Blue Boat of Youth and Young Adult MinistriesSpotlight: UUs of Northeastern University
Small But Mighty The set up was in some ways completely familiar. The cushions on the floor, the snacks arranged casually around the yet unlit chalice. Students drifting in and sitting down, late evening on a weekday. I could have been in the basement of the chapel back at my small Midwestern liberal arts college gathering with the Unitarian Universalist (UU) student group I led for three semesters. But I’ve been out of college for more than six years and instead I was in an interfaith space at Northeastern University here in Boston, a visiting Unitarian Universalist Association staff member. I ask the students why they come to the UU campus ministry gatherings. Their answers…
Spotlight: Young Adults of WellSprings UU
Jessica, a young adult, is coming up on the one year anniversary of when she found WellSprings Congregation, “A community charged full with the charge of the soul,” outside of Philadelphia, PA. She reflects, “I walked into WellSprings wanting more than separate groups of friends where I could play out separate parts of my personality, I was looking for integration. I wanted a place and people with whom I could be my whole self. WellSprings met me where I was – at first curious, but guarded about what being a part of congregation means. I am finally in a place where I can let my big hair out and explore my many questions about why…
Spotlight: UUs of Wellesley College
Consistency is Key Rosemary Dodd is a student at Wellesley College and was very involved in youth leadership in her Unitarian Universalist(UU) community back home in California. She is part of the UU student group at Wellesley, supported by a UU chaplain, and she can see the difference it makes coming to a school with an active and supported UU group on campus. “I think it helps to keep me balanced and gives me an opportunity to stay connected to my spirituality, especially since being UU has been so key to my identity and focus before Wellesley; it creates some continuity, which so many of my other UU young adult friends have struggled to find.”…
Spotlight: UU Young Adults of Fourth Universalist
Animating Church Life “We actually had a conversation recently about how we can get more older people to come to our church,” shared Ryan Novosielski, current president of the Fourth Universalist Society in New York City. “I know that’s not a common conversation [in Unitarian Universalist churches] but hey, it’s New York!” Ryan is one of the many young adults serving in leadership at Fourth Universalist, commonly shortened to “4th U.” He helped start the young adult group about five years ago when they lacked critical mass. Now their group tells a very different story. Erin Bigelow, who chairs the Church Council where representatives of each committee meet, and serves on the Transitions and Right Relations Teams,…
Spotlight: UU Young Adults of Mutual Aid Carrboro
True Solidarity – Enduring Fire “A few weeks ago after a particularly long and hectic day, I sat down at a Mutual Aid Carrboro gathering. As we checked in with one another, I realized that this felt like home.” This is the report from Kyle Reeves, a graduate student at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill who was “craving connections with folks outside the chemistry community” and was drawn to Mutual Aid Carrboro, once he heard of it, after prior experience with a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Massachusetts and a desire to seek justice. He describes Mutual Aid Carrboro, which is part of the larger organization Sacred Fire UU, as “an intentional group based in…
Spotlight: UUs of the Sanctuary Boston
Welcome to the Spotlight Series! Each month we feature a different Unitarian Universalist congregation or community that is doing effective, innovative or otherwise interesting ministry with young adults.– Ed. Embodied multigenerational worship draws young adults Though the Sanctuary Boston‘s worship services are held at different church buildings, walking into their gatherings on a Wednesday evening always has some similar elements. There are the Name Tags made of card-stock tape and safety pins where you can write your name and preferred gender pronouns, the warm welcome from strangers and friends, the chips, hummus and salsa set out for those who, like me, come straight from work and are feeling hungry. Then there’s the worship, with a similar…
Spotlight: UUs of Wooster
Welcome to the Spotlight Series! Each month we feature a different Unitarian Universalist congregation or community that is doing effective, innovative or otherwise interesting ministry with young adults.– Ed. These Young Leaders are Bridge Builders You may have heard those familiar with young adult ministry joke, with a note of sadness and frustration in their voice, that what we call bridging (the transition from youth to young adult Unitarian Universalist community) is less like crossing a bridge and more like jumping off a cliff. Well a small group of UU students at The College of Wooster have decided to build their own bridge and have formed a new student organization that is spreading the good…
Spotlight: UU Young Adults of Chicago
Welcome to the Spotlight Series! Each month we’ll feature a different Unitarian Universalist congregation or community that is doing effective, innovative or otherwise interesting ministry with young adults.– Ed. A unique and engaging model for local young adult ministry Chicago Chalice Connection is a one of a kind young adult program that is connecting Unitarian Universalists from all over the Chicagoland area with spiritual engagement, social justice and service opportunities, and a peer group for support and socializing. What makes Chicago Chalice Connection different from many of our young adult ministries? It’s connected to a geographic area rather than a specific institution (such as a congregation or college) and it is led by paid young adult…
Spotlight: UU Young Adults at Channing-Murray
Welcome to the Spotlight Series! Each month we’ll feature a different Unitarian Universalist congregation or community that is doing effective, innovative or otherwise interesting ministry with young adults.– Ed. It’s not every day that I highlight a young adult or campus ministry that has its roots in the consolidation between the Unitarian and Universalists, but then again, the Channing-Murray Foundation is not your average young adult or campus ministry. This non-profit center was formed when the Unitarian and Universalist congregations in town joined together to form the UU Church of Urbana Champaign (UUCUC), or what the folks I interviewed called “the Green Street Church.” In that shift, a decision was made to keep both historical buildings, and…
Spotlight: UU Young Adults of Tallahasee
Welcome to the Spotlight Series! Each month we’ll feature a different Unitarian Universalist congregation or community that is doing effective, innovative or otherwise interesting ministry with young adults. Resilient… Renewed… Revelatory. “When the Campus Ministry/Young Adult position was de-funded some folks thought that was the end of the program,” related Rev. Robin Gray, the minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tallahassee (UUCT). But fortunately the story didn’t turn out that way. Lee Edwin Chipps-Walton, a young adult and lay leader started coordinating their young adult program as a volunteer. Robin claimed Lee “offered us several years of growth for a program with consistency, involvement and connections – both within the YA community and…
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