Historical Documents
As any healthy organization should, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) periodically reviews its youth programming in order to evaluate its effectiveness and strengthen it. The Consultation on Ministry to and With Youth was preceded by several reviews and evaluations of Unitarian Universalist youth programming. The reports and documents below are valuable reference materials. Some of them detail review processes from the early 1980s, and others are documents that led to the formation of the Consultation and the Task Force on Youth Ministry.From oldest to most recent:
The Report
of the Special Committee on Youth Programs (PDF)
As a
result of a request made by the Continental Liberal Religious Youth Executive
Committee, the UUA Board of Trustees in April 1976 voted to establish a Special
Committee on Youth Programs (SCOYP) to study the existing youth programs and
develop proposals for how the UUA can best support youth programming.
Common
Ground: The Report of the 1981 UUA Youth Assembly Planning Committee to the UUA
Board of Trustees (PDF)
The
SCOYP proposal included the recommendation for a "continental dialogue" on youth
programming, which "would allow maximum participation and inclusion in
decision-making on future youth programs." This report is a result of this youth
assembly.
Common
Ground II: Coming of Age (PDF)
This is the report of the second Youth Assembly, which took the
recommendations of the first assembly and created a formal structure for a new
youth organization—Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU).
YRUU
Five Year Review (1987) (PDF)
This report details an evaluation of YRUU five years after it was created.
The review was initiated by the UUA Board of Trustees in response to proposals
from the Religious Education Advisory Committee and the YRUU Steering Committee.
The Report and Findings of the 1997 Youth Programs Review
Committee (PDF)
This is the report of the Youth Programs Review Committee, which was formed
by the UUA Board of Trustees at the request of YRUU. They were charged with
evaluating and reporting on the current progress of YRUU since its birth.
Proposals for Change: Youth Advisor Task Force (2000) (PDF)
This report is the culmination of two years of talking to people, gathering
stories, collecting data, developing recommendations, and beginning the creation
of resources regarding youth advising. It is a compilation of their research and
a vision for institutional change.
Consultation on Ministry to and With Youth—Historical
Timeline (PDF)
This timeline describes briefly the beginnings of the Consultation, through
August 2005.
Long
-Range
Planning Meeting Report (2003) (PDF)
This report includes a description of the history of the long-range planning
process, and prioritized goals broken down into six "content groups." It also
provides suggestions for how these goals can be implemented.
Common
Ground III: Can we just change the world already? (2004) (PDF)
This resolution, presented to Youth Council 2004, proposed a large-scale
revisioning of YRUU. This document includes the original proposal as well as the
reasons and concerns that led to stand asides and blocks in the consensus
process.
Decision of
the UUA Board of Trustees (October 2004) (PDF)
On page 7, you can find the Board's decision to convene a consultation on
ministry to and with youth.
Consultation on Ministry to and With Youth (February
2005) (PDF)
These are the minutes from the gathering of thirty youth and adults in
February 2005. This representative gathering identified five focus areas or
desired outcomes and brainstormed steps to achieve these desired outcomes.
Consultation on Ministry to and With Youth - Process
Recommendation (PDF)
This is the process recommendation created by the Consultation Design Team.
It describes, in detail, the two year process, its goals, and how to achieve
them.
Accountability on the Task Force on Ministry to and With Youth (PDF)
Youth Council 2005 passed this resolution to increase the number of youth
positions on the Task Force. The UUA accepted the proposals and added three new
youth positions accountable to specific communities.
Letter to the Task Force for the Consultation on Ministry to and
With Youth (PDF)
This is a letter from Youth Council 2005 to the taskforce about ensuring
youth empowerment and accountability in the Consultation process.
Books
We Would Be One: A History of UU Youth Movements by Wayne Arnason and Rebecca Scott.
Last updated on Tuesday, August 14, 2007.
