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Unitarian Universalist Association Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries
April 2011 Youth Newsletter
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 Letter from the Editor
WHY GA
Dear Friends, Every month we write about issues like marriage equality, immigrant rights and free speech to show the connection between issues of social justice and Unitarian Universalist principles. We write about faith in action transforming wrong into right because as Unitarian Universalists we are empowered to change the world into the one want it to be: fairer, more just and happier for all. This month we write about a powerful way you as a young Unitarian Universalist can change the world into what you want it to be: Attend General Assembly. Unitarian Universalists are committed to the future - and you are it: Your vision, your energy and your ability to imagine the future you want to inherit as the years unfold. Of the many reasons to attend we bring your attention to 7 principled ones: 1. Your ideas are at least as important as everyone else's. To be heard you have to be there. 2. Just relations requires that the fully diverse spectrum of our movement work on projects together. 3. Supporting divergent views and spiritual growth happens only when all points of view represent. 4. Truth and meaning don't exist until all points of view are expressed. 5. Your voice in the debate makes plenary votes democratic. 6. The UUA community is incomplete without your presence and active participation. 7. Interdependence doesn't exist in our movement without your participation. You have as many reasons to attend GA as you have dreams, aspirations, desire and determination, and but a few reasons not to attend. We can help resolve the reasons you think you can't attend with scholarships, grants, programming and opportunities. Only you can transform your reasons to attend into a brighter future for the UUA. (We will) See you in Charlotte! Happy reading! UUA Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries Visit the Unitarian Universalist Youth Ministry Facebook page!  |
 | | Rev. Dr. Monica Cummings |
Pastoral Message
Leading Diversity
Dear Family, Last August, the Youth and Young Adult Ministries Office sponsored the first annual Multicultural Leadership School (MLS) for Youth and Young Adults of Color. The second annual MLS will be held in Boston on August 5-9, 2011. The MLS is open to all UUs who identify as a person of color (Native American, Asian, Arab, Latino/a, African descent, trans-racially adopted, bi-racial and multiracial) and are 15-30 years old. Please share the following information about the MLS with your congregation, youth group, RE class, minister, DRE, district Youth Steering Committee, friends and family. The Unitarian Universalist Association, like the United States, has a growing number of people of color. As this trend continues, UU congregations, districts and continental committees will need youth and young adults of color to take on leadership. However, there are challenges when a member of a minority group who is often marginalized takes on leadership responsibilities. Examples of challenges are tokenism, racism, and a high rate of burn-out due to over-commitment and a lack of preparation for leadership. Therefore, the Multicultural Leadership School will focus on leadership development for youth and young adults of color that will prepare them to lead the way in supporting a multicultural, anti-racist, anti-oppressive Unitarian Universalist faith community. The MLS is a training designed specifically for UU Youth and Young Adults (age 15-30) of Color. The goal of the training is to equip participants to be leaders in their UU congregation, district or continental committee. The three-and-a-half day school will feature experienced facilitators who will be intentional in providing participants with experiences that will foster relationship building, leadership skills, racial/ethnic identity development, inter-cultural collaboration and deepening of faith identity. At the conclusion of the training, participants will have a new community of peers, stronger and more confident leadership abilities and a stable foundation for sustainable leadership in Unitarian Universalist congregations and other Unitarian Universalist communities and organizations. Applications are due May 15, 2011. Please apply at http://www.uua.org/religiouseducation/youth/identity-based/color/158494.shtml. As always, I would love to hear from you. You can message me on Facebook at Monica Cummings, email me or leave a comment for me on the YaYA of Color blog, "UU Living Mosaic." Living My Faith, Rev. Monica Visit the Unitarian Universalist Mosaic Project Facebook Group Page!
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SB1070+PROP8+WI
UPDATE 04: Spring freeze
(source for graphic: http://colorlines.com)This column follows legislative issues in specific states with national impact that decrease social justice in our nation. This month's update adds news on the efforts by Wisconsin Governor Walker to abolish collective bargaining for public sector workers in Wisconsin, an established right since 1959.
