Youth Ministries Updates
A monthly newsletter of the UUA Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries    October 2009

In This Issue
UUA Internship Opportunity
Greetings from the Director
From the Associate for Ministry to Youth and Young Adults of Color
Interfaith Youth Core Conference in Chicago
Upcoming Chrysalis Trainings
UUA Internship Opportunity
Ever thought about getting to work at UU headquarters in Boston? Need something to put on your resume? Been wanting to deepen your UU spirituality? Have some extra hours to spare?

You can gain all of that and more through a January-May paid internship for the UUA's Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries.

Find out all of the details and apply by December 1!

Contact the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries
Erik B. Kesting
Youth and Young Adult Ministries Director
(617) 948-4359
[email protected]

Rev. Dr. Monica L. Cummings
Associate for Ministry to Youth and Young Adults of Color
(262) 705-5786
[email protected]

Nancy DiGiovanni
Campus Ministry and Bridging Associate
(617) 948-4629
[email protected]

Jeremie Giacoia
Leadership Development Associate
(617) 948-4352
[email protected]

Sarah Prager
Youth and Young Adult Ministries Office Administrator
(617) 948-4355
[email protected]

Office Website

Youth Ministries Updates Archives
You can now view past issues of this newsletter online.

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Greetings from the Director
For thousands of Unitarian Universalists this Sunday, October 4, is Association Sunday 2009! Association Sunday is an opportunity of Unitarian Universalists to come together to celebrate our collective voice and influence the world. We can do more together than we can do alone.
 
The theme of this year's Association Sunday is Growing Our Diversity. Collections at congregations on Association Sunday are pooled to support important initiatives that will strengthen our congregations and our Association as a whole. Contributions at Association Sunday 2009 will benefit the following initiatives:
  • Expand the Building the World We Dream About curriculum and associated resources and training.
  • Support congregations that are working to create a Unitarian Universalism that is racially, culturally, and economically diverse; a part of this support will be in the form of grants.
  • Enable UU congregations and districts to minister effectively to youth and young adults who identify as people of color or multiracial, and to their families, in the areas of spiritual development, racial/cultural identity development, and leadership development.
I am thrilled to see these initiatives that reflect the hopes and desires of Unitarian Universalist youth expressed in the Youth Ministry Working Group Report and the Mosaic Project Report. I believe they are crucial to building a strong and relevant Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations prepared to minister to the needs of future generations.
 
To all the youth out there, I hope you see this as witness to the power of your voices to shape and guide our faith and our communities. To all the adults out there committed to providing relevant and meaningful spiritual community and ministry to our youth, thank you for your commitment and generosity.
 
To every one of all ages, I invite you to attend Association Sunday at your congregation (whether it is this weekend or another weekend), to worship, connect, and celebrate. Let us raise our collective voice, join hands in action, and help heal the world.
 
In faith,
erik kesting signature
Erik B. Kesting
From the Associate for Ministry to Youth and Young Adults of Color
Hi Family,
 
As I write this article, I am holding in my prayers all the people in the Southeast U.S. and the South Pacific Islands who survived flooding and the tsunami that struck in September. I am also holding in my prayers all the people who are living with the anxiety of not knowing the whereabouts of loved ones or how they will rebuild their lives.    
 
According to my Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling, anxiety can be explained as "A psychic response of dread or fear to a vague, unspecified threat.  Anxiety as a psychic condition is experienced by all human beings, although it may be trigged by different sources for different persons.  There are different types of anxiety and various theories about it, but, at its core anxiety signals the threat of a fundamental loss or separation." 
 
Anxiety has become an ever increasing presence in our lives.  The increasing strength of hurricanes and wild fires; the continuous loss of life in Afghanistan and Iraq; the financial insecurity that many of you and your families' are experiencing due to unemployment or underemployment are all valid reasons to feel anxious. 
 
We all have different levels of tolerance and ways to cope with anxiety.  While some people choose to meditate, others abuse legal and illegal drugs.  Some people choose to become physically or verbally abusive, while others withdraw emotionally.  Over eating becomes an option for many people, and for others rejection of food. 
 
The way you deal with your anxiety will affect every aspect of your life.  Therefore, I encourage you to become more aware of what you are feeling and what your body is communicating to you.  When you feel butterflies in your stomach, tightness in your neck or shoulders, pain in your lower back or suffer frequent headaches, I suggest you acknowledge what you are feeling physically and process/reflect on what is causing your discomfort.  Awareness and being proactive will go a long way in lessening your anxiety. 
 
As always I would love to hear from you.  You can message me on Facebook at Monica Cummings, email me at [email protected] or leave a comment for me on the YaYA of Color blog at http://uuyayaoc.blogs.uua.org/.
 
Living My Faith,
Rev. Monica
Register for the Interfaith Youth Core Conference in Chicago
It's not too late to register for the Chicago IFYC Conference October 25-27!
 
Who: Religious leaders, educators, researchers, student leaders, community activists, civic leaders, media professionals, funding professionals, policy influencers and more.
 
What: Leadership in a Religiously Diverse World is Interfaith Youth Core's 6th Conference on Interfaith Youth Work. Interfaith Youth Core is a Chicago-based international non-profit building a movement of young leaders committed to building cooperation across lines of religious difference. The Conference is international in scope and gathers all of the faces of the interfaith youth movement: interfaith activists, scholars, policy makers, religious leaders, foundation representatives, media professionals and, of course, young people!
 
When: October 25 - 27, 2009
 
Where: The Conference is co-hosted by Northwestern University's Center for Civic Engagement and will take place at the Norris Student Center on Northwestern's Campus.
 
Why: Interfaith dialogue and action is deeply important to our faith and grounded in our religious values. Our theological diversity and historic interfaith activism call us as Unitarian Universalists to lead our religiously pluralistic society toward peace. IFYC has a small scholarship fund set aside to offset registration costs for deserving conference attendees. Please email Amber Hacker at [email protected] for more information. If you are a Unitarian Universalist wishing to attend this conference and need financial assistance to do so, please contact Erik Kesting at [email protected].
 
Details and registration are available online.

Upcoming Chrysalis Trainings
The Chrysalis Training Program offers youth and adults the opportunity to gather, build community, and learn and enhance the skills needed to be effective youth ministry leaders. There are three trainings currently scheduled:
  • Chaplain Training: November 13-15, Hosted by the Thomas Jefferson District. Contact Sue Sinnamon for details [email protected].
To find out how your district, organization, or congregational cluster can host a Chrysalis Training, contact Jeremie Giacoia, Leadership Development Associate, at [email protected].