If you are new to First Parish Malden, welcome! In our vibrant family-friendly community:

* We offer childcare in our awesome playroom, the Treehouse, during worship services as well as during all events before and after services.

* We have Religious Education (RE) classes for ages 4-6 (Saplings), 7-9 (Branches), and 10-14 (Leaves). It’s free to register here (all ages).

* Children are always welcome in our sanctuary, and we believe that the noises they make are sacred and holy. They can sit in the pews with the grown ups they came with, or explore one of our three kid-friendly play areas:

1. The VIP Zone for Very Inquisitive People — play with toys, read a book, draw, or grab a fidget while you listen to the worship service.
2. The Baby Zone — an area for our littlest members to play, relax, rest or do other baby things.
3. The Wiggle and Giggle Zone — if you need to move around and be a little louder, there’s an area for bigger movement activities in the back of the sanctuary.

* No two Sundays are the same at First Parish, but in general, each month we have:

• RE classes twice a month ~ On those days, children 4 and up usually start by coming to our worship service at 10:30, and then leave for class about 15-20 minutes in, after a part of the service which we call the Time for All Ages.
• Multigenerational Services once a month ~ These are special services that are designed to engage young people and adults alike!
• All-Ages Children’s Chapel once a month ~ On these Sundays, children of all ages gather together after the Time for All Ages, and we do special activities such as service projects and holiday celebrations.

* We are also starting up a middle school youth group and hope to offer a youth group for high school students in the future — if you are interested in getting involved with either of those, please contact our Director of Religious Education, Sara Krakauer.

* We offer programs for parents and caregivers, from casual meetups like Donuts and Dishing to discussions on relevant topics that we find ourselves encountering.

* We teach Our Whole Lives (OWL) sexuality education classes, and this year we are offering OWL programming to all children in grades K-6.

* We are committed to welcoming families of all types, and this year we are offering a special program called “EmbraceRace for UU Families” to help parents and caregivers talk to their children about issues of race of racism.

* Throughout the year, we have a variety of other family events, such as movie nights, our December holiday party, a UU Passover Seder, and more. We also offer a week-long summer program in August.

What do children learn at First Parish in Malden? As Unitarian Universalists, we put love at the center of everything we do. Most importantly, we want to build and nurture a community that’s respectful, supportive, and fun! We don’t all need to believe the same things in order to worship together, so we welcome people from all religious backgrounds and theologies, including atheists. Our lessons are all centered around our shared values of Justice, Equity, Transformation, Pluralism, Interdependence, and Generosity, so that’s why you might hear people talk about our JETPIG. Here’s a song about these values written by our Director of Religious Education Sara and our Music Director Soren (performed with our minister Rev. Otto).

We invite you to keep exploring these pages and check out Religious Education (RE) events on our calendar. Register for RE below, or just show up on a Sunday! Note: All are welcome any time, but it’s helpful for us to have children registered if possible. It’s free to register and doesn’t commit you to attending on any particular schedule, but it helps us to have the information we need to keep your child safe.

Please contact Sara Krakauer, our Director of Religious Education, with any questions, or just to say hi.