SB1070 A three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit issued its ruling on April 11, upholding Judge Bolton's decision preventing Arizona from enforcing provisions of the law. The panel included Judge's Paez, Bea and Noonan. Judge Paez wrote the majority opinion. Judge Noonan concurred, emphasizing the importance of foreign policy being the exclusive realm of the national government. Judge Bea concurred in the ruling that sections 3 and 5(C) were unconstitutional, but dissented as to sections 2(B) and 6, arguing that those sections were constitutional. With the injunction remaining in place, Arizona must next decide whether it wants to seek review before the entire Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals sitting en banc ("en banc" means all judges of the circuit would hear and decide) or whether it will ask the U. S. Supreme Court to take the case without the en banc hearing by the Ninth Circuit. PROP 8 The federal judge who struck down California's gay marriage ban has confirmed longtime rumors that he's gay, but said his sexuality was irrelevant in deciding the landmark case. Speaking for the first time about the case since retiring from the bench in February, former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said he never considered recusing himself from deciding the constitutionality of Proposition 8 because of his sexual orientation, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. "If you thought a judge's sexuality, ethnicity, national origin (or) gender would prevent the judge from handling a case, that's a very slippery slope," Walker told reporters Wednesday. "I don't think it's relevant," he said. WISCONSIN Implementation of the law is on hold indefinitely while the courts try to determine if the hearing at which it was passed violated the state's open hearing law. If allowed, the law would take away nearly all collective bargaining rights from public workers. |
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Youth View
LEADING FORWARD UU-UNO Spring Seminar: Empower Women for a Better World! April 28-30, NYC. Scholarships for Youth and Young Adults of Color are available. Register for the seminar here. View the UU-UNO 2011 Spring Seminar Schedule & Speakers. Click for information on Spring Seminar Accommodations. Download our 2011 Spring Seminar BROCHURE. Look for updates on Facebook and Twitter. Annual Multicultural Leadership School, August 5-9, 2011, Boston, MA. "Beyond offering leadership skill development, this conference brings together young Unitarian Universalist People of Color," said Rev. Dr. Cummings. "Within the UUA, People of Color often find themselves isolated. They look around their congregations and may not see anyone else who looks like them. This gathering invites young UUs of Color to connect with each other in multicultural community while deepening their knowledge of UU history, continuing the rich tradition of meetings at 25 Beacon Street." Learn more about the 2011 conference, download the application, read about the 2010 conference, and send us an email to yayaofcolor@uua.org if you or somebody you know would like to attend! |
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Events
Opportunities
Training
Gatherings
Teenage Interfaith Diversity Education Conference (T.I.D.E.), May 27-29, 2011. The TIDE Conference is planned by fifty high school students of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds, and held at Northeastern University over Memorial Day Weekend, May 27-29, 2011. The goals of TIDE are to train teens to communicate respectfully and use their skills in discussions about highly charged issues; develop leadership and facilitation skills; and foster bonds as well as lasting friendships among the youth in attendance. Officially designated as a Post-Parliament Event by the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR), the TIDE conference is sponsored by Interfaith Action, Inc. in collaboration with the Brudnick Center for the Study of Violence and Conflict at Northeastern University. Registration information is at www.ifaction.org. Annual Multicultural Leadership School, August 5-9, 2011, Boston, MA. "Beyond offering leadership skill development, this conference brings together young Unitarian Universalist People of Color," said Rev. Dr. Cummings. "Within the UUA, People of Color often find themselves isolated. They look around their congregations and may not see anyone else who looks like them. This gathering invites young UUs of Color to connect with each other in multicultural community while deepening their knowledge of UU history, continuing the rich tradition of meetings at 25 Beacon Street. Download your application, read about the 2010 conference, and send us an email to yayaofcolor@uua.org if you or somebody you know would like to attend! Youth Program Testers Needed! Become a field test congregation for new youth programs. A Chorus of Faiths is an eight-workshop program for high school youth on interfaith leadership. Heeding the Call is twelve workshops devoted to developing qualities of a justicemaker in junior high aged youth. Apply even if you plan to use the programs in non-traditional settings: add a workshop of curricula once a month to your regular youth group meetings, use them to launch weeknight programming, or as the basis of a retreat. If your congregation has a relationship with youth groups from other religions, use A Chorus of Faiths to spark interest in doing service work together. Some congregations already envision using A Chorus of Faiths with a cluster of youth from several congregations. For applications email fieldtest@uua.org. Direct questions to Jessica York, Youth Programs Director, at jyork@uua.org. Common Read: "The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona Borderlands" Participate in the UUA the Common Read project by reading and discussing the same book with your congregation. Common Read builds community within congregations and among Unitarian Universalists by giving diverse people a shared experience, a shared language and a basis for deep and meaningful conversations. Purchase Margaret Regan's book in hardcover or paperback from the UUA Bookstore. The book is available in hardcover at public libraries. |
Announcements
Association-wide
International
Regional
Local
General Assembly 2011 Youth Scholarship - application deadline April 20, 2011.
