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General Assembly 2017 is almost here! We are so excited that you will be joining us for this incredible experience. Whether you attend every GA Youth Caucus event or come to orientation and then spend the rest of the week exploring the wide range of events, worships and...

Meet them here virtually, before you meet them for real in NOLA!    

Feel free to download and print this letter and the Youth Sponsor Parent/Guardian Sample Agreement. Hello, Adult Sponsors of Youth! Welcome to General Assembly 2017 – Resist and Rejoice! We are Sam Wilson, Kathy Smith, and Pam Lepley –Adult Advisors to the Youth Caucus Staff and...

General Assembly is jam packed with tons of amazing programing. There’s no way you could do it all, so be strategic in how you plan your schedule. Use this blank grid to fill in your schedule. Note the mandatory Youth Caucus Orientation from 4:00-5:15pm on Wednesday. If you are...

Getting Involved at General Assembly Hey everyone, Hannah, and Annalee here... your Youth Caucus business managers, and we’re so excited to help you make an impact at this year's General Assembly.  You are not only the leaders of tomorrow but the leaders of today.  This may...

How can I connect with others while at GA? What is the Youth Caucus Social Media presence? In Person Attending workshops with other youth is a great way to connect with other youth. A few youth caucus members will be gathering groups to go to non-YC workshops as well.  Beyond...

HI EVERYBODY! We are your Youth Caucus peer chaplains, Kiernan and Nyana, and we can’t wait to meet you all in New Orleans in June! We, along with the rest of the Youth Caucus staff, are looking forward to working with all of you to provide logistical and spiritual support for...

Every year at GA there is a public witness, which is the time at GA where Unitarian Universalists put into action their values about making the world a more equal and just place. This year the public witness will be from 5:00-7:00pm on Friday. Come to the UU College of Social...

Check this page frequently to know what to check off your list of to-dos before you get to General Assembly 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana to get the most out of your Youth Caucus 2017 experience. What should you do before you arrive? What should you bring with you to General...

Take Their Word for It—You'll Be So Happy You Did From our friends at the Unitarian Universalist College of Social Justice (UUCSJ)  —ed. (original post) Are you a high school aged youth who is wondering how to engage more fully in social justice work? We at UUCSJ...

But Maybe Not Using 13 Reasons Why Netflix recently adapted Jay Asher’s young adult novel, 13 Reasons Why, into a 13-part series that has catapulted into pop culture, breaking social media and viewership records. Visually compelling with cliff-hangers that pull you from...

Resources for Youth and Young Adult Ministry When you hear or read the words “White Supremacy,” what thoughts come to mind, what emotions surface? For some of us, it is a fear-filled phrase that conjures images of white hoods and robes that seems totally dissonant with our...

In the April Webinar, Natalie Briscoe, Congregational Life Staff in the Southern Region, and Kim Sweeney, Congregational Life Staff in the New England Region, talked about new models and methods for stellar Youth Ministry that may challenge our assumptions about...

Meet the Next Youth Observer to the UUA Board of Trustees We are pleased to announce that the 2017-2019 Youth Observer Election has come to a close and we are have a brand-new Youth Observer! Seven congregations participated in this year's election and the results were close...

Registration for General Assembly 2017 in New Orleans, LA, June 21-25 is in full-swing. It's not too late to join fellow Unitarian Universalists in worship, learning and action! Learn more here.

From the staff of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries UPDATED 3/31/17. [Since the publication of this post from our office, the President of the UUA has resigned (read the reporting of this event on UU World), and the Leadership Council of the UUA released this...

UPDATE: This webinar will be hosted live on April 12th at 1pm EST and it will be recorded. We are canceling the previously scheduled Thursday evening webinar to encourage attendance the #Uuwhitesupremacyteachin  webinar on Thursday, April 13 at 8 PM eastern. More...

Vote Your Choice by April 10, 2017 Learn about the voting process for the Youth Observer to the Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees here. (Remember, youth vote as a block with their youth group.) Read their candidate statement. Watch the videos by...

Did you know youth who are members of their congregation can represent their congregation at General Assembly by serving as delegates and voting in General Session (aka "Previously Plenary" aka "GenSesh" aka the way we conduct the business of the association)? Talk to your...

We are facing reality, as a faith, a nation, and individuals who may not have been as active as we should have been before the election results of November 8th. Those that lived-in fear before, now live in greater fear as families and communities are torn apart, on an even...

Part of a successful youth ministry is creating and maintaining sustainable systems and organizational tools, like calendaring, directories and templates, to keep the youth ministry program running as a vital part of the congregation and so it can live on after a volunteer or...

General Assembly 2017 of the Unitarian Universalist Association will be a gathering like no other. Responsive to the hurt and upheaval enhanced by the Trump administration and more responsive still to the yearning for joy, creativity and togetherness, GA17: Resist and...

What is the role of spiritual community in these times? We’ve been asking that question over and over, particularly as we think about our upcoming Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly. What is the point of gathering, especially a gathering that takes so many...

How Snapchat makes social change happen We reprint with permission this very useful guide to using Snapchat as a platform for advocacy work by Aneta Molenda, originally published on the M+R lab blog. Learn more about the passionate people who support progressive advocacy...

The Many Faiths within Unitarian Universalism The latest addition to the Skinner House Books (SHB) series exploring the many faith traditions that also find a home in Unitarian Universalism (UU) has just been published. "Humanist Voices in Unitarian Universalism" explores...

A Sermon by Kadyn Frawley Watch this terrific pastoral message from Summer Seminary graduate Kayden Frawley, preached to her congregation on January 29, 2017.   Using Your Universal Translator - Transcript Good morning! I’m going to ask you all some questions....

