“Sophia Fahs”
Rich Roberts, DRE & Rev. Tim Temerson
Rich’s Reflection
Sophia Lyon Fahs was a teacher, author, storyteller, editor and the mother of five. Her
most significant and lasting contribution to religious education came from her work as the
Curriculum Editor for the Education Department of the American Unitarian Association. Her
appointment to that position in 1937 is considered THE crucial event in the modern history
of Unitarian religious education.
And so you may wonder, why?
In short, because as curriculum editor she brought together the two key elements
necessary for a long overdue modernization of religious education instruction: a consistent
philosophy of religious education and progressive instructional methods grounded in
children’s experiences and interests. She had been working with and developing these
elements her entire working life. As Curriculum editor she was in a position to change the
landscape of religious education for children throughout the denomination.
She was the right person, in the right place, at the right time.
Let me give you a few examples of how her work continues to impact our children today:
Why are stories from many religions and cultures, not only Bible stories, used in the church
school?
Because of Fahs
Why are our children encouraged to explore life’s questions, to engage their own
experiences, to ask questions and develop answers that make sense to THEM?
Because of Fahs
Why are our children taught to understand others rather than judge them? To see all
people as part of one family with common problems, concerns and joys
Because of Fahs
Sophia grew up the child of Presbyterian missionary parents. She planned to become a
missionary herself, but that was never to be. After graduating from Wooster College in
1897 her missionary husband was posted to New York City. There she earned her Masters
from Columbia’s Teachers College in 1904, and a divinity degree from Union Theological
Seminary in 1926. She taught children in three progressive laboratory schools, learning all
about new methods of education that promoted experiential learning and utilized new
knowledge about children’s cognitive and social development. She taught children in the
church school setting, was a trainer of church schoolteachers, and raised children of her
own.
Over time, this child of missionary parents began to change her views of religion, of
education and of the role that children play in their own spiritual and personal growth. The
religious education of Fahs’ youth was based on Bible stories and the lessons and morals
that could be drawn from them. The child was considered a vessel to be filled with truth
and reverence by their wiser adult teachers. As Sophia describes it "We had family
prayers and Bible reading every day. Each of us took our turn until we went right through
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the Bible. Sunday was a very carefully observed day, spent mostly going to church, reading
religious books, playing Bible games and singing. I had been a faithful sunday school pupil
all through childhood. The religion of the home was serious, devout, sturdy, and sincere."
Later, as an educated young woman Fahs started to see things differently. In the process
of raising her own children she became convinced that children begin developing their
religion in the earliest stages of childhood; that they are curious about the same eternal,
existential questions that adults have. That they learn best when they are encouraged to
follow their own natural interests and when the classroom reflects true life experiences.
She saw the value of stories from other cultures and religions as a way for children to
develop an affinity with all people. She came to believe that it was the search that
mattered in religion, and that the starting point of this religious quest was common human
concerns. Does this sound familiar? In the 1930’s it would not have sounded familiar to
the members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Akron.
And, she did not see true religion and science as at odds. Fahs denied a separation
between the sacred and the secular. Here she is speaking to the Religious Education
Association in 1928 on the theme, Changes Necessary in Elementary Education Due to
Conflicts Between Science and Religion . She argues that science and religion need not
conflict and that the means of bringing them together was” the thoroughgoing reconceiving
of religion itself” from a concern with belief and moral codes to a concern with openness
and search. “ The essence of the religion of the new day will be found in the process of
search into the most intimate and perplexing problems of living”
Fahs was not a Unitarian when she was hired to become the curriculum editor. At 60 years
old she was a professor, author, speaker and editor. For some time the Unitarians had
tried unsuccessfully to revitalize what they knew was a floundering and outdated religious
education program. The primary curriculum at that time was called the Beacon series. The
early 20th century movements in biblical criticism, progressive education and liberal
theology had all had their impact on religion and society.
Two previous attempts at revising the Beacon series had made some progress. However,
The Unitarian RE program was still akin to a three masted sailing ship struggling to be
relevant in the modern age of ocean liners. Fahs was hired to guide the creation of
curriculum for what became known as the New Beacon Series. Those who hired her did so
because they were already familiar with her significant body of work. They saw in it, and in
her, the future of religious education. It was a brilliant decision. In her own life Fah’s had
already successfully navigated similar waters as her theology and educational views
evolved. As a child and young woman she embraced her family’s Presbyterian evangelistic
views about God and prepared to work as a Sunday school teacher. Her work with children
then led her to believe it impeded a child’s natural spiritual growth to teach about God until
they developed an interest on their own. This was a radical departure from her upbringing.
