Blue Boat of Youth and Young Adult MinistriesVIDEO: What is God? by Ella Boyer
One assignment our Summer Seminary (#UUSumSem) program students receive is writing a 3-5 minute homily based on a prompt. On Saturday night they presented their homilies to each other, and then voted to select the five they wanted to represent their class during worship on Sunday Morning at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, CA. Here Summer Seminarian Ella Boyer asks not, “Who is God?”, but “What is God”. The answer she finds is both illuminating and inspiring. Watch now as Ella Boyer Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Summer Seminary 2016 Grad delivers her homily, “What is God?” during First Unitarian Church of Oakland, CA. Sunday Worship: Learn about Summer Seminary, a program of the UUA Office of…
VIDEO: The Irrationally Beautiful Place, by Zollie Davis-Huntley
One assignment our Summer Seminary (#UUSumSem) program students receive is writing a 3-5 minute homily based on a prompt. On Saturday night they presented their homilies to each other, and then voted to select the five they wanted to represent their class during worship on Sunday Morning at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, CA. Here Summer Seminarian Zollie Davis-Huntley examines the links between the those who hurt and those who are hurt that lead to healing. Watch now as Zollie Davis-Huntley Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Summer Seminary 2016 Grad delivers her homily, “The Irrationally Beautiful Place”, during First Unitarian Church of Oakland, CA. Sunday Worship: Learn about Summer Seminary, a program of the UUA Office of…
VIDEO: Faith and Trust – by Libby Palmer
One assignment our Summer Seminary (#UUSumSem) program students receive is writing a 3-5 minute homily based on a prompt. On Saturday night they presented their homilies to each other, and then voted to select the five they wanted to represent their class during worship on Sunday Morning at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, CA. Here Summer Seminarian Libby Palmer imagines the future of Unitarian Universalism by examining its past, and describes a vibrant movement, strengthened by faith. Watch now as Libby Palmer Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Summer Seminary 2016 Grad delivers her homily, “Faith and Trust”, during First Unitarian Church of Oakland, CA. Sunday Worship: Learn about Summer Seminary, a program of the UUA Office of…
VIDEO: Whole, Healing and Broken – by Paloma Callo
One assignment our Summer Seminary (#UUSumSem) program students receive is writing a 3-5 minute homily based on a prompt. On Saturday night they presented their homilies to each other, and then voted to select the five they wanted to represent their class during worship on Sunday Morning at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, CA. Here Summer Seminarian Paloma Callo speaks to the lament with which many youth and young adults struggle, “How do we inherit this broken world with grace?” She calls for other generations to hold the hands of the younger generations as they work to shape and reshape the world that was given to them. Watch now as Paloma Callo Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)…
VIDEO: The Bigger Heart – by Isaac Prier
Watch as Isaac Prier Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Summer Seminary 2016 Grad delivers his homily, “The Bigger Heart”, during Sunday Worship at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, CA. Learn about Summer Seminary, a program of the UUA Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries. Read the transcript of Issac’s homily: ISAAC PRIER: There is salvation in this life. This is one of the five jagged rocks of Unitarian Universalism, a statement of faith created by Nancy Bowen. There is salvation in this life. But if there is salvation, is there not also damnation? For a long time, I struggled with this jagged rock and saw many others struggle with it because of the implication…
Fiercely UU: Showing Up in Full
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. Showing Up in Full by KC Slack I’m what you might call a 1st & 7th principle Unitarian Universalist. Don’t get me wrong, principles two through six matter immensely to me, but the first and seventh are the ones I come back to over and over again in my…
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…
Love set Ablaze
In honor of the Standing on the Side of Love 30 Days of Love 2016 campaign, Phebe Hawes speaks up about being a light of love in a time of hate. In order to love alike, we need not think alike ~Francis David. This quote got me thinking. I come from a suburban, mostly white, community. For the most part, we look alike. But we certainly do not think alike. And there’s not a whole lot of love either. So I turn to social media. Like many millennials, I spend most of my time online. I, however, spend a majority of that time defending my beliefs to people who don’t agree. I get the feeling…
Giving Youth Access to Life-Changing Resources
Embarking on a life of ministry An Open Letter to UU Ministers and Religious Professionals, Three summers ago, I had the absolute privilege of attending Summer Seminary as part of its pilot year in Boston. Summer Seminary is a program run by the Unitarian Universalsit Association (UUA) that brings youth together from all over the country to learn about becoming religious professionals. These youth share a passion for ministry, religious education or music ministry. Throughout the program they learn from seminary faculty, UUA staff, and current religious professionals about all the pieces that go into a life of religious service. My year, we had speakers who shared about their social justice centered UU community ministry. This…
Challenged to Explore New Horizons By Religious Pros
Dear UU Religious Professionals: My name is Alex Jensen and I was a Summer Seminary attendee the first year it was offered by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries in 2013. Having graduated, I have had the privilege of watching Summer Seminary develop and flourish into an absolutely amazing program. This is highly in part due to the amazing religious professionals that encourage and guide our youth towards our collective ministry in Unitarian Universalism (UU). When I was first considering a call to ministry, I received an informational email from my congregation’s Director of Religious Education (DRE), Sally Ahnger, about the Summer Seminary program opening up for the first…
Recent Comments