History of the Consultation Process on Youth Ministry

The vision for the new generation of Unitarian Universalist youth ministry began with the two-year Consultation on Ministry To and With Youth (2004-2006). This process solicited input and commitment from a variety of stakeholders in Unitarian Universalist youth ministry, reaching more than 5,000 people. Conversations within congregations, districts, and stakeholder organizations focused on what these groups did and could do to support youth ministry at their levels, and on what the Association did and could do to support youth ministry as a whole. In addition, surveys were conducted with individual youth and youth advisors. In this way the process built from the ideas and needs of youth and adults at the grassroots level. This gathered data was summarized in the Consultation on Ministry To and With Youth Summary Report of August 2007 (PDF, 66 pages).

Rooted in the Consultation on Ministry To and With Youth Summary Report, the Summit on Youth Ministry in 2007 assessed the current state of youth ministry in Unitarian Univeralism and produced visions and objectives for the future, compiled in the Summit on Youth Ministry Report of 2007 (PDF, 27 pages).

The Youth Ministry Working Group (YMWG) took this visioning and produced concrete, strategic action recommendations for the national, regional/district, and local levels in the YMWG Recommendations for Youth Ministry of 2009 (PDF, 21 pages).

The implementation of the new generation of Unitarian Universalist youth ministry comes from these discussions, reports, and recommendations.