Free Congregation
of Sauk County
Free Thought in religion since 1852
Religious Education
Whether you consider yourself "religious" or not, and whether you think religion has overall played a positive or a negative role in history, it's an incontrovertible fact that humans have throughout the ages engaged in activities and beliefs now grouped together under an umbrella labeled as "religious" or "spiritual" — like worshipping; creating rituals to acknowledge life's important passages; offering explanations about the origins of our world (and our role in it); and offering people guidance for living our best lives — and creating the best world. It is well worth our time to investigate these topics that have played such a big role in world history.
Two philosophical threads intertwine here at Park Hall and inform our core values — the German Freie Gemeinde (Free Thought) movement, and the Unitarian-Universalist faith. Though the German Freie Gemeinde (Free Thought) movement and Unitarian-Universalism come from different historical and faith sources, these two threads share many similar values — one of which is a firm belief in being educated about religious, spiritual, and ethical ideas.
To learn more about how the German Freie Gemeinde heritage informs our values, please go to the "About Us" tab on our Home page to learn about our unique heritage as a Freie Gemeinde (Free Thought) Congregation.
To learn more about our Unitarian-Universalist heritage and the values reflected in that faith, visit UUA.org.
We hope you'll agree with our core, unifying Principle: To come together as a religious community to help one another in strengthening the spiritual, ethical, and moral dimensions of our lives, and to be of service to our world. This Principle informs all of our Religious Education programming.
Our Founders on Education
From the beginning, the Founders of the Free Congregation of Sauk County believed in educating children to be critical thinkers. For the mid-19th century, this was a new philosophy toward the education of youth.
In 1884, our Founders wrote:
Special importance is placed upon the education of our youth for mental and moral freedom, and for the development of their plastic young minds and their first, lasting impressions of all that is true, good, and beautiful. (We shall).....provide instruction to our young people in history and ethics....; strengthen their moral judgment and feeling; awaken their respect for and good will toward all human beings; imbue them with contempt for serfdom and love for freedom;..... For this purpose (we shall) acquaint them with the development of mankind in all its ways and byways..... and to place before them as models the lives of noble and high-minded men and women..… [for] upon youth rest our hope, the self-government of the people, and the welfare of the citizen.
Children’s Education
Child Education classes will resume this fall. We base our lessons on a curriculum developed by the Unitarian-Universalist Association (UUA), and on the principles of our Free Thought founders.
Classes begin in the hall at 10:10 a.m. on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. After opening music, a welcome, and a Story for All Ages, the teacher will take the children to our schoolroom downstairs for class.
There is no charge and you do not need to be a member of the congregation.
Please contact Susie Tatone statone01@gmail.com.
Adult Education
What I Believe Now (WIBN) is an adult education curriculum oriented around group discussions led by a facilitator. Its purpose is to explore our beliefs and values, specifically acknowledging that those may be different for each of us. The discussions are intended to enrich and deepen our individual beliefs, not to conform or discredit them. Each session presents questions and quotes designed to help participants reflect on how we've come to be where we are now, to help us define where we'd like to be, and to help us articulate what we do and don't believe.
The class is offered on a recurring basis.
WIBN in 2022 is being held on Zoom at 6:30 p.m. on the 4th Monday of each month. Please email Nick at jnschweitzer@gmail.com for details on attending. Everyone is welcome to attend at no charge.
Unitarian Universalist Seven Principles
The UU Seven Principles
- 1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
- 2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
- 3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
- 4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
- 5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
- 6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
- 7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
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Our Address, Phone, Email
PO Box 664 - 307 Polk Street
Sauk City, WI 53583
Phone: (608) 643-3131
Email: FreeCongregation@iCloud.com