Great resources to better support Unitarian Universalist (UU) youth and young adults of color
Whether you are a religious educator, youth advisor, minister, parent, mentor, community member, chaplain, or spiritual seeker, ministry to and with UU youth and young adults of color is vital, spirit-filling work. Here my top seven resources for those who see serving youth and young adults of color as part of their role (check out the full list here!):
- Be The Change! gives Unitarian Universalist youth a starting place for discussions about the role of race, identity and justice in living out their faith. The core of the project is a six-session, nine-hour training program that can be used by groups of different sizes. The project also includes additional activities, further links and resources, and an online community to support groups engaging with the project.
- Building the World We Dream About: for Young Adults is an eight-workshop resource which supports UU young adults to engage in honest and open conversations about race, better understand their own ethnic and racial identity and journey, and learn the practical skills they need to in their own lives right now as they make their way in an increasingly multicultural world. 3) Multicultural Leadership School is an annual gathering for UU youth and young adults of color to deepen our faith, lift our spirits, and build critical skills for leadership in the face of our uncertain, broken and beautiful world. Dates for 2016 out soon! 4) Virtual community gatherings for UUs of color are convened by Jessica York and welcome people of all ages.
- Multicultural Leadership School is an annual gathering for UU youth and young adults of color to deepen our faith, lift our spirits, and build critical skills for leadership in the face of our uncertain, broken and beautiful world. Dates for 2016 out soon!
- Liturgical Resources:
- Don't know where to start? Try this 30-minute webinar on Ministering to Youth and Young Adults of Color: Faith Formation and Spiritual Development.
- Funding is available for UU youth and young adults of color!
- BONUS RESOURCE! (I couldn't pick just seven.) Upcoming Race and Ethnicity Seminar for Staff/Ministry Teams prior to LREDA Fall Conference, Morristown, NJ - Wednesday, October 21st at 9am – 6pm; Thursday, October 22nd at 9am – 4pm.
Register today! The seminar is a two-day workshop for a professional staff team. Using the pedagogy of “Beloved Conversations: Meditations on Race and Identity," we will explore personal lived experience around race, unpack racial assumptions, consider how race shapes congregational culture, and build strategies for negotiating racial power dynamics in congregational leadership. This seminar is about the professional role as a congregational leader in the context of race and identity work, whether or not the full "Beloved Conversations" congregational program is used.
Staff teams are expected to watch a movie/podcast, plus read one article prior to the conference. The team will be asked to try out a project in their congregation during the fall. Cost is $450 per team (staff from the same congregation). Two staff members from the same congregation or a single staff member pay the same price. Space is limited to 20 staff teams.
This seminar will be led by:
- Rev. Leslie Takahashi (Mt Diablo UU Church, Walnut Creek, CA)
- Yuri Yamamoto (Director of Music, UU Fellowship of Raleigh, NC)
- Halcyon Westall, CRE (Asst. Director of the Fahs Collaborative)
- Dr. Mark A. Hicks (Director, The Fahs Collaborative and Angus MacLean Professor of Religious Education, Meadville Lombard Theological School)