YRUU Steering Committee Speaks
by Siri LarsenGood Morrow, YRUU!
Howdy! My name is Siri and I'm an at-large member of the 2004-2005 Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUUs) Steering Committee (SC). I'm here to tell you all about what SC is up to these days. I'm actually going to share with you a song I wrote:
(Chorus)
Oh Steering Committee, Steering Committee, whatcha doin' now? Steering Committee, Steering Committee—tell us what you do and how!
Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression are things we really love, as well as community building, and mittens, not gloves!
We think consensus rocks! And Youth Program Specialists (YPSs) Selection! Birthday cakes for Jova are a favorite confection!
(Chorus)
We work with other Steering Committees, like The Youth and Young Adult Caucus of Diverse and Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries(DRUUMM YaYA) and Continental Unitarian Universalist Young Adult Network (C*UUYAN)! We're sending representatives to the summit on Youth Ministry Regarding Drug/Alcohol Use, organized by Nan!
We didn't forget about Common Ground III / Convocation on Ministry to and with Youth, We created the amazing YRUU 7 to resolve concerns and plan, yay for a free and open search for truth!
(Chorus)
We extended Youth Council 2005 to ten wonderful days, so we won't be groggy the whole time or stuck in an exhausted daze!
We implemented the "It ain't just about marriage" resolution and made a queer-youth friendly addition to the June YPS's job description—Wow! what a marvelous transition!
(Chorus)
We're responding to the Continental Conference (Con Con) decision
with hope and future plans; liasonships and accountability are more things we
think are grand!
Oh Steering Committee, Steering Committee, whatcha doin' now? Steering Committee, Steering Committee—tell us what you do and how! WOW!
Following the release of this song, one of my thousands of fan letters requested that I talk a little bit more about the things mentioned in the song and other exciting news.
This year’s Steering Committee has gone through a lot together this year in terms of Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression work. We’ve stretched and grown, and are energized to work hard for a truly Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive YRUU. There is so much exciting work going on right now!
This February, members of ARTOP (the UU Anti-Racism Trainer Organizer Program) led the first-ever Regional Anti-Racism Analysis Development Conferences, which were open to elected Youth and Young Adult leaders as well as others. There is a Youth of Color Leadership Development Conference happening in Dallas, TX in June. (Visit www.druumm.org for more information.) A website on Youth and Young Adult Anti-Racism work is coming into its final stages of completion, soon to be available for you to check out for HOURS at a time! A meeting of YRUUers of Color to evaluate Youth Council's People of Color leadership structure, and the relationship with DRUUMM, is happening soon. And the Youth and Young Adult Anti-Racism Transformation Team is starting up! To learn more about these events and programs and others, check out the YRUU website, read on, and get excited!
Many other exciting things continue to happen for YRUU. This year, we've extended Youth Council from its original seven to now TEN days, to give us more time for programming (including Education Reform and Multiculturalism training!), consensus training, BUSINESS, networking, community building and FUN! We are excited about this extension and doing lots of amazing planning.
We’re also really happy to announce that at our January meeting, Steering Committee nominated the amazing Lily Jee Yung Sparks as the next June YPS! We’re also really happy to announce that the fabulous Beth Dana has accepted the newly created position of Youth Ministry Associate.
There’s always so much going on in the world of YRUU Steering Committee, and we'd like to strongly encourage you to check out what's going on and keep in contact!
Well, that's all for today. Thanks for joining us for "Story Time with Steering Committee." See you next time!
Contact the Steering Committee with your visions for YRUU!
YRUU Steering Committee 2004-2005
Youth Members-at-Large
Nora Lindsey
Gregory Boyd
Siri Larsen
Laurel Newton
Jennifer Bell
Adult
Rick Roehlk
Liaison from UUA Board of Trustees
Kathryn McIntyre
Position on Appraisal
Jazmin Luz Sandoz-Rosado
People of Color Advisory Council
Lehna Huie
Jova Vargas
Didn’t catch one of those acronyms / terms used in Siri’s rockin piece?
See if this key helps:
- YPS: YRUU Programs Specialist.
- Jova: Otherwise known as Jova Vargas, a fabulous member of Steering Committee.
- DRUUMM YaYA: The Youth and Young Adult caucus of Diverse and Revolutionary UU Multicultural Ministries, a UU People of Color organization.
- C*UUYAN: Continental UU Young Adult Network.
- Nan: As in Nan Moore, an amazing adult leader and Youth Council member.
- YRUU 7: Representatives who are part of the UUA’s new inititative on youth ministry.
- ConCon Decision: The Youth Office recently withdrew its support for the YRUU Continental Conference.
For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
