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Young Adult News
A monthly newsletter of the UUA Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries November 2009 - Issue 74
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| Upcoming Events |
CONtinuum
November 6-8, 2009
Tacoma, WA
Transforming our Whiteness
December 5, 2009
Arlington, MA
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Our Office is Hiring!
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The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries is currently seeking to fill two open positions: a full-time Office Administrator and a part-time Communications Technology Associate. Both positions are on-site in Boston. Follow the links for more information on the positions and how to apply.
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UUA Internship Opportunity
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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 2010 paid internship for the UUA's Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries. Please read more about the commitment and benefits, as well as application details. Apply by December 1, 2009! |
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| Greetings from the Director |
| Greetings all,
This issue of Young Adult News contains a number of opportunities for young adults. One not mentioned is that a few adult support positions are available for General Assembly Youth Caucus Staff. We could use some strong young adults to help make General Assembly an awesome experience for all the youth attending. Find out more and apply online!
I hope you will share these opportunities with other young adults in your community. This issue is pretty full, so I will leave you to read on... I hope you enjoy this issue of Young Adult News!
In faith,
 Erik B. Kesting
Youth and Young Adult Ministries Director |
From the Associate for Ministry to Youth and Young Adults of Color
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Hi Family,
I am sitting in the Providence,
RI airport waiting to go home
after having an incredible time at the Liberal Religious Educators Association
Fall Conference. The keynote speakers
were inspiring and the workshops were engaging.
However, what I enjoyed most about the conference was being able to talk
nonstop about ministry with youth and young adults of all ethnicities. One program I am particularly excited about
facilitating in the next few months is "Identity Development: Ethnicity/Race,
Gender and Sexual Orientation."
As I walked in downtown Providence, I became aware that Halloween and
the month of November is only a few short days away. And with November comes Thanksgiving an
American holiday in which I continue to have a love-hate relationship. I hate Thanksgiving because it is a reminder
of the U.S.
government sanctioned genocide of the Natives Peoples who helped the first
Europeans who arrived on these shores survive.
I love Thanksgiving because it is one of the few times that American
families sit down together to eat a meal and share why they are thankful. It is a ritual I have become accustomed to
and look forward to each year. A special
time when each person sitting at the table gets to share why they are
thankful. I wish this ritual was
practiced everyday, instead of just once a year. Think about it. How different would this nation be if every
family and every individual gave thanks at each meal? A simple prayer that would, in my opinion,
have a huge impact on how people experience the world and their place in
it. The Christian Sage Meister Eckhart
teaches, "if the only prayer you say in your whole life is 'thank you' that
would suffice."
My prayer for each of you this month is that you take time
each day to say thank you for something or someone in your life. I think you may be surprised at how the
simple act of being thankful can transform your life. As always I would love to hear from you. You can message me on Facebook at Monica Cummings, email me at mcummings@uua.org or leave a comment for me
on the YaYA of Color blog at http://uuyayaoc.blogs.uua.org/.
Living My Faith,
Rev. Monica
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| Call for Authors - Tapestry of Faith Interfaith Youth Curriculum |
The Lifespan Faith Development staff group of the UUA seeks an author for an interfaith leadership program for high school-age youth. This curriculum is part of a joint initiative of the UUA and the Interfaith Youth Core. The author will partner with a co-author from the Interfaith Youth Core. Writing will begin immediately upon hire, with a complete manuscript due in late spring 2010. The author will receive a Word-based template for program design and manuscript preparation, and UUA staff will work closely with the author in developing the curricula and suggesting resources. More details and how to apply are on UUA.org. | |
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UU-UNO Internship Opportunity
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The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office is looking for a new intern to serve as Youth Envoy Coordinator! We are reviewing applications on a rolling basis. For more information about this opportunity please visit this link. The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) promotes the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all, as reflected in the United Nations Charter. Through targeted education, advocacy and outreach, we engage Unitarian Universalists in support of international cooperation and the work of the United Nations. Since the UU-UNO was founded in 1962, UU envoys have been working to ensure that their congregation's voices are represented at the United Nations. Through their work with the UU-UNO, UU envoys have been tremendously successful at influencing UN policy to promote global justice. Today the UU-UNO continues to make a difference by: addressing gender-based violence in Sudan, ending criminal sanctions based on real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity, supporting school fees for 160 AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in Ghana, and much more. It is important to our office that we represent all the diverse voices of the Unitarian Universalist faith by ensuring that every congregation has an Envoy or Envoy Committee. To learn more about the UU-UNO Internship Program go to this link. |
Being More Visible: Changing More Lives Gathering in Madison!
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For those of you who weren't able to join us in Madison, WI from September 23-26, here's a brief recap of the event!
