Where do you worship?

[crookedsprout]

Even though I have not been a mother very long, I have grown up with Waldorf friends, and have been rooted in Waldorf ways for most of my life. I have not gone to church in about 10 years because I feel lost and have found other resources to stay in touch with my spiritual side, but I went to church Christmas eve and we realized that we want to be a part of some form of organized religion.

What church or place of worship do you belong to where you find Waldorf philosophies seem to fit well?

[njsummer01]

We started attending a Friends (Quaker) Meeting this fall and we just love it. It's a non-credal religion, so lots of viewpoints are accepted but the main emphasis is on peace, simplicity, equality and the "Light within" all people.

We just love our meeting house - beautiful old wooden buildings. They don't have a nursery or lots of beeping, plastic toys (like most of the other churches we've attended) just some wooden blocks and tons of art supplies. While the adults are in meeting ( a silent hour of meditation) the children hear a story acted out with little dolls or puppets and then have free time to create with the art supplies. The basic program is called Godly Play and is based on Montessori actually, but works well with Waldorf's emphasis on storytelling and free play.

We really love this meeting, the people are very gentle and there is even another mama who cloth diapered her kids! (rare in this area).

We really liked our local UU church too, but the nursery/kids area was just not for us - all electronic toys, very crowded room, etc.

Hope you find a place where you feel at home!

[RollerCoasterMama]

Originally Posted by njsummer01

We started attending a Friends (Quaker) Meeting this fall and we just love it. It's a non-credal religion, so lots of viewpoints are accepted but the main emphasis is on peace, simplicity, equality and the "Light within" all people.

We just love our meeting house - beautiful old wooden buildings. They don't have a nursery or lots of beeping, plastic toys (like most of the other churches we've attended) just some wooden blocks and tons of art supplies. While the adults are in meeting ( a silent hour of meditation) the children hear a story acted out with little dolls or puppets and then have free time to create with the art supplies. The basic program is called Godly Play and is based on Montessori actually, but works well with Waldorf's emphasis on storytelling and free play.

We really love this meeting, the people are very gentle and there is even another mama who cloth diapered her kids! (rare in this area).

We really liked our local UU church too, but the nursery/kids area was just not for us - all electronic toys, very crowded room, etc.

Hope you find a place where you feel at home!

Oh wow! That sounds amazing! How lucky to have a place like that near you!

[tazzae]

We love our local UU (Unitarian Universalist Fellowship). The 'sermons' are focused largely on issues of social justice and personal responsibility for living a meaningful life. There is no dogma, so no pressure to believe a certain way; rather folks gather to form community.
We lucked out with the nursery--there's a great parent coop preschool at the site with tons of toys that encourage imaginary play.

Tara

[PabloHoneySF]

Originally Posted by crookedsprout

Even though I have not been a mother very long, I have grown up with Waldorf friends, and have been rooted in Waldorf ways for most of my life. I have not gone to church in about 10 years because I feel lost and have found other resources to stay in touch with my spiritual side, but I went to church Christmas eve and we realized that we want to be a part of some form of organized religion.

What church or place of worship do you belong to where you find Waldorf philosophies seem to fit well?

I live in Berkeley too, so I'd love to hear where you end up going .

I'm grew up Catholic, so occasionally I go to Mass at St. Magdalene in North Berkeley. It's a very sweet, older church and my favorite part is when the little kids go up and participate in Mass. I find that the Catholic observance of Saints fits in well with the Waldorf celebrations.

My husband's sisters go to the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland. We've gone with them a few times and the people I've met have been very Waldorf oriented. My husband used to be active in the Ashram and while I don't know of a direct correlation to Waldorf, it seems like he is very naturally atuned to the Waldorf lifestyle (sensitivity to rhythms and nature).

Good luck in your search, I hope you'll keep us posted in what you find!