Youth Group
One of the most beautiful things that a church can do is support its youth. The most powerful and inspiring experiences that I have in Unitarian Universalism is with the youth.
The people that I met then are among the dearest friends that I have now. It is possible to create a youth experience that is so fantastic that friendships continue to grow and flourish, over distances of space and time. When the challenges of life present themselves, it is an enormous comfort to know that there is a community of shared experience to rest upon. We challenged each other then and we continue to challenge each other now, knowing that almost anything is possible in loving community
The UU church in Lincroft, New Jersey had a healthy youth group. Every Sunday night, we would get together in the basement of the Parsonage. We would hang out and just have fun for a while but then, we would focus and spend time together intentionally. A subject would be presented and we would discuss it. We would share our feelings—each to our gift. Every voice was important, even if you had nothing to share. The message was, "You matter. We love you. We are here."
We also made fun of each other. Of course, we
did. We were in our teens and early twenties.
We got proud (and we got jealous) of each
other's achievements. We fell in and out of
love. We were best friends and casual friends
but never clashed so badly that the circle of
our community was truly broken. We sang and
we laughed and we were real with each other
in ways that have stood the test of time.
We organized week-long conferences at Star
Island that drew youth together from all over
the country. The conferences were primarily
youth-organized and youth-run. They were so
much fun. Here is picture of the Staff from the
Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) conference in 1992 (when I still had an afro!).
Three of the people in this photograph have gone on to become Unitarian Universalist ministers. We are all still in touch with one another.
Five years earlier, in 1987, I was the Chair of this conference. It was my last year at Tufts University. I could not have better spent my time. Our group photo can be seen be clicking here. We were a great group. We had a wonderful time!!
It is amazing to me that thirty years later, so many of us are still in touch. A few years ago, in fact, at the Yearly Adults Conference at Star Island, I had the awesome pleasure of meeting the son of someone that I knew from that conference in 1987. He liked me just fine but he knew that the Island now belonged to him. He is a very smart, young man. I am honored to know him.
Nothing is more important that our youth. How we love them shapes the world that is coming into being. It is the "funnest" thing to love them with great joy!
