Young Religious Unitarian Universalists

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


YRUU

Bodies of Government
Steering Committee
Youth Caucus
Youth Council
Youth Office

Symbolism
Flaming Chalice

Events
Continental Conference
Youth Caucus
Youth Council
Youth Conferences

Traditions
Youth empowerment
Youth development
Positive youth development
Community youth development
Youth-Adult partnership
Youth voice
Youth rights
Youth activism

Young Religious Unitarian Universalists, or YRUU, is a youth organization that exists within the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association), an organization of Unitarian Universalists in the United States of America and jointly with the CUC(Canadian Unitarian Council) in Canada. YRUU is primarily run by youth, with mentoring adult partners. A traditionally unique feature of YRUU is a strong culture of youth empowerment.

Contents

[edit] Goals

The goals of YRUU, as stated by the Youth Office in Boston, Massachusetts. [1], are to:

[edit] Structure

YRUU is organized on three levels:

The age range at every congregation changes, but the accepted continental age range for youth is 14-20, having been cut from 12-22 in the mid-1990s.

Local organization in YRUU and in Unitarian Universalism takes shape in youth groups, with different organizational styles and age groups. Some congregations have youth-led youth groups, some congregations have youth advisors leading youth groups, and some congregations have no youth group at all.

[edit] Congregational

Congregational YRUU is centered on the "Youth Group." Youth Groups consist of youth (usually people high school to early college age) from a congregation. While many youth groups take on the moniker "YRUU," there is not necessarily any organizational relationship between local YRUU, the distric/regional, and national YRUU organization. Youth groups tend to function much like those of other faiths, talking, fund-raising, occasionally attending services, and going on field trips or excursions. UU youth groups, however, have been known to take on more Social Justice-related projects than others.

[edit] Cluster

A relatively new development in youth programming, "cluster" youth activities are those organized between several nearby congregations. Like congregational YRUU, these clusters are not formally tied to continental YRUU organizations, are sometimes touted as alternatives to district/regional/continental YRUU programming, and often choose to avoid the use of the YRUU moniker.

[edit] District/Region

The youth programs of each of the UUA's district's and the CUC's regions usually has its own governing body, known by varying names such as Youth Adult Committee (YAC), District Youth Steering Committee (DYSC), or simply Youth Council, which organizes on a district/regional level. Their responsibilities and positions vary with each district/region. Typically each body will have a setup resembling (Chair or President (Facilitor/Executive analog), a Social Action Cordinator (SAC), a Worship Coordinator, a Youth Council Representative (YCR) and one or more "Adults at Large" or "Adult Advisors.")[2] These governing bodies are usually in charge of planning district/regional conferences, communicating with the district/rigion, and communicating with Continental YRUU and if in Canada communicating with the CUC's nationl youth boby kown as YAG(Youth Advisory Group).

[edit] Continental

All continental bodies use Consensus decision-making, along with almost every other YRUU body.

[edit] Youth Caucus

At General Assembly, a caucus of all willing youth in attendence serve as a youth voice at the yearly gathering of UUA congregations. The caucus is a space for youth to be with those with whom they identify, as well as a way to further the goals of YRUU in the greater denomination.

[edit] Youth Council

YRUU's governing body is called Youth Council. Youth Council is a body of youth and adults that meet once a year to make decisions for YRUU. Their responsibilities include passing resolutions, changing YRUU by-laws, hearing and acting on reports from various sources, participating in anti-racism/anti-oppression trainings and other workshops. The Youth Council consists of:

  • One Youth Council Representative (YCR) from each UUA district and CUC (Canadian Unitarian Council) region.
  • One junior high transitional age range representative
  • One senior high transitional age range representative
  • One Canadian at large
  • 6-8 Adults at large
  • One Working Action Manager (WAM)
  • One Continental Social Action Coordinator (C*SAC)
  • The People of Color Caucus
  • Steering Committee
  • Youth Office staff (Youth Programs Director and Youth Ministry Associates)

[edit] Youth Office

The Youth Office consists of five full-time staff. Youth Ministry Associates (YMAs) serve on UUA staff for one year as full-time staff in the Youth Office at the UUA. They are generally youth who are bridging into young adulthood (18-22). The Youth Programs Director oversees the long-term work of the office. They are all supported by the Youth Office Assistant. The Youth Office also offers a summer internship as well as various volunteer opportunities.

