Congregational Leadership Opportunities
You can get information about many of the opportunities in your congregation options simply Unitarian Universalists (UUs) tend to use a lot of acronyms and abbreviations, so if you don’t happen to know what a particular collection of letters means, ask! There is a list of acronyms available on the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) website, too.Here’s what one young adult had to say about his experience being an active member at his congregation and then wider community,by talking to members. Remember, coffee hour (or whatever your congregation calls the social time after the Sunday morning worship) can be a great opportunity to learn about the workings of your congregation and the opportunities you have to become a leader—or simply an active member—in your congregation community! Also it’s very likely that your congregation has committees that aren’t listed in this resource; don’t let that deter you from joining them!
Youth holding congregational leadership positions isn’t a new idea, but is sometimes rare; read an article on the subject from the UU World. The article highlights the importance of having a congregation’s religious professionals (Ministers, Directors of Religious Education, etc.) support youth involvement. Another great article called Youth/Adult Collaborations Create Vital Youth Groups can be found in the Fall 2003 issue of InterConnections.
"When I was a youth I served on my church’s Board of Directors as the youth representative. I found that it was incredibly helpful in gaining experience dealing with adults and getting used to how churches run meetings, and my consistent presence and contributions to the Board helped the youth to gain a lot of respect in the church. As a result of my participation, I was offered a number of different positions/roles in the congregation and in [our district]. So my advice to any youth seeking a leadership position would be to first try to find positions at your local congregation and then go from there.”
Sunday School (RE) Teacher
(youth often have this position)
Description: Teaching the children in your congregation about Unitarian Universalism. This job can range from (basically) babysitting very young children, to teaching the curriculum provided by the UUA and your congregation to elementary and middle school students, to even helping out with OWL (Our Whole Lives) or Coming of Age. This is almost always a job where you will be working with at least one other person—in other words you will have help! If it’s your first time, you could probably ask to be put with someone who has a lot of experience.
Contact: Your congregation’s minister/director of religious education (MRE/DRE). You will probably be required to attend some sort of training/planning workshop with other RE teachers at your congregation, and will be greatly appreciated!
Perks: If you didn’t have the opportunity to go through UU Religious Education (RE), or a certain year of RE at your congregation, here’s a chance to learn things you may not have known about Unitarian Universalism, or other religions. For example if you didn’t get to do Neighboring Faiths or Congregation Around the Corner, but your congregation now offers it, teach it; you will be able to learn about and teach children about other religions, and visit other houses of worship. You’ll also get to work with and get to know the younger generations in your congregation.
Member of the Choir
(youth often have this position)
Description: Going to choir rehearsals, and singing during worship services, can also involve being in plays/musicals/operettas. Some congregations may require an audition, but most do not.
Contact: The choir or music director at your congregation. You will most likely need to register some time in either the summer or fall for the coming school year.
Perks: You get to sing, make music for your congregation, sharpen your singing skills, and have fun!
Congregational Board of Trustees
(youth sometimes have this position, and sometimes have a reserved space for youth on the board!)
Description: The Board of Trustees (sometimes known as the Board of Directors, Standing Committee, Prudential Committee, Parish Council, etc.) is responsible for most of the major decisions for the congregation. They are the congregation’s primary leadership, though what they spend their time on varies widely between congregations. They make or approve most policy decisions, except those made by the whole congregation’s membership at the Annual Meeting. They are usually elected by the whole congregation at an annual meeting.
Contact: Chair of the Church Board, President of the Congregation
Perks: Be a part of the major decisions affecting your congregation!
Some congregations have a reserved space on the Board for youth… in other congregations, youth cannot even serve on their church board because they are not old enough to be members! Find out what the situation is in your congregation, and work to make sure that there is no age requirement for Board membership. Before running for a position on the board, be sure to learn what the board is and what it does; it will help you make your case for youth representation. It helps to have some experience with some of the other leadership committee mentioned in this resource before running for election. You may need/want to undergo some leadership training before trying to run for a position on the Board.
Religious Education (RE) Committee
(youth sometimes have this position—and if they don’t, they should!)
