Although COA programs vary by congregation, they typically mark the individual's transition from younger religious education programs into a youth group, District-level/Regional Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU), as well as National and Continental-level YRUU.
Many programs ask youth to investigate their personal spirituality with the support of their mentors.
Workshops may be designed to prompt the youth, challenge their modes of thinking, or aid them in furthering their ideas.
Some congregations have also encouraged or required each child and mentor to do a social action or social service project together, or organized a service project which all participating youth and mentors do together, such as cooking and serving food at a soup kitchen.
Typically, participants who do not wish to present a credo statement may communicate their findings in other ways; for example a choreographed dance or a musical piece they have written.