The Role of Youth at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship...

Greetings Dear Ones,

I am excited to report back to you from the annual National Fall Conference of the Liberal Religious Educators Association, held this year in Portland, Oregon.  This is the 3rd of these conferences that I have attended as your Director of Lifelong Learning.  The theme this year was sustainability.  And while some of the focus was on ways to bring this large topic to life in our programs, much of it was on sustaining our own energy and that of our volunteers.  It was restorative and inspiring to spend time with my colleagues!

Hey Crystal-- the title of your post says you will be talking about youth, did you learn anything about youth ministry while you were at your conference?

I'm so glad you asked!  Yes, in fact, I learned a lot about youth ministry in the special 15 hour training that I attended.  The focus of youth ministry in our denomination is to establish a collaborative program among youth and adults in the congregation that provide opportunities for youth to develop spiritually, to establish multigenerational relationships, to experience beloved community, participate in covenant leadership, to work for justice, to offer and receive pastoral care, to explore their faith and to work intentionally on identity formation.  This rich understanding of youth ministry has the potential to touch nearly every aspect of congregational life. 

In our congregation youth serve as religious education teachers as well as childcare providers-- they participate in Sunday morning music through the youth band, the choir, and special performances-- we have had youth serve as celebrants and most years the high school group puts on a worship service.  I was encouraged by these ways that our youth are a part of the larger BUF community.  It also made me wonder where else youth might be needed and where they might feel the need to be.  This is a transitional year for our high school group, with 11 graduating seniors last year and some turnover in youth advisers.  The hard part is re-building our program but the great part is the opportunity to create something new that fits who we are now and who we are becoming as a congregation.  I am excited by the endless possibilities of how our youth can participate in authentic and meaningful ways in our community.

We will hold a multigenerational, Youth Involvement Visioning Event in December to explore our dreams for the future.  Stay tuned to the Mid Week Update for details about dates and times and feel free to contact me for more information, uuneva@gmail.com or 224-1984!!!

Cheers,
Crystal