Description: The RE committee is the group that makes the decisions about everything related to Religious Education. They decide on things like curriculum, grade levels for various topics, RE registration, teachers, OWL (Our Whole Lives), coming of age, and much more.
Contact: Your congregation’s minister/director of religious education (MRE/DRE), or the chair of the RE Committee (usually an elected position.)
Perks: Help improve the programs for younger folks, and make sure there are cool and interesting programs for young adults like you will be when you’re 18!
This is a committee that should really have a youth member, especially one who went through RE at the congregation. It is extremely helpful to hear the opinions of someone who has recently gone through the program. if your congregation doesn’t have a youth member on this committee talk to one of the chairs or your MRE/DRE and get one!
Social Justice Committees
(youth sometimes have these positions)
Welcoming Congregations
Description: The Welcoming Congregation Program is a volunteer program for congregations that see a need to become more inclusive towards bisexual, gay, lesbian, and/or transgender people. It consists of a series of workshops developed by the UUA. The goal of the workshops is to reduce prejudice by increasing understanding and acceptance among people of different sexual orientations. Some of the workshop titles include: How Homophobia Hurts Heterosexuals; Connections to Other Forms of Oppression; Gender Socialization and Homophobia; and Biblical Perspectives on Homosexuality. Many congregations offer the workshop series several consecutive times as an adult religious education curriculum open to all members and friends. In some congregations the workshop series (and later the entire program) are sponsored by a Welcoming Congregation Task Force/Committee created for just this purpose, while other congregations sponsor the workshop series through their Interweave chapters. In either case, the workshops are best facilitated by those that have experienced the curriculum.
Resources: Welcoming Congregations
Journey Towards Wholeness / Anti-Racism (JTW/AR)
Description: Journey Toward Wholeness is the name for the UUA's entire anti-oppression, anti-racism multicultural initiative. There are several paths on this journey—the path to dismantle racism, to eradicate heterosexism, to abolish ableism, and to combat economic injustice. Journey Toward Wholeness reflects a common, overarching process grounding our transformation and includes all of the programs, resources, strategies, committees, resolutions and alliances that make up Unitarian Universalism's anti-oppression efforts. Journey Toward Wholeness resources are available for leading us into an anti-oppressive way of life. The paths developed by the Faith In Action department (FIA) of the UUA include accessibility programs, anti-heterosexism/ homophobic programs, and anti-racism programs. For more info, contact the UUA’s Congregational Services Staff group at congservices @ uua.org.
Resources: Journey Towards Wholeness
Green Sanctuary (a.k.a. “Seventh Principle Project”)
Description: A Green Sanctuary is a congregation that lives out its commitment to the Earth by creating a sustainable life style for its members as individuals and as a faith community. Sustainable living is not about our material comfort (though these choices are an important part of the overall life style); it is about choosing to live in a way that nurtures life, builds relationships, and rejects material consumption as the sole determinant of happiness.
Resources: UU Ministry for Earth
Perks: Do something about issues your passionate about within your congregation community. Help the environment.
Worship Committee
(youth sometimes have this position)
Description: The Worship Committee carries out different tasks at different congregations, but their main goal is to do what they can to improve worship at the congregation. They can facilitate things like chalice lighting, readings, and announcements. The Worship Committee generally works with the minister/s to make the best worship services possible.
Contact: The minister/s for Sunday morning worship; the Worship Committee Chair
Perks: Better, more exciting worship services!
If your youth group does not meet during Sunday morning worship, a youth voice on this committee is important. There are many congregations where youth attendance at Sunday services is very low. As a member of the worship committee you can contribute ideas of how to get the services more youth-friendly. If you don’t think the worship services at your congregation are all they could be, or if you’re not getting the spiritual nourishment from them you wish you were, this is the perfect committee for you!
Membership Committee
(youth sometimes have this position)
Description: The membership committee manages the congregation’s relationship to all of its members. They encourage new friends to join, guide new members find leadership and spiritual growth opportunities within the congregation, put together membership directories so the members can contact each other, etc.
Contact: Membership Committee Chair, Congregational Administrator
Perks: Get to know lots of different people in many different areas of the congregation. A youth could ensure that youth are included in the congregation’s strategies for hospitality and welcoming. If you’re an extrovert, this is a great place to put your skills to work.
