Workshop 6: Building Multicultural Competence as Personal and Spiritual Practice

Beautiful orange sunset over a deep blue ocean. — Tapestry is Sunsetting

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Part of Building the World We Dream About: For Young Adults, 18-35

In This Section

Introduction
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

… For all the significant identities that constitute each of us, there is a personal essence that defines who we are, a singular soul that is hidden deep within beyond the layers of identity that protect it. When we make initial contact with each other, we only see the outside of that soul at…
Workshop-at-a-Glance
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity Minutes Opening 25 Activity 1: Multicultural Competence 20 Activity 2: Multicultural Competence in Action 30 Activity 3: The Fort Worth Incident 40 Closing 5…
Spiritual Preparation
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Consider the definition of “multicultural competence” and the characteristics of a person with strong cultural competence….
Opening
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 25 minutes Materials for Activity Newsprint, markers, and tape Story, “Russell” Newsprint lists created by reflection groups in Workshop 5, Activity 3 Timepiece (seconds) Preparation for Activity Prepare to read the story “Russell” to the group. Description of Activity Light the…
Activity 1: Multicultural Competence
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 20 minutes Materials for Activity Handout 1, Multicultural Competence Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 1 for all participants. Consider the examples you will provide from your own experience for each characteristic of multicultural competence….
Activity 2: Multicultural Competence in Action
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 30 minutes Materials for Activity Story, “Fragments and Front Porches” Story, “Seek Justice, Love Kindness, Walk Humbly” Handout 2, Multicultural Competence Worksheet Preparation for Activity Copy both stories for all participants. Make two copies of Handout 2 for each participant.
Activity 3: The Fort Worth Incident
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 40 minutes Materials for Activity Participants’ copies of Handout 2, Multicultural Competence Worksheet Handout 3, The Fort Worth Incident Newsprint, markers, and tape Preparation for Activity Copy Handout 3 for all participants. Description of Activity Distribute Handout 3. Invite…
Closing
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Activity time: 5 minutes Materials for Activity Taking It Home Leader Resource 1, Instructions for the Journey Preparation for Activity Copy Taking It Home for all participants. Description of Activity Distribute Taking It Home. Invite participants to do the suggested activities before the next…
Taking It Home: Building Multicultural Competence as Personal and Spiritual Practice
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

… For all the significant identities that constitute each of us, there is a personal essence that defines who we are, a singular soul that is hidden deep within beyond the layers of identity that protect it. When we make initial contact with each other, we only see the outside of that soul at…
Russell

Jose Ballester

From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Russell was an amateur geologist, paleontologist, and professional teacher. He took his young charges on an overnight field trip. While sitting around the campfire, he brought out a bag, took out five rocks, and held up a round, grapefruit-size rock….
Fragments and Front Porches
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

By Rev. Elizabeth Buffington Nguyen, Leadership Development Associate for Youth and Young Adults of Color. When I was 24, my father gave me a new name. I was learning Vietnamese in graduate school….
Seek Justice, Love Kindness, Walk Humbly
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

By Ellen Zemlin, a White Unitarian Universalist.For me, there’s never really been a question about whether my Unitarian Universalism and my commitment to antiracism, anti-oppression, and multiculturalism are related. My introduction to justice work came sitting in a circle on the floor at youth…
Handout 1: Multicultural Competence
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

The definition is originally from Donald B. Pope-Davis, A. L. Reynolds, J. G. Dings, and T. M. Ottavi, in “Multicultural Competencies of Doctoral Interns at University Counseling Centers: An Exploratory Investigation,” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol. 25, pages 466–470…
Handout 2: Multicultural Competence Worksheet
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Competency Evidence can listen and behave without imposing their own values and assumptions on others carries an attitude of respect when approaching people of different cultures, which entails engagement in a process of self-reflection and self-critique has the ability to move beyond their own…
Handout 3: The Fort Worth Incident
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

Introduction Shortly after the 2005 General Assembly in Fort Worth, Texas, a Special Review Commission was appointed by the UUA Board and Administration to investigate “reports of distressing incidents regarding UU youth of color.” In March 2006 the commission submitted a 17-page report, which op…
Leader Resource 1: Instructions for the Journey
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

By Pat Schneider, from Another River: New and Selected Poems (Amherst Writers and Artists Press, 2005). Used with permission. The self you leave behind is only a skin you have outgrown. Don’t grieve for it. Look to the wet, raw, unfinished self, the one you are becoming. The world, too, sheds its…
Find Out More
From Building the World We Dream About for Young Adults

The UUA Multicultural Growth & Witness staff group offers resources, curricula, trainings, and tools to help Unitarian Universalist congregations and leaders engage in the work of antiracism, antioppression, and multiculturalism. Visit…

Download all of Building the World We Dream About: For Young Adults (Word) (PDF) to edit or print.

The UUA is no longer updating Tapestry of Faith programs.

Workshop 6: Building Multicultural Competence as Personal and Spiritual Practice

Tapestry is Sunsetting

Shop Books & Gifts

The Book of Non-Binary Joy Embracing the Power of You

Get Inspired for Worship

Transcending Boundaries

Find Faith Development Tools

Body Beautiful