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August 9th, 2015 marks the first anniversary of Mike Brown's extra-judicial killing in Ferguson, MO. All across the country Unitarian Universalists are showing up to commemorate this event that pushed a racial justice movement into the national spotlight, to mourn the loss of...

A Day of Civil Disobedience for Social Justice @RevElizabethN , UUA Leadership Development Associate for Youth and Young Adults of Color reports from St. Louis, MO. where she and more than one hundred Unitarian Universalists , local congregations, and others participated in acts...

This story comes to us from Aislynn Pasierb, a member of Eliot Unitarian Chapel in Kirkwood, Missouri , who shares her recent Youth Leadership School experience in Beloit, WI. - ed. I was incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to attend UU Youth Midwest Leadership School (...

Read the inside story from Youth Caucus 2015 Co-Business Manager Isabelle McCurdy on how the Youth Caucus sponsored Action of Immediate Witness, "Support Black Lives Matter" came to be. When Kara Marler, my Sr. Business Manager co-chair, and I started planning our programming...

Guest blogger Yashasvi Janamanchi attended the Unitarian Universalist Association Multicultural Leadership School (MLS) this July. This post is an excerpt of Yashi's reflections from the youth-led worship at his home congregation of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church . -ed...

Know it to Defeat it By Aija Jansone The Young Adult program at Westside Unitarian Universalist in Fort Worth , Texas gathers persons ranging from 18 to 35’ish years of age and is open to anyone in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The program started with a 6 month series focused on...

This is what people are saying about the 2015 Unitarian Universalist Association Summer Seminary ... On Twitter – #UUSumSem Tweets Or On Facebook – (Click the image to see other comments on Facebook) //

Guest blogger Sunshine Alvarez attended the Unitarian Universalist Association Multicultural Leadership School this July. Sunshine belongs to the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship . -ed. On July 10th, I had the opportunity to attend a Multicultural Leadership School (...

KATHY by Kristen Psaki kristen [dot] psaki [at] gmail [dot] com @kristenpsaki Kathy Glatz First Unitarian Society of Denver “After being raised Catholic and having 30 something years of agnosticism, I was in a life-threatening car accident. And, I pondered, ‘why did I live?’ In...

BRIAN by Kristen Psaki kristen [dot] psaki [at] gmail [dot] com @kristenpsaki Rev. Brian Ferguson Minister San Marcos UU Fellowship San Marcos, TX Rev. Brian Ferguson sauntered through GA wearing a pair of very cool shoes. Much to the chagrin of their daughter Isla, Brian and...

Another Week of Striving to Overcome Injustice This week has us grieving yet more murders of unarmed black and brown people, asking what happened to Sandra Bland and India Clarke ? Kenny Wiley responds to #IfIDieInPoliceCustody offering, "We are all gifted, and we are all flawed...

NANCY by Kristen Psaki kristen [dot] psaki [at] gmail [dot] com @kristenpsaki Nancy Stevens Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon “I was invited to join the UU Fellowship in Frisco, CO in 1996 and my friend said, ‘This is a church for the non-religious’ and I said...

We re-post Kenny Wiley's account of attending the recently concluded Unitarian Universalist Association 2015 Multicultural Leadership School . - ed. Read this post on Kenny Wiley's blog A Full Day The voices raised. We weren’t just singing–we were feeling. I’d never sung like...

They Are Everywhere – You Just Need to Know Where to Look... “I’m moving to a new part of the country. How can I find other UU young adults?” “I just learned about Unitarian Universalism and want to check it out. Where can I find peers?” “I want to get more involved. When is the...

I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again: Unitarian Universalism is a both/and faith. Both/and can be hard. It’s difficult to feel two emotions at once, to hold two positions at once, to affirm multiple realities at once. But if anyone can do it, I believe that UUs can...

BEAR by Beth Cortez-Neavel ecortez [dot] neavel [at] gmail [dot] com @ecortez_neavel Though below me, I feel no motion Standing on these mountains and plains Far away from the rolling ocean Still my dry land heart can say: Bear Amezcua-Waters is 32 years old. He lives in Austin...

