UUA Releases Ground-Breaking Reports on Youth Ministry and Mosaic Project Assessment
The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is delighted to announce the release of two highly-anticipated reports, which together address the future of our ministries to Unitarian Universalist (UU) young people. The Youth Ministry Working Group Report and the Mosaic Project Report, now available online, each provide concrete steps that Unitarian Universalists must take to build multigenerational, multicultural faith communities that nourish and serve members of all ages and identities in the new millennium.
The Youth Ministry Working Group’s report offers a comprehensive set of recommendations for youth ministry at all levels of our Association—from the local congregation to the national headquarters staff. The goal is to create a youth ministry that is spiritually deepening, faith developing, inclusive and anti-oppressive, a ministry that provides multiple pathways for youth involvement in congregational life.
“This report brings into being the most exciting paradigm shift for our congregations in over a quarter century—not only for youth ministry, but for the whole of our shared Unitarian Universalist community,” said Rev. Linda Olson Peebles, Minister of Religious Education at the UU Church of Arlington, VA, and former UUA Trustee. “We are called to acknowledge and live out the reality that all people in our congregations—no matter their identity or age—are the church, and need to be involved in the whole ministry—serving and being served.”
The Youth Ministry Working Group was established by UUA President Bill Sinkford in 2008 to craft a new imagination and structure for UU Youth Ministry based on the findings of the Youth Ministry Consultation and the 2007 Youth Ministry Summit. This diverse team of youth and adults developed its report over the course of five meetings from February 2008 through March 2009.
Working Group member and UUA Board of Trustees Youth Observer Nick Allen commented, “This document is a new framework for religious community. It is from the minds of many—young, old, and everywhere in between—and for the use of all. It displays the intentionality that multicultural, multigenerational ministry demands.”
Both the Working Group Report and its crucial companion, the Mosaic Project Report, recognize that in order to build this new ministry, the unique needs of youth representing historically marginalized identities must be better addressed in our faith communities.
The Mosaic report is the outcome of a two-year assessment of the ministry needs of UU youth and young adults of color. The report, authored by UUA staff member Laura Spencer, seeks to answer the following question: What are the ministry needs of African, Caribbean, Native/American Indian, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latina/Latino and Hispanic, Middle Eastern/Arab, Multiracial and Multiethnic and trans-racially adopted Unitarian Universalist (UU) youth and young adults?
“As a religious educator, and a parent of young adult Unitarian Universalists of color,” said Natalie Fenimore, Director of Religious Education at the UU Congregation of Fairfax, VA, “I welcome the Mosaic Project Report as evidence of the commitment of the Unitarian Universalist Association to our ministry to and with youth and young adults of color and Latina/o and Hispanic, and multicultural/multiethnic descent.”
Fenimore observed, “While this document acknowledges the shortcomings of our congregations and our Association in this ministry, it also lays out a way forward and gives voice to the desire for ‘deep conversations.’ The road to the future Unitarian Universalist faith community presented in this report—that is, a community that supports, values and celebrates the diversity of our youth and young adults—is a road that must be taken.”
The Mosaic Project recognizes that, while many UU congregations are predominantly white/European descent, most have one or more members of color, particularly children. The project’s report focuses on four key areas: developing anti-racist, anti-oppressive communities; creating multicultural communities that encourage the full participation of differing cultures; supporting healthy racial identity development; and, nurturing and supporting People of Color communities.
More information about both reports is available on the UUA website and on Facebook. For a copy of the Youth Ministry Working Group Report and related resources, visit Youth Ministry or see the “Unitarian Universalist Youth Ministry” Facebook page. For a copy of the Mosaic Project Report and background about the project, go to The Mosaic Project or visit “Mosaic Project—Unitarian Universalist Association” on Facebook.
Contacts:
Youth Ministry Working Group:
Mara Dowdall
Interim Youth Ministry Director
(617) 948-4350
youth @ uua.org
Mosaic Project:
Laura Spencer
Program Associate for Racial & Ethnic Concerns: Assessment of Youth & Young Adult Ministries
(617) 948-4278
mosaic @ uua.org
Last updated on Wednesday, April 15, 2009.
