The goals of Coming of Age (COA) programs are:
To encourage youth to explore what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist;
To help youth move into the adult role of identifying and acting on personal beliefs and values;
To recognize and publicly honor the movement of a youth from childhood to adolescence within the Unitarian Universalist tradition.
Through mentoring and classes, the COA program:
Encourages youth to discuss, reflect on, and clarify their personal religious beliefs as part of lifespan faith development;
Provides opportunities for independent thinking, assuming responsibility, decision-making and exploration of values;
Encourages youth to put faith into action in their own lives and community.
Components of COA usually include youth being paired with a mentor to work on above stated goals, planning and implementing a service project, and presenting a credo (statement of faith) as part of a Coming of Age ceremony. The program can include a trip to a site of UU heritage, such as Boston to visit the UUA and other historical UU places.