WESLEY by Kristen Psaki kristen [dot] psaki [at] gmail [dot] com @kristenpsaki Wesley Botham Unitarian Church Lincoln, NE “Sometime in late high school and early college I was definitely sure I was no longer a Christian.” Wesley Botham grew up in the Evangelical Lutheran Church...

EM by Kristen Psaki kristen [dot] psaki [at] gmail [dot] com @kristenpsaki Em du Mond Church of the Larger Fellowship “A more accurate question than why am I UU is why am I still UU?” Em du Mond grew up UU. She was dedicated into the church, did RE and OWL, the whole gamut. “...

LOYCE by Beth Cortez-Neavel ecortez [dot] neavel [at] gmail [dot] com @ecortez_neavel I was pretty grumpy Thursday by 4 p.m. and rushing out of the #LivingUU “office” to find an empty, quiet couch for a nap. “That outfit is fresh!” the words hit my ears but didn’t quite compute...

AMANDA by Kristen Psaki kristen [dot] psaki [at] gmail [dot] com @kristenpsaki Amanda Bancroft Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Fayetteville, Arkansas Amanda Bancroft is a writer, an artist, and a lover of trees. In fact, the thick trees of the Ozarks lead Amanda to the...

THERESA by Kristen Psaki kristen [dot] psaki [at] gmail [dot] com @kristenpsaki Theresa Soto Intern Minister in Salem, OR Theresa Soto knows the exact year when she became a UU. “In 2005” she easily recalls. Although not her first visit to a UU community, in 2005 she was hooked...

DICK by Kristen Psaki kristen [dot] psaki [at] gmail [dot] com @kristenpsaki Dick Burkhart Church of the Larger Fellowship “When you’re drawn toward something you don’t always quite know what it is,” says longtime UU Dick Burkhart. Looking back, there’s been a pattern in the...

BEVERLY by Kristen Psaki kristen [dot] psaki [at] gmail [dot] com @kristenpsaki Beverly McCormick Valley UU in Chandler, Arizona Beverly McCormick knew she was a UU as soon as she walked through the doors of her church and saw the seven principles. She laughs while telling the...

DANIEL by Beth Cortez-Neavel ecortez [dot] neavel [at] gmail [dot] com @ecortez_neavel “I’ve been a Unitarian all my life, before I knew what a Unitarian Universalist was,” says Daniel Rigney (age 65).“I’ve had that view of the world. And so for me it’s been a gradual process of...

INGA by Beth Cortez-Neavel ecortez [dot] neavel [at] gmail [dot] com @ecortez_neavel Inga Laurent (age 34) lives in Spokane, Washington. She found Unitarian Universalism two years ago. She says she walked into a budget planning meeting in what is now her home congregation and...

BETH by Beth Cortez-Neavel ecortez [dot] neavel [at] gmail [dot] com @ecortez_neavel I did not become a UU by choice. But, after being reluctantly dragged into Religious Education classes most of my young Sunday mornings, I have grown up choosing to live it. I recently, within...

Timely Timeless Stories from Unitarian Universalist General Assembly The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries is excited to announce the General Assembly Media Volunteer projects for 2015! This is a brand new endeavor and will be made of up three teams of two people each....

Yesterday evening a group of people gathered for prayer and Bible study at an African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston , South Carolina . These people, part of an historical African-American church in a historic African-American denomination gathered to worship an...

This Monday in Boston it's raining , but I have freshly picked strawberries at my desk. Despite all the brokenness, there is much beauty. Here's what's giving me hope this week: If you haven't shared y our vision for how our Unitarian Universalist movement can be more aligned,...

Here is Where to Go How can one initiative simultaneously support people who want a deeply religious experience and also support folks who want nothing to do with organized religion? Oddly enough, I believe that staff at the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) are doing...

In Her Own Words By Olivia Calvi Growing up Unitarian Universalist , I felt a lot of pressure to figure out what my beliefs were. The adults in my life would always tell me that I could believe anything I wanted to believe. I felt like that message carried a hidden one: I had to...

The cliff from youth to young adulthood is steep. You speed towards the edge only to come to a screeching halt at the last moment. Looking down from the height at which your whole life has existed, you wonder why bother going down at all? You weigh the pros and cons: building a...