General Assembly (GA) is many things: transformative, spirit filling, jam packed, challenging, fortifying... and expensive. We want to do everything we can to make sure money doesn’t hold you back from attending GA. There are lots of ways to get to GA and have a fabulous time...

Energize this Legacy APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED | GRANTS AVAILABLE Announcing the Living Legacy Project (LLP) All Youth Civil Rights Pilgrimage, June 5th-9th, 2017! This 5-day pilgrimage will be led by LLP board members Reverend Gordon Gibson and Reggie Harris, beginning in...

Out in Force for Love My twin 6 year olds traveled from Lexington, KY. (Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington) to Washington.  Here are some of our photos: It was especially meaningful to them that so many new friends stopped to talk with them and thank them...

Inclusive Youth Group Dynamics If you've found yourself here on Blue Boat it's a fairly safe assumption that at some point in your Unitarian Universalist life, you've created a covenant with a youth group or religious education class. Eric Bliss, Youth Ministry Specialist for...

#UU Campus Q's Episode Five The Reverend Annie Gonzalez Milliken, the Young Adult and Campus Ministry Associate of the Unititarian Universalist Association Office of Youth and Young Adult Minisitries invites Matt Stidman and Marion Hirsch (narrated by Stephanie Carey Maron)...

Register Now for the New and Improved UU-UNO Spring Seminar Registration for the 2017 Intergenerational Spring Seminar of the Unitarian Universalist Association United Nations Office is now open! The seminar, Arm in Arm: Interfaith Action to Disarm Our Planet, takes place...

Inclusive Ministry in a Diverse World As Unitarian Universalists (UU) we say that we build inclusive community where you can explore your identity without boxes - that we are multi-racial, Latino/a/x, Asian, Black, Native, and White; rich, middle class, poor; young and old;...

Pastoral Care To and With Youth Let’s be frank. The world changed on November 9th, 2016 (the day Donald Trump was elected president of the United States). For many of us our day-to-day experiences may not be much different, we still move through the world with varying levels of...

LGBTQ+ Youth Survival Guide: Trump Edition Dear beautiful, fabulous gender creative and sexually non-conforming youth and teens–all those who are queer, trans, non-binary, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and a hundred other wonderful self-proclaimed identities, My heart breaks for...

by Jaidyn Bryant and the 2017 General Assembly Youth Caucus Staff   So, Trump was elected president. Black, Latinx, Muslim, Native, LGBTQ communities are under continued attacks. What does that mean for Standing Rock? It means that the threat to Native sovereignty will...

#UUCampusQ's Episode Four Students on campus need your community now, so get the word out! The Reverend Annie Gonzalez Milliken, the Young Adult and Campus Ministry Associate of the Unititarian Universalist Association Office of Youth and Young Adult Minisitries invites Carey...

Learn more about protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) The Rev. Peter Morales, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, answered the call of protest leaders for clergy of all denominations to join peaceful interfaith witness with the indigenous peoples...

Last October, Jaidyn Bryant (Jr. Dean), Eric Broner (Sr. Dean), Colleen Lee (Sr. Worship Coordinator) and Hannah Rigdon (Sr. Business Manager) travelled all the way to UUA Headquarters in Boston in service of a single mission: to galvanize the youth of our Unitarian Universalist...

One assignment our Summer Seminary (#UUSumSem) program students receive is writing a 3-5 minute homily based on a prompt. On Saturday night they presented their homilies to each other, and then voted to select the five they wanted to represent their class during worship on...

Kim Sweeney, Lead for Faith Formation and Safe Congregations, works in New England and loves rules. She says “I love rules, structure, routine and clarity.  Maybe it stems from my time spent serving in the military, but I imagine my own comfort with rules and structure existed...

One assignment our Summer Seminary (#UUSumSem) program students receive is writing a 3-5 minute homily based on a prompt. On Saturday night they presented their homilies to each other, and then voted to select the five they wanted to represent their class during worship on...

One assignment our Summer Seminary (#UUSumSem) program students receive is writing a 3-5 minute homily based on a prompt. On Saturday night they presented their homilies to each other, and then voted to select the five they wanted to represent their class during worship on...

Since the day I was born I have been linked to a unique and distinct religion. Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning." This is the community that I have identified with for as long as I can remember....

One assignment our Summer Seminary (#UUSumSem) program students receive is writing a 3-5 minute homily based on a prompt. On Saturday night they presented their homilies to each other, and then voted to select the five they wanted to represent their class during worship on...

Adulting Is Hard by Kayla Parker When I was twenty-five, I started graduate school and my Dad had a stroke. Doctors told us he should have died. He is still alive, though forever changed. When I was twenty-six, my ex came out as trans and I felt awful because I thought if I had...

Watch as Isaac Prier Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Summer Seminary 2016 Grad delivers his homily, "The Bigger Heart", during Sunday Worship at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, CA.   Learn about Summer Seminary, a program of the UUA Office of Youth and Young...

What does a Healthy Youth/Adult Relationship Actually Look Like? In every training or conversation with adults working with youth, Evin Carvill-Ziemer, Congregational Life Staff in the Central East Region of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is peppered with questions...

Lend Your Faith to Spring Seminar 2017 The Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office has extended the application deadline for Youth Chaplains to serve at the 2017 Intergenerational Spring Seminar "Interfaith Action to End Armed Violence", April 6-8, 2017 in New York City....

Have you ever asked a Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) staff person for an advisor training and been told some form of, “We don’t do advisor training anymore,” or, “There’s one weekend training on the other side of your region a couple of months from now”, and wondered...