Don't let the opportunity to receive a grant to attend the 50th Anniversary General Assembly June 22-26 in Charlotte, North Carolina pass you by - download the application today! UUA Youth Project Grant Program - Apply Now! As called for in the Youth Ministry Working Group Recommendations, the UUA has established a grant program for local youth-led projects giving Unitarian Universalist high school age youth opportunities to grow in faith, deepen in spirit, develop skills and offer leadership and service to Unitarian Universalist communities. Grants up to $2,000 will be awarded to youth who pair with an adult advisor in a sponsoring congregation, district or Unitarian Universalist organization. We are accepting applications now, so apply immediately! Learn how to apply, including sample project ideas, at Youth Project Grants. |
 Resources
Books
Videos
Website
Organizations
 Faith Like a River: Themes from Unitarian Universalist History - a Tapestry of Faith program for adults exploring the dynamic course of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist (UU) history, its people, ideas, and movements that shape our faith heritage. Help spread the word about this new resource!
UU World Spring 2011 Issue. Grab your copy and check out the Tapestry of Faith insert - read about The Children and the Frogs, how a Unitarian Universalist invented the World Wide Web, the Tao of iPod, and more! Subscribe or read UU World online!General Assembly 2011 Youth Scholarship - application deadline April 20, 2011.
Don't let the opportunity to receive a grant to attend the 50th Anniversary General Assembly June 22-26 in Charlotte, North Carolina - download the application today!
Video - "A Religion for Our Time, Episode 14: "Joining Voices:" a behind-the-scenes look at the joint Association Sunday service planned by seven Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations in South Central Pennsylvania. Thanks to more than 200 volunteers, the November 2010 joint service included an orchestra, an intergenerational dance troupe, a robust choir and a sermon by Unitarian Universalist Association President Rev. Peter Morales. Worshipping together builds community among the congregations and gives participants a sense of the broader UU movement. "Many of our members have never been UUs anywhere else," explains Rev. Judy Welles, co-minister of the UUs of the Cumberland Valley congregation. "So to come into a much larger context...where they see, 'oh we're really part of something much bigger,' is very healthy." Download Episode 14 (MP4) (right-click to save the file). Share Episode 14 (YouTube) Video - "A Religion for Our Time, Episode 15, "An Auction with Heart!" spotlights the Outreach Auction at Central Unitarian Church (CUC) in Paramus, New Jersey. Inspired by a charity auction at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City, members of CUC are in their tenth year of holding two annual auctions. While the spring auction raises money for the congregation, every dime from the Outreach Auction in the fall goes to local charities. "Don't listen to any naysayers, just do it," says Celia Mendelsohn, co-coordinator of the Outreach Auction. "You will raise funds, even if it's what you feel might be a modest amount, it's going to grow over the years. You will not lose money to pledging. You might even see your pledges increase, because it's a wonderful feeling to belong to a church that does this." Download Episode 15 (MP4) (right-click to save the file). Share Episode 15 (YouTube)
Grants - Youth Project Grants Grants are available ranging in value from $200-$2,000 to help support congregations and districts by creating opportunities for youth, including service and spirituality projects.Resource - "Standing on the Side of Love Activist Toolkit" - download application for your FREE memory stick! This toolkit gives you the tools to further the Standing on the Side of Love campaign in your community and it comes on a cool memory stick! |
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Evolution
We are working on making your newsletter more fun to read and use with more opportunities to get involved, connect with other UUs and deepen your faith.
Let us know what you think! What's missing? What are you tired of seeing?
E-mail us at youth@uua.org
Keep reading - let's evolve together! 
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