Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fayetteville

All are welcome…

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Director of Religious Education (DRE)

Joy Berry has been the Director of Religious Education at UUFF since early 2009, and is on her way to becoming a credentialed Religious Educator (CRE). Joy is a mom of three children ranging in age from 3 to 17. Her academic emphasis was on mothering and childrearing in America and around the world, and she recently received her master’s degree in sociology with a thesis called “Childhood Decides: Towards and Understanding of Attachment Parenting Mothers”. She has a professional background of working with kids in various settings to increase joy, wonder, and beauty in their lives, believes that UU RE philosophy dovetails perfectly with those goals. She believes children learn best when they are engaged and nurtured while being allowed to explore, ask questions, get dirty, and make mistakes, and she works to create a slate of classes annually that inspire and engage children, who are “naturally religious–by which I mean, they ask big questions all the time, and accept that not all of them have easy answers–to children, EVERYTHING is amazing and their curiosity and sense of wonder knows no bounds. This is the nature of a religious mind”. Joy raises chickens for eggs and has a breeding program for Black Javas, a critically endangered heritage breed chicken, and ships fertile eggs all over the United States for others to hatch and raise. She volunteered as a La Leche League leader for ten years, advocating for and supporting breastfeeding mothers. She is inspired by nature, mothering, great writers, poetry, science, and children of all ages. She loves to talk about educational and learning styles, chickens, sustainability, slow food, local economies, bees, and community. You can read her chronicle of backyard chicken tending here: http://charmed-life-chickens.blogspot.com/