Common Ground: Transformation in the UU Youth Community in the Early 1980s
I was not alive when the Common Ground I and Common Ground II assemblies created Young Religious Unitarian Universalists in the early 1980s. But this momentous time for the Unitarian Universalist (UU) youth community lives on in the minds, hearts, and archives of many people. My primary source has been the archives of Synapse, this lovely magazine that you are reading and People Soup, its predecessor! Here are some original pieces that will give you a glimpse into the youth community during that time period.Flashbacks from People Soup (Synapse's predecessor)
The following documents are in PDF format.
- "Youth-Adult Committee Response" (People Soup, April 1978, page 11)
- "The Status Quo in UU Youth Programs: No Quick Solutions" by Adam Auster (People Soup, April 1978, page 14-15)
- "Self Determination" by Shelley Cantril (People Soup, July 1978, page 1, 4)
- Letter from Bryce Walden in the "Biofeedback Monitor System" (People Soup, December 1981, page 5)
- "Common Ground" by Anne Gardiner (People Soup, December 1981, page 4)
A Perspective on Change from We Would Be One by Wayne Arnason and Rebecca Scott
"Although publicity material painted an optimistic picture of LRY [Liberal Religious Youth] and UUA [Unitarian Universalist Association] co-operation, the existing LRY Executive Committee found the process deeply troubling. The youth assembly was designed to bring an end to LRY, an organization beloved by those who were a part of it. 'We felt like we were preparing for our own funeral,' LRY Executive Committee member Lisa Feldstein remembers. "We were the targets of a lot of hostility, some of which was deserved but much of which was not. The idea that we were participating in the destruction of this thing we held as dear as life itself hung over us throughout the week.' Feldstein describes LRY's overall feeling toward the UUA during this time as extremely negative: 'We felt the UUA had unfairly forced us into this position, this process, and the UUA was hated.'However, Dave Williams, a member of LRY and the moderator of Common Ground, believes that some of the misgivings held by the members of LRY were misplaced:
I think that most LRYers made a huge mistake, because I believe that fundamentally, the process was trustworthy and open. And I believe that, because of LRY's leadership opportunities and organizational history, LRYers, given a positive attitude and open-mindedness, could have come in and dominated the process, and done it fairly. Instead, LRY (and I include myself here) came with an attitude that nothing was broken, that not even the name should be changed, that any change would signal the end.
Despite the widely differing opinions of the conference attendees, the participants agreed to trust the process of the Common Ground conference and abide by the collective outcome."
Order We Would Be One from the UUA Bookstore.
Other Perspectives on Change
"I hope we won't let our crusading capacity get in the way of our loving capabilities." (Berna Derby, DRE, Letter from March 6th 1978)"It is essential that a dynamic and living Unitarian Universalist denomination and/or LRY examine individual beliefs, group purpose(s), and the structure being used, on a regular basis, to bear the passage of time as an active faith." (Adam Auster, People Soup, July 1978)
"Change is our only constant. I knew that as a fact when I was in high school. I live with it more comfortably as I get older." (Wayne Arnason, 1st UUA Director of Youth Programs, Common Ground participant, Synapse, Spring 1983)
For more information about Common Ground and the events leading up to it, the History page of the Consultation on Ministry to and with Youth There is also a book about the history of Unitarian, Universalist, and Unitarian Universalist youth movements—We Would Be One—by Wayne Arnason and Rebecca Scott.For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Saturday, April 19, 2008.
