to cultivate goodness, compassion, empathy, and love for oneself and others.
  • Offer safe and caring spaces for introspective work, connecting to nature, and building right-relationships in community across generations.
  • Put into practice hands-on, experiential education for children, facilitators and parents that cultivates respect, stewardship, service, mindfulness, responsibility, justice, and the search for truth and beauty.
  • To welcome young people into the UU community, help them find their way into becoming active members, and provide them opportunities to learn the rich history and guiding principles of UU.

We believe if the mission of CSD is fulfilled it will contribute greatly to fulfilling our overarching mission at USG of: Building beloved community with service, compassion and empowerment.

Please see the weekly CommUUnictor enewsletter for the most up to date info.

We are able to offer CSD because of our wonderful volunteers. Thank you for considering volunteering and click HERE for information and links to the required background checks for volunteers.