Sophia Lyon Fahs

Sophia Blanche Lyon Fahs (August 2, 1876 – April 14, 1978) was an editor, author, teacher, and religious activist who led a revolution in Unitarian religious education. Fahs' teaching and writing focused on a method of experiential learning that she hoped would enable children to develop their own ideas about religion and spirituality.

Early life Sophia Lyons Fahs was born on August 2, 1876, in China, to Presbyterian missionaries to China. Her father, David Nelson Lyon, and mother, Mandana Doolittle Lyon, moved with her to Wooster, OH when she was three and a half years old. Her upbringing was strictly evangelical and ritualistic, as she herself describes:

Fahs received her B.A. from The College of Wooster (then called The University of Wooster) in 1897, as well as an honorary degree in 1961. She received her M.A. from the Teachers College of Columbia University (1904) and her B.D. from Union Theological Seminary (1926).

Career

Fahs was more than just a Sunday school teacher at Riverside Church.

The Liberal Religious Educators Association, the professional organization of Unitarian Universalist Association religious educators, sponsors the annual Sophia Lyon Fahs lecture at the UUA's annual General Assembly.

Books

Uganda's White Man of Work: A Story of Alexander M. Mackay (1907) Red, Yellow, and Black (1918) Exploring Religion with Eight Year Olds, with Helen Firman Sweet (1930) Beginnings of Earth and Sky: Stories Old and New (1937) Beginnings of Life and Death: Stories Old and New, with Dorothy T. Spoerl (1938) Martin and Judy in Sunshine and Rain, with Verna Hills (1940) Leading Children in Worship (1943) When is a Person Religious? (1944) A New Ministry to Children (1945) Jesus, the Carpenter's Son (1945) The Church Across the Street (1947) From Long Ago and Many Lands (1948) Consider the Children How They Grow (1951) Today's Children and Yesterday's Heritage: A Philosophy of Creative Religious Development (1952) From Long Ago and Many Lands (1955) The Old Story of Salvation (1955) Developing Concepts of God with Children (1959) Beginnings: Earth, Sky, Life, Death, Revised Edition (1960) Worshipping Together with Questioning Minds (1965) Old Tales for a New Day: Early Answers to Life's Eternal Questions, with Alice Cobb and Gobin Stair (1980)