Purpose … The Coming of Age (COA) program provides a substantive spiritual program for youth in transition from childhood to adolescence by:
Participants … Youth ages 14 and older are eligible to participate in the COA program. Currently, no upper age limit exists, enabling all interested Junior and Senior High youth to go through the program. Youth who are 13 but will turn 14 during the church year may participate after consulting with the Minister or Program Coordinators about their readiness for the program.
A list of participants for the 2005/2006 church year is available in the church office and in the Members area of this site.
Mentoring … Each COA youth is paired with an adult mentor. The purpose of mentoring is to give each youth the opportunity to develop a relationship with an adult other than a parent or guardian. The mentor provides the youth with another role model for adulthood and, hopefully, becomes a trusted adult to talk with and learn from. Youth and mentors are expected to meet once a month.
Community Service … The purpose of the community service requirement is to expose youth to the benefits and challenges of volunteering and to provide an opportunity to develop their compassion and generosity. Each youth is required to perform 4 hours of community service each month, or a total of 32 hours for the program year. Uncompensated community service may be done with the mentor, with other mentor/youth pairs, and/or through school or with friends and family members. Youth are expected to keep a log of their hours.
Kate McNierney has provided suggestions for possible community service opportunities.
Program Contacts … The program contacts are:
Calendar …
| 2005 | 2006 | ||
| Date and Time | Activity and Place | Date and Time | Activity and Place |
| 9/13/05 7:00-8:30 p.m. |
Orientation Meeting, Parish House | 1/22/06 11:30-2:00 p.m. |
Mid-Year Check-in (Great Room) |
| 10/2/05 9:00-1:30 p.m. |
Welcoming Ritual (Meeting House), Mentor Training (Parish House) | 2/7/06 7:00 p.m. |
Trustees Meeting (Minister’s Study) |
| 10/16/05 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. |
Ice Breaker Pot Luck (East Wing and Vestry) | 4/2/06 (All Day Saturday) |
Clara Barton District Spring Conference and Annual Meeting |
| 10/28/05 7:00 - 9:30 p.m. |
Movie/Discussion (Great Room) What the Bleep Do We Know? | Spring (Feb thru May) |
Youth meet with Elea (1-on-1) |
| 10/29/05 (All Day Saturday) |
Clara Barton District Fall Rally, Hartford, CT, UU church | Dates TBD | Other committee meetings |
| 11/8/05 7:00-9:00 p.m. |
Path to Membership Class (Minister’s Study) | 4/29/06 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. |
Youth Retreat |
| 11/15/05 7:00-9:00 p.m. |
Path to Membership Class (Minister’s Study) | 5/21/06 11:30 a.m. |
Annual Meeting, Vestry |
| 12/7/05 7:00 p.m. |
Worship Committee Meeting (Minister’s Study) | 6/4/06 9:00 a.m. |
Rehearsal & COA Closing Ritual |
1 Powder House Road … P.O. Box 457 … Groton, MA 01450-0457 … 978-448-6307 … …
Most recently updated 2006-08-12