The Youth Office carries out the directives of the YRUU Youth Council and the UUA, creates resources, manage the YRUU-related email lists and the YRUU website, publish Synapse (YRUU's newsletter), advocate for youth in the UUA, support training at Leadership Development & Spirituality Development conferences, Basic Youth Advisor Training, Advanced Youth Advisor Training, Anti-Racism Training, Advanced Training, Chaplain Training, the Training of Trainers, and plan continental events. The YPSs focus on supporting YRUU programs, collaborate with the Office of Young Adult and Campus Ministry on social justice issues, and help support the development of curricula and resources for Religious Educators, including the Our Whole Lives sexuality curriculum. The Youth Office is part of the larger Lifespan Faith Development Office.

[edit] Steering Committee

The Steering Committee is elected at Youth Council every year to be the governing body of YRUU that will meet when not all of Youth Council can. They meet four times each year, and come to Youth Council, which they plan and facilitate. The ContinentalYRUU Steering committee has 12 members:

  • 3 Youth on PoCAC (People of Color Advisory Council)
  • 1 Adult on PoCAC
  • 1 Adult At-Large
  • 1 UUA Board Of Trustees Member
  • 1 POA (Position On Appraisal)
  • 5 At-Large Youth

Steering Committee Meets 4 times a year to carry out the work of continental YRUU while youth council is not in session. Steering Committee used to pick the YPS and YMA but due to structural changes, steering committee's responsibility is now to plan youth council, be a bridge between the UUA Board/Administration, and helps be a key push for Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression in the continental YRUU movement.

The People of Color Advisory Council is directly Accountable to DRUUMM (Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalists) and Youth Of Color that are apart of the UUA.

[edit] Canadian

[edit] Youth Advisory Group

The Youth Advisory Group or YAG is the nationl youth body in the CUC, and it's made up of the following mebers: a Youth Observer to the Board (YAB) - not that's the CUC's board, a YRUU Canadian at Large, a BC region rep, a Western region rep, an Ontario/Quebec rep from QuOM - note QuOM (Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes) is a CUC youth rigion combining the general CUC regions of Eastern and Central, an Atlantic Canada rep from QuOM, an adult from the west - i.e. the BC and Western regions, an adult from the east - that's QuOM, and the Director of Lifespan Learning at the CUC.

[edit] Events

[edit] Congregational

[edit] District/Region

District/regional Youth Councils organize events on the district/regianal-level, which commonly include Youth Conferences(Cons), and sometimes week-long summer camps, which are often run cooperatively by several districts/regions. Leadership Development Conferences, Spirituality Development Conferences, and other trainings/workshops are organized by district/regional Youth Councils in cooperation with the Youth Office in Boston.

[edit] Youth Conferences

Unitarian Universalist Youth Conferences, commonly called "Cons", or "Rallies" in the UUA's Southwest District are a happening that brings together Unitarian Universalist youth and there adult advisor. They are held in various Unitarian Universalist churches and one generally last for about a weekend with, all hours of the day filled with spiritual and other kinds of sharing including tons of moments of learning and fun.

[edit] Continental

[edit] Continental Conference

YRUU's Continental Conference is a Youth Conference which is open to youth of all UUA districts, and the Canadian Unitarian Council's regions. Up until 2004, ConCon was held annually, in a different place in North America each year. ConCon has not been held since 2004, because of various safety and organizational issues, explained somewhat by the Youth Office in its December 15, 2004 letter to YRUU.[3] In that letter, ConCon was indefinitely discontinued. However, "an annual conference of YRUU" is necessary to YRUU, as stated in Article 4 of their bylaws. [4]

ConCon was "bequeathed" to YRUU by members of its precursor organization, Liberal Religious Youth (LRY), in an official document drafted at the 1982 Common Ground II conference that ended LRY and birthed YRUU. Until 2005, ConCon had occurred regularly since the 1950s. [5]

[edit] Youth Caucus

In addition to being a governing body, Youth Caucus at General Assembly affords time and space for community building. The Youth Caucus consists of a variety of activities, including workshops, nightly worships and other youth centered events. There is also a youth caucus "business party" each day called FUN TIMES - Folks Unanimously Networking To Imagine Manage and Execute Sesions. Here the Youth Caucus will decide if it will support various resolutions as well as elect a few continental leadership positions.

[edit] The YRUU Social Justice Training (YSJT)

Formerly known as the YRUU Social Justice Conference, YSJT occurs annually and gathers youth around the continent to learn how to organize grassroots campaigns, work with the media, and educate others about current social justice issues.


[edit] See also

[edit] External links


 
Unitarian Universalist Youth and Young Adult programming within the Unitarian Universalist Association
Past: About Your Sexuality | Liberal Religious Youth | Young People's Christian Union | Young People's Religious Union

Present: Our Whole Lives | Coming of Age | Unitarian Universalist Young Adult Network | Young Religious Unitarian Universalists
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../y/o/u/Young_Religious_Unitarian_Universalists_66c9.html"