Over time she changed her view; realizing that introducing the concept of God to young
children was an appropriate part of a comprehensive children’s curriculum; one that
promotes inquiry, includes many sources of inspiration and emphasizes human experience.
Her theological journey had culminated into a comprehensive philosophy of religious
education.
It’s not enough to say that Fahs work had a impact of seismic proportions on Religious
education. Her impact is on Unitarian Universalism as a whole. When we read in our
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hymnal the six sources of our living tradition – written in 1984- we see the echoes of Fahs
ideas informing how UU’s typically see themselves today. Many you are familiar with the
Candelabra we light during the Christmas Eve service that acknowledges other world
religions. As the author of that piece, I can assure you it is an echo of Fahs, even though
when it was written it I had not read her works. She’s in our Unitarian Universalist. DNA
So, how much of what we do in the church school here is Fahs.
Curriculum focused on needs and interests of children – Fahs
Science in the curriculum - Fahs
Stories of real people, real problems, real solutions -Fahs
The notion that everyone in class, adults and children are learning from each other
World Religions – World cultures
Lessons that lead to emotionally experiencing the stories and activities associated with
them
Wonder and Mystery as the genesis of religious experiences
The primary understanding that searching is being religious
The story I read today about the squabs? It is Fahs own rendition of a Czechoslovakian
folktale. The Fahs hallmarks it shows are. : It portrays everyday people brought to life
through detail and emotion. They wrestle with some very human problems. It invites
children to picture themselves in the same position of the characters. It leads to questions
such as: What would I do in this situation? What’s right? What matters? WHY does it
matter? It is a secular story that can lead to sacred understandings.
Does this sum up where we are today in our Sunday School Program? Well, no. As
monumental as Sophia’s influence has been, we didn’t rest on her ideas, nor would she
have wanted us to. The criticism of the New Beacon series is that although it was broad, it
was without a center. Today the newer curriculum we use in our religious education
program are intentional about nurturing a Unitarian Universalist identity in our children.
That means being intentional and consistent with the spirit of our seven principles; the way
they shape and inform who we are and influence our way of being in the world. We want
children to experience Unitarian Universalism as a distinct body of faith formation. To know
that we have principles and we live with purpose. To know that it matters what we believe
and it matters what we do.
We have moved forward in religious education and will continue to do so. That is part of
the legacy, and the philosophy of Sophia Lyon Fahs.
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Rev. Tim’s Reflection
I want to begin by thanking Rich for his reflection and collaboration on this service. And
what a pleasure it is for us to devote this morning’s service to the life and legacy of an
individual who was and remains one of the most important leaders in the history of
Unitarian Universalism. As Rich made clear, Sophia Fahs is a giant in Unitarian Universalist
religious education. Through her decades of work as the head of curriculum development at
the American Unitarian Association and then later as a consultant for the Unitarian
Universalist Association, Fahs developed and wrote Sunday School curricula that were used
by generations of Unitarian Universalist children.
And those curricula radically changed the way Unitarian Universalism understands
religious education. Thanks to Fahs’ influence, Unitarian Universalist religious education
became open, experiential, creative, developmentally appropriate, and spiritually diverse.
Fahs made real the beautiful vision first put forward 100 years earlier by the great
Unitarian minister William Ellery Channing who famously said that the goal of religious
education is not to stamp the minds of the young with creeds or doctrines but rather to stir
their minds up by awakening the soul and inspiring a fervent love of truth. Those beautiful
words were just words until Sophia Fahs almost single-handedly turned them into reality.
Most discussions of Sophia Fahs focus primarily on her role and contributions as a
religious educator. And Rich has done a wonderful job of sharing Fahs’ vision of religious
education and how that vision still impacts Unitarian Universalist religious education today.
I want to take a few moments to reflect on the connections Fahs’ vision of religious
education has had on Unitarian Unviersalism’s approach to religion and spirituality.
And any discussion of Sophia Fahs’ contributions to the history and development of
Unitarian Universalism must begin with the impact her ideas about educating children and
youth have had on our broader understanding of what it truly means to be a religious and
spiritual being. You see, it was Fahs who first taught us that human beings are by nature
meaning-seeking and meaning-making beings and that we are always learning, growing,
and changing. While we often think of religion or faith as a destination to be arrived at,
Fahs helped us understand that our spiritual lives are really a continuous journey filled with
growth and development, questions and answers, seeking and searching.