About thirty people gathered at First Unitarian Society in Madison, WI to connect with each other and learn how to strengthen and support campus ministry. We are grateful to the First Unitarian Society community and especially to Karen Barrett-Wilt, Young Adult and Campus Ministry Program Coordinator for FUS Madison, for being our logistics coordinator and co-planner! Many many thanks to the students, district staff, ministers, seminarians, directors of religious education, professional and volunteer staff who came out to contribute great ideas, passion and support to grow this ministry within our faith community. If you are interested in learning more about campus ministry, or need resources to support your work, please visit our dedicated campus ministry page.
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Bridge Connections and Call for Bridging Programs!
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The Bridge Connections program helps keep young adult Unitarian Universalists connected to Unitarian Universalist communities and campus groups when they go off to college, get their own apartment, or start a new job. If you bridged last spring and did not receive or send in a Bridge Connections card to the UUA, you can submit your information online. Directors of religious education and bridgers themselves are welcome to complete this form.
We are also calling for Bridging Programs! We seek to create an amazing resource for this profound change in the lives of our congregants (as it is a family and community rite of passage) and we want to know what you're doing to celebrate it in your congregation! Please send us the sermons, songs, or curricula you are using for consolidation into a larger and extremely valuable resource to be shared across the denomination! You can email or fax submissions to Nancy DiGiovanni, Bridging and Campus Ministry Associate at ndigiovanni@uua.org, fax #: 617-367-4798 or mail them to: Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, 25 Beacon St, Boston, MA 02108. |
Rev. William G.
Sinkford Receives 2009 Angus MacLean
Award
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The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations has
named the Rev. William G. Sinkford, former president of the UUA, as the 2009
recipient of the Angus H. MacLean Award for Excellence in Religious Education.
Judith A. Frediani, UUA Director of Lifespan Faith
Development, presented the award on Sunday, October 25, 2009 at the Liberal
Religious Educators Association (LREDA) annual conference in Providence, RI.
Bill Sinkford's leadership of the UUA brought initiatives
and institutional changes that enhanced the capacity and expanded the role of
our religious educators to guide and support faith development of Unitarian
Universalists at all ages and stages of life. Rev. Sinkford recognized the role
of lifelong religious learning in nurturing UU faith and growing vital
congregations of justice and love. One of his first acts as president was to
rename the Religious Education Department the Lifespan Faith Development staff
group to inspire and effect a culture change in our congregations regarding
this core ministry. Later, he secured staffing and funding for the Tapestry of
Faith curriculum project to help further this aim.
During his presidency, Bill Sinkford promoted and supported the
professional status of religious educators in Unitarian Universalism with the
movement of religious educator credentialing into the Ministry and Professional
Leadership staff group, the enhancement of professional development
opportunities through programs such as Renaissance religious educator training,
and the launch of a job search system for religious educators.
Bill was an early, enthusiastic supporter of the Tapestry of
Faith lifespan faith development program, the first comprehensive, interactive
and integrated program of curricula and resources for child, youth, adult and
multigenerational Unitarian Universalist religious education. The UUA began
publishing Tapestry of Faith programs online in 2007.
As president, he initiated an Association-wide Consultation
on Ministry To and With Youth to engage congregations' youth, ministers,
religious educators, musicians, and District staff in strengthening our youth
ministry. The process generated the Youth Ministry Working Group, the MOSAIC
consultation, the Youth Ministry Advisory Committee, the new Youth and Young
Adult Ministries Office and, ultimately, a comprehensive re-visioning of
Unitarian Universalist ministry to youth and young adults.
Finally, Bill Sinkford's social justice ministry embodied
the vision or religious education and social justice as branches of the same
tree of liberal faith.
The MacLean award was established in 1972 by the Alumni
Association of the St. Lawrence University Theological School and the Religious
Education Department of the UUA. The award is administered by the UUA. Each
spring, a committee chaired by Judith Frediani, Director of Lifespan Faith
Development, selects a recipient.
Nominations for the
2010 Angus MacLean award
Anyone may nominate a recipient. Nominations for the 2010 MacLean
award will be accepted until March 1, 2010.
A nominee should be a UU who has achieved several of the
following:
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contributed to the quality of religious
education at the local level
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raised the quality of religious education at the
denominational level
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been innovative in the use of religious
education resources
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brought dignity to the profession of religious
education
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influenced religious education beyond our
denomination.
A nomination must specify the nominee's qualities,
achievements and contributions relevant to the award criteria and provide basic
nominee biographical data and contact information. Submit nominations to
MacLean Award Committee, attn: Adrianne Ross,
Unitarian Universalist Association, 25
Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108.
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| Contact the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries |
General Contact Information (617) 948-350 youngadults@uua.orgErik B. Kesting, Youth and Young Adult Ministries Director ekesting@uua.org, (617) 948-4359 Rev. Dr. Monica L.
Cummings, Associate for Ministry to Youth and Young Adults of
Color
mcummings@uua.org, (262) 705-5786 Nancy DiGiovanni, Campus Ministry and Bridging Associate ndigiovanni@uua.org, (617) 948-4629 Jeremie Giacoia, Leadership Development Associate jgiacoia@uua.org, (617) 948-4352 | |
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