CER Youth Ministry Resources for Pastoral Care

youth meeting

Pastoral care is a core ministry and spiritual practice in Unitarian Universalism. Youth should have the support of good active listening from their peers, adults who can listen to them, and access to the formal pastoral care of the congregation such as religious educator and minister.

Youth should be part of the caring web of their community. They can support others by sending cards, making meals, and listening to peers. And they should be considered by the religious professionals and pastoral care team as vital members of the community in need of support and celebration.

Youth deserve adults competent in developmentally appropriate pastoral care and need specific care around their identities, particularly around gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity and race. (link to Exploring Identity page below)

If a youth is in crisis please see our UUA crisis management, mandatory reporting, and trauma response pages.

Resources to build youth capacity for pastoral care

Resources to build adult capacity for developmentally appropriate pastoral care

Specific resources

Learn more

About the Authors

Evin Carvill Ziemer

Evin serves the Central East Region in the areas of Youth Ministry, Young Adult Ministry, and Intercultural Competency work and as Primary Contact for congregations in upstate and central New York. Evin holds a Masters of Divinity from Earlham School of Religion and Bachelor of Arts from Carleton...

Shannon Harper

Shannon Harper joined the Lifespan Faith Engagement Office as Co-Director in the summer of 2022. Previously, Shannon worked with the Central East Region since the Fall of 2016.

For more information contact .

Evin Carvill-Ziemer and Shannon Harper

Resources Curated by Rev. Evin Carvill-Ziemer (left), CER Program Manager for Youth Ministry and Shannon Harper (right), CER Youth and Young Adult Coordinator

Learn About Chaplain Training in the Central East Region

From Central East Regional Group

Because pastoral care is one of the most important ways we care for each other in religious community, this training is one of the most important ones we provide in Youth Ministry.

Chaplain Training

Multigenerational Pastoral Care

Caring for one another is a core spiritual practice for Unitarian Universalists. Pastoral care is the term we use for the ways we offer support and compassion to each other in community....

Multigenerational Pastoral Care