Blue Boat of Youth and Young Adult MinistriesYA@GA Election Results
The Unitarian Universalist Association Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries is full of gratitude for everyone who participated in the YA@GA elections process. Big thank yous go out to everyone who registered as a candidate, ran in the election, read about the candidates, encouraged others to vote and of course to the 60 young adults who did vote in the process. Without further ado we present the new YA@GA Co-Facilitator for 2017-2018: Aisha Ansano! Aisha is a 3rd year Master of Divinity candidate at Harvard Divinity School and an aspirant in the Unitarian Universalist ordination process. She’s writing her thesis on the phenomenon of dinner churches and planning to start a non-Christian dinner church. Currently…
Giving Up Trash for Lent
Living the Wasteless Life by Carter Smith My story actually begins almost a year ago, when one of my Facebook friends posted an article about Lauren Singer, blogger at Trash is For Tossers. She has become well-known in recent years for fitting two years of her trash into a single mason jar. I was astounded because I had never heard of anything like it, even in my growing environmental consciousness within the first year of my college career. Hearing that something known as a “zero waste lifestyle” was possible for people living in industrialized Western societies seemed both outlandish and amazing. From there I spent weeks reading pretty much any literature out there about waste…
Hallowed Growth in NOLA
New Orleans Service Trip by Emily Parker On this small lot in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, organic vegetables grow in rows. Honey bees housed in hives on the lot buzz by, and a bench constructed between cinder blocks doubles as a flower planter. Inside a modest greenhouse, a hodgepodge of reclaimed bathtubs support an aquaculture, growing fish and fertilizing plants symbiotically. David Young, the man behind this and many other community gardens in the Lower Ninth Ward, is taking me and seventeen other Juniata College students on a tour. Spending our spring break in New Orleans for a week of interfaith service and learning, we have just finished our first day of…
Fiercely UU: Choosing to leave the system
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. Choosing to leave the system by Jessica I was a sixth grader, big glasses and crooked teeth, always hiding my messy hair behind a book. I would sit in Social Studies class and the kid who sat in front of me would…
A Single Vote
Bends the Arc Toward Justice… by Rev. Allison Palm When my husband and I moved to New Hampshire this past summer, we deliberately didn’t get a landline. We knew our out-of-state cell phone numbers would be sufficient for our needs – and would keep us safe from the barrage of phone calls we had heard were a part of living in this first in the nation primary state. Without a landline or a TV, in many ways we’ve been sheltered from the primary craziness. Add to that the fact that we are millennials and have no voting record in the primary, and there’s been no reason for any campaign to court us. I’ve witnessed many…
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…
Here is Why Millennials Are the Worst
And Why This is Great News for Your Congregation by Elizabeth Mount Well, you can’t have missed all the articles about the Millennial generation. I hear we’re entitled, arrogant, narcissistic, selfish, lazy, politically disengaged, gullible, technology absorbed, and isolated… oh, and we talk funny too. Now we’ve grown up and keep coming to church, and what do you know, we want it to be a church that serves our needs! Here’s why having Millennials involved in your church is going to be completely awful: Entitlement. Millennials want the church to be about them. They’ve grown up with the idea that people with many different needs should be included through diverse programming. Sometimes that means changing…
Illuminating Leaders – Alex Jensen
LUMINARY ALUM ALEX JENSEN WANTS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE… And he’s well on his way to making that a reality. Alex is a graduate of the first ever Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Summer Seminary in 2013. Summer Seminary was a very important experience for him, as it helped him discern and answer his personal call to the service of others and learn more about what he wanted to do in his future career. He is curious about Military Chaplaincy. Previously, at Future Leader Camp, he explored how his Unitarian Universalist values fit with the military while learning survival and leadership skills. Alex now attends California State University in Monterey Bay, majoring in Human Communication with…
Take Your Spiritual Vitamins with Kirbey!
Spiritual practices are like vitamins for the soul. Spiritual practices are the rituals we do often to strengthen the muscles of our spirit. Spiritual practices help us stay grounded, feel alive and sustain the energy we need to make an impact in our world. In The Daily Does of Kirbz, Summer Seminary Alum, Kirbey Geissler has a spiritual practice that is sure to brighten your day. Try it out and pass it on. Read H A P P Y L I S T.
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…
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