Coming of Age is a core program for UU kids as they become youth. Monthly mentorship meetings with elders and peers, (12-13 year olds).

CoA is found in most Unitarian Universalist congregations, and is one of the more structured programs offered. Adults from the congregation are paired with a child going through the program, which lasts for a full year. CoA is meant to accompany children at a pivotal moment in their lives, when they have questions about everything – but at the same time, are just starting to find out that they hold some of the answers. At the end of Coming of Age, participants bridge into Youth Group.

Often the relationships between youth and the adults who mentored them in their CoA year, as well as amongst the youth in the cohort, continue for the rest of their adolescence!

We usually run Coming of Age once every 2-3 years, when we have enough 12 and 13 year olds to have a solid cohort. Often CoA is run with neighbouring congregations (North Shore, UU’s of the Salish Sea, South Fraser, and Beacon in New Westminster). In the past, we have run one or two person programs for kids who want the mentorship and spiritual exploraton in a year without many other kids. Please talk to Kiersten if you have a preteen who wants to get involved.