And through her extraordinary insights into the spiritual lives of children, Sophia
Fahs transformed the way Unitarian Universalism sees religion and spirituality. You see,
rather than viewing religion and the spiritual life through the lens of belief and dogma, Fahs
considered the search for truth and meaning ultimately to be about experience, and
especially our own direct experience of the awe-inspiring beauty and mystery of existence.
For Sophia Fahs, experience is the pathway to spiritual truth and meaning and purpose of
religion and especially religious community is to create spaces where those deep and
meaningful experiences can take place.
And that is why I think it’s correct to say that in Unitarian Universalism spirituality is
understood to be an experience of deep connection rather than as a particular belief.
Following Sophia Fahs, we see the spiritual life as a journey filled with experiences of deep
connection – connection to ourselves, connections to others, connections to our
communities, connections to the universe, and ultimately connections to something greater
than ourselves.
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And the reason our own direct experiences those connections are so vitally important
is that they are the only way our spiritual lives will ever truly be our own. As Fahs knew
well from her own journey, the goal of religion has been primarily to impart a set of beliefs
or doctrines – to stamp the hearts and minds of followers and believers. Sophia Fahs had a
very different view of religion – a view which held that in order for our lives to be spiritually
rich and meaningful, human beings had to find their own way, formulate their own beliefs,
and above all else, live from a place of deep authenticity.
And what an amazing variety of diverse, awe-inspiring, and deeply authentic
experiences Sophia Fahs introduced into Unitarian Universalism. Prior to Fahs’ pathbreaking work in religious education, I think its fair to say that both Unitarianism and
Universalism had a pretty traditional and one might say conventional approach to religious
and spiritual life. For example, the Bible remained the primary source of truth and wisdom.
But thanks in large part to the revolution Sophia Fahs brought to what was being taught in
our Sunday school classrooms, Unitarian Universalism truly came to embrace diverse
sources of truth and meaning.
Let me cite two important examples. It was Fahs who first introduced Unitarian
Universalist children in a systematic way to the idea that science and nature are important
sources of spiritual truth and especially spiritual experience. Prior to Fahs, the findings of
science had been welcomed and accepted by both Unitarians and Universalists. But they
hadn’t really become part of the spiritual life of our communities, which were still steeped,
as I said before, in very traditional sources. But all of that changed thanks to Sophia Fahs.
Science became a source of awe and wonder and a path to truth and meaning that was just
as important, just as celebrated, just as experienced in our congregations as more
traditional sources like the Bible.
Along with science and reason, Sophia Fahs also brought the teaching of world
religions into our classrooms and our congregations. Her path-breaking curriculum “The
Church Across the Street,” which she wrote in the 1940s, introduced generations of UU
children and youth to the beauty and wisdom that lives in the world’s religions. And that
same spirit of appreciation and learning about other faiths quickly spread throughout
Unitarian Universalism. Thanks to the changes Fahs introduced into our Sunday school
classrooms, a beautiful diversity of religious traditions are now experienced in Unitarian
Universalism. And Fahs’ contributions are especially felt right here at the UU Church of
Akron. Our high school students have been learning about world religions this year and this
very week I will be kicking off another installment in my ongoing series of classes on world
religions. And I am so honored to be following a trail that was blazed by Sophia Fahs.
And that leads me back to the beautiful reading we heard earlier and to what I see
as Fahs’ most extraordinary contribution to our faith tradition. You see, at the heart of
Sophia Fahs’ vision was her conviction that humankind lives in a universe of great beauty,
great wonder, and great mystery – a universe that is always calling us and challenging us
to learn, to grow, to explore, to make meaning, and to experience deep connection. As
meaning-making and meaning-seeking creatures, it is natural and inevitable that we will
develop ideas, answers and deeply held beliefs about our lives and our existence. Those
beliefs and those answers are at the heart of what it means to be alive and to be a spiritual
being. But as Fahs taught us, those beliefs and those answers are never the end of our
search and they are never a reason to divide, to fear, or to hate. Life is ultimately a shared
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journey that is calling us to love and to grow, to explore and to learn. Religion must never
stand in the way of that journey and that calling. In fact, religion ought to inspire, liberate,
and challenge us to live into the fullness of life, the beauty of love, and the mystery of
existence. That is what Unitarian Universalism aspires to do and we owe that vision, that
calling, that understanding of religion to the extraordinary life and legacy of Sophia Fahs.
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