Here is a Chance to Do It! A message from Garner Takahashi Morris of the UU Justice Ministry of California: Hi Friends, The Unitarian Universalist Justice Ministry of California 's Walking the Walk Leadership Retreat is Saturday, August 8 to Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at...

Covenants Aren't "Cool," and Fitness Won't Fix the World In April I got to go home for work. I don't mean home to the house I share with my partner and housemates here in Boston. I mean back to the part of the country I say I'm from, back to the people who raised me and made me...

Get it Off Our Shelf and Onto Yours Now! Becoming: A Spiritual Guide for Navigating Adulthood is a wonderful resource for Unitarian Universalist young adults and seekers alike. Thanks to some generous donors the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at the Unitarian...

An Exploration of Faith and Leadership I chose to serve as a leader in Unitarian Universalism (UU) because of the community, and encouragement of spiritual seeking. I consistently find myself in communities filled with Unitarian Universalists. It is in these communities that I...

Where Do Unitarian Universalists Fit In? A photo posted by YaYAUUA (@instayayauua) on May 12, 2015 at 7:58am PDT According to research coming from the Barna Group , 30% of Millennials say attending church is not important. 30% say attending church is important and 40% fall...

A Rare Opportunity for a Unique Theological Experience Unitarian Universalist (UU) seminarians attending non-UU theological schools who have an interest in international or interfaith engagement are invited to apply by May 15, 2015 for an incredible opportunity to spend 2-3...

A Presidential Call for Religion to Support Equality Former President Jimmy Carter recently wrote that he was severing ties with his church , stating: This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a...

Prayer Because the world cracks open and here we are: For the 900 lives lost to the migration injustice - mothers, fathers, parents, children, trying to reach Europe by boat. For the over 4,000 lives lost to earthquakes in Nepal and South Asia. For the family and community of...

'Cause there is good advising, and there is BETTER advising Ever thought to yourself, “How am I doing with this whole youth ministry thing?” Yes, yes you have. Well, here is a way to get some answers! Read this post about the new Youth Advising Competencies compiled by the...

" Good fences make good neighbors " – Now as Then My best friend from college taught me a phrase I’d never considered using before and hold dear to this day. That phrase is “that’s not ok.” See, until I learned this phrase I was a pushover, I tried very hard to make everyone (...

Committing to Climate Justice This post is adapted from the 2015 Earth Sunday Sermon for UU Ministry for Earth, “Shifting Energy: From Fossil Fuels to Climate Action.” Read the full sermon and find other worship resources . By Matthew McHale Over the course of climate justice...

WEBINAR - Ministering to Youth and Young Adults of Color 1: Faith Formation and Spiritual Renewal Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen , the Leadership Development Associate for Youth and Young Adults of Color at the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Unitarian Universalist Ministers...

What We Will Make of Our Time on Earth During Climate Justice Month we have reveled in the world we live in. We have embraced its warmth, its greenness, its snow, and its sunshine. We have gazed at waterfalls , fjords , icebergs , and countless other phenomena with glee. What a...

Spiritual Life and Connection to Everything (We present excerpts of Anna Zimmer's piece originally on the Huffington Post . -ed.) By contributing writer Anna Zimmer for KidSpirit's issue, Climate Change: Tending Our Planet . I was not raised in a family where religion played a...

And Natural Extension of Unitarian Unversalist Core Values Talkin' 'bout unconditional love, equality and justice – This is one way Unitarian Universalist congregations engage their community: When two young adults realized that homeless young adults were falling through the...

Marching Forward Events of 50 Years Ago Today This is the final installment in a series of reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the Selma Marches. Here are Part One , Part Two , and Part Three . – ed. Sunday was the day that most of us were waiting for, the anniversary of the...

Work With Your Peers to Bend the Arc of Justice The application deadline for the 2015 Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Multicultural Leadership School (MLS) is April 15 – here is why that it matters: graduates go on to to think, mobilize and lead for diverse, inclusive...

The Journey of Faith is Long – With Many Bridges to Cross Faith is a life-long experience, so the Unitarian Universalist Association has resources for Lifespan Faith Development . And where there are spans there are bridges – and Bridgers (youth transitioning to young adulthood...