Blue Boat of Youth and Young Adult MinistriesStretching Resources for Campus Ministry
Smart Strategy + Limited Resources = Vibrant Campus Ministry by Carlene Gardner Three years ago, the Unitarian Church of Montreal (UCM) hired me as the Campus Ministry Coordinator on a contract of just 3 hours a week, from September to May. The purpose was to set up a group for Montreal students to connect with each other, the UCM and the Unitarian movement at large. Targeting ‘students’ was an ambitious goal, given that Montreal has four major universities and 14 junior colleges, totaling nearly a quarter million post-secondary students. This puts Montreal on the map as having one of the largest student populations in the world, and the highest proportion of any city in North…
Send a Mamas Day Card!
Dear Reader of this message, People have been creating and sending cards for generations because it’s a simple and powerful way to maintain connection and sustain our families. But too often, the Mamas Day cards we see in stores don’t reflect the mamas in our lives, or the struggles they face. It’s a distraction from the true kind of love we should be expressing on Mamas Day: The love that happens when our world is just, and when all our mamas are supported, cared for, and nurtured. It’s the kind of love I see when I look at Strong Families’ newest Mamas Day ecards. This Mamas Day, honor the mamas in your life – the…
Diminish the Pain of Unjust Detention
Strengthen bonds of love by Elissa McDavid Back in September, Warsan Shire’s (a Kenyan-born Somali poet) poem “Home,” flooded the internet: no one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear saying – leave. run away from me now i don’t know what i’ve become but i know that anywhere is safer than here “Home,” references in particular the on-going European refugee crisis, but also the larger forces of migration, across the globe and across borders. Shire points to the humanness of migration. In the United States, our media, our politics, and our society often forgets this. In particular, we forget the mothers, fathers, children, and families who have no option, but…
Multicultural Support Team Moves Toward Justice
In honor of the Standing on the Side of Love 30 Days of Love 2016 campaign, Steven Ballesteros speaks up about the important work of supporting Youth of Color. As a Unitarian Universalist young adult of color I have at times lacked a sense of belonging and of being in right relationship in this faith. I know I am not alone in this feeling. Luckily, there are places in which I can feel safe and ways in which I can apply myself. I currently live near Seattle, Washington, which places me in the Pacific North West District of the Unitarian Universalist Association. There I have helped create and serve on the PNWD Multicultural Support Team for…
Beginning Conversations about Race with Youth
Sheila Schuh, Director of Religious Education at First Unitarian Church of Rochester, NY recently told us about an innovative idea to bring people together across congregations to start a dialogue about racial justice. The youth in your congregation could be a catalyst for a multigenerational conversation to explore their and their neighbors’ identities and experiences with racism. Here’s what Sheila has to say about this youth group experience: On a Sunday in November, First Unitarian Church of Rochester hosted youth groups from ten area churches in a viewing of I’m Not Racist… Am I? If you haven’t seen it yet, the film is a feature documentary engaging 12 teenagers from New York City to come together for one…
Fiercely UU: Universalism and the Disinherited
Fiercely UU is a new blog series where Unitarian Universalist young adults tell stories about what our faith requires of us and how they follow that call. To be fiercely UU is to proclaim human worth and interdependence. In an individualist, greed-based, shame and fear fueled white supremacist patriarchy, we say no to isolation and oppression and yes to radical love and covenanted connection. – Ed. Read more stories of Fiercely Unitarian Universalist Faith here. The Disinherited by Joseph Boyd Will is a friend of mine. We met at Rikers Island Correctional Facility in a two acre garden space, a little Eden in the midst of bars, blood, and stinky socks. Will sat in a corner and…
Too Many Holes
Thanks to @KennySWiley for bring to our attention this thoughtful collection of reaction to the spate of violence we have witnessed in recent weeks. We encourage you to read, reflect, and respond (either in the comment section of this post, or by submitting your own thoughts or reflections in a post. UU Voices from Black Friday by Nancy Bentley, Jill Forney, Steve Nye, Marianne Sheldon, Deb Donley, Lori Sly, Robin LaBorde, Sheila McElroy, Rev. Dana Lightsey Within the space of a month this fall, the city of Colorado Springs fell victim to two mass shootings. In the first, four people were killed: a passing bicyclist, two women, and the shooter. In the other incident,…
Plan the Escape of Your Inner Human!
Camp Unirondack Transforms 😐 Into 🙂 If there is one thing that seven years at Camp Unirondack has taught me, it is that camp is not just for kids. I know, I know, camp director rhetoric if you’ve ever heard it right? But let me tell you why it’s true. It stems from a struggle that I think many people share. If there is one thing almost all people on this planet have one thing in common it is that feeling of doubt inside. Am I going to pass this test? Will I graduate? Am I good enough? I have yet to meet someone who hasn’t felt it. Part of that feeling is an ever-present…
MidAmerica Young Adult Con!!
We share Celena Todora’s message to all Young adult Unitarian Universalists – Ed. CONduit: Opening Channels of Communication Hi, I would like to invite you all to the MidAmerica Young Adult Conference in Rockford, IL in November. Even if you are not in the MidAmerica region, you are welcome! Our theme is CONduit, which will be centered around opening up conversations about UUism beyond our spiritual communities. Hope to see some of you there 🙂 ~ Celena https://www.facebook.com/events/1478416225794881/
Whiteness and Apocalypse
By guest blogger Amelia Diehl . -ed I am so grateful to have been able to attend the Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice‘s Grounded and Resilient Organizer’s Workshop Climate Justice Training in Chicago, IL and feel connected again to a community and to a movement. I think I might have learned more about myself and climate change in that weekend at the GROW training than my few years or so of calling myself an environmentalist, and in ways I could never have predicted. The space created for group reflection allowed me to learn a lot about what it means for me to be involved in the movement, and also to forget about myself at times. Earlier this summer,…
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