Foreward
At the dawn of YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists) in the early 1980s, my youth group ventured into the wilderness of conference planning. Charged with enthusiasm, we set out to plan the best conference ever. I'd like to tell you how great it was. But I can't. Our written history burned in the big church fire. And the oral history is nothing but exaggerated rumors, none of which are true. So don't believe them. Rather than frighten you with false stories of what can go wrong in conference planning, suffice it to say that, had it been published, we would have used this excellent handbook.We did have access to some information about conference planning. Liberal religious youth traditions were still available via ghosts. But this information consisted mostly of how to perform muffin sacrifices, how to tie-dye, and some vegetarian recipes—which were actually quite good. But, as the youth movement grew, so did the need for information on conference planning. The oral network was not able to keep up with the local YRUU groups which were springing up all over the place. While some traditions were carried over, new conditions, most notably youth/adult cooperation, required new ideas and new ways of doing things.
Intergenerational communication is at the core of this adventure. Youth and adults working together to form a religious community that both touches the interests of youth as growing, experimenting beings and challenges adults to play their most natural role.
This book speaks the voice of experience. It whispers results to its neighbors. But the virtue of this voice is that it is not the final word, but instead, the beginning word. It is written down and made accessible for anyone interested.
Above all, this book makes plain the basics of conference planning. It reminds us of what may seem obvious but is often overlooked. Everyone can use a reminder, especially if it makes us notice something we didn't know we weren't noticing. If we notice something missing in this handbook, that's good. It means we're doing our job as planners.
Just as a real con artist knows that there is no one formula for fraud, we know that there is no one formula that guarantees a successful conference. A good con artist thinks spontaneously, on his or her feet; we have to do the same. If we follow the advice of this book, the foundations of the conference will be solid enough to withstand even our most radical experimenting.
This book recognizes that if we want to be conference planners, a certain amount of technique is needed. So it offers everything the authors have learned in their combined years of experience. The advice in "Getting Started" and "Pre-Conference Planning" is essential. The chapter "Programming for Specific Ages" reminds us that we are a part of a larger community which makes meaningful our own particular age group. The chapters "Building Community" and "Leadership Development Conferences" are true to the common expressions that YRUUs use to explain why they meet together at all. The more practical chapters "Worship," "Behavior Guidelines," and "Adult Advisors" provide sound advice for rule making.
So at last, we have all these bright ideas about conference planning in our hands. All of this useful information will neither blow away in the wind, nor burn up in any church fires—we hope.
For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