Caring Committee
(youth sometimes have this position)
Description: The Caring Committee act as extensions of the a minister’s pastoral care in large congregations in which the minister(s) can’t possible provide care to all congregants. The Caring Committee find out who in the congregation is sick, injured, or suffering a loss, and visit those people and send them cards and flowers as appropriate. They also find out who is getting married, adding children to their families, or celebrating a graduation or other rite of passage, and help them celebrate. They also help keep the congregation informed about all the joys and concerns of the individual membership.
Contact: Caring Committee Chair or Congregational Minister
Perks: Build deep, meaningful relationships with people of all ages in your congregation!
Building and Grounds Committee
(youth rarely have this position)
Description: This committee deals with the physical workings of the congregation and surrounding land. They decide how and when the grass gets cut, the congregation gets painted, flowers get planted, information in the sermon box gets changed, the trash (and recycling!) gets dealt with, the floors get vacuumed, the kitchen and offices are well stocked, etc. the simple things that make the congregation run smoothly. This committee sometimes manages the food and drinks at coffee hour after the worship service, though sometimes that’s managed by a Hospitality Committee.
Contact: The Building and Grounds Committee Chair, the Hospitality Committee Chair.
Perks: You get to have a say in what your congregation looks like and how it works, physically. If you think they should have say, entirely pink flowers on a walkway, or fairly-traded coffee after the service, then by being on this committee you can have that opinion make a difference!
Partner Congregation
(youth sometimes have this position)
Description: Many UU congregations in North America have a partner congregation in another country that they help out, and maintain contact with. “The Mission of the Unitarian Universalist Partner Congregation Council is to foster and support partner congregation relationships between North American congregations and congregations in all other countries where partnering is sought and welcomed.”
Contact: Chair of the Church Board, President of the Congregation
If your church does not have such a committee, you could start one! (see below) If you have interest in learning about Unitarianism in other countries this could be an amazing experience, you can have contact with people at your partner congregation, and who knows, even go to visit! Many communities who have a partner congregation do have trips to go and see them every few years, as well as having ministers or members of the partner congregation come visit, so meeting people from your partner congregation is very possible. Visit the Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council for more information.
Stewardship/Fundraising Committee
(youth rarely have this position)
Description: This committee is there to help the congregation get the resources and money it needs to survive, and provide the needed funds for congregation operation and outreach. They help organize fundraisers, budgeting, organize and run pledge drives, pledge record keeping, bookkeeping, and other financial matters.
Contact: The Stewardship Committee Chair
Perks: Get some great experience in intergenerational, values-based fundraising. Share ideas for fundraising in a way that avoids reinforcing classism. Help get your congregation involved with the community.
If you are interested in gaining funds for your congregation and youth group, this is the committee for you! It also gives you a chance to be creative in coming up with new ways to get congregation funds, for example; you think your congregation should have an annual kiddy carnival open to your town that could benefit the congregation—maybe you’re the first one to come up with this idea at your congregation! Joining the stewardship committee would give you a chance to put your plan into action, gaining needed money for your congregation, and fun for kids in your town!
Finance Committee
(youth rarely have this position)
Description: This committee/s decides how the money of the congregation is gained and divided. Any financial decision must go through this committee. They Oversee and maintain records of congregation finances, generates financial statements, and advise the Board on financial matters.
Contact: The Finance Committee Chair, the congregational Administrator
Perks: A youth could help make sure a congregation is putting its money where its values are. For youth interested in finances and accounting, a chance to get practice working with large and complicated budgets, and fundraising.
Committee on Ministry
(youth rarely have this position)
Description: This committee is charged to monitor and evaluate the ministry on a regular and continuing basis. The total ministry encompasses the staff, lay leadership, and congregation at large and all aspects of the congregation's activities. They work to strengthen the quality of ministry within the congregation and serve as a communication channel between the minister and the congregation. The committee also often works closely with a Search Committee when a congregation is seeking a new minister.
Contact: The minister/s for Sunday morning worship; the Committee on Ministry Chair
Perks: Having (a) minister(s) who minister to folks of all ages in your congregation.
For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
