Tag: young adults

UU Wellspring–spiritual deepening for the UU soul

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A group of twelve Vancouver Unitarian members and friends, new and old, formed our first UU Wellspring small group last year. It was a deep, transforming experience for many of us. We are forming new cohorts this fall with the intent to spread the joy of deep personal connection, search for meaning, and spiritual practice development.

Participants in UU Wellspring find spiritual transformation as they explore the historical and theological roots of Unitarian Universalism, reflect on their own spiritual understandings, and engage in spiritual practice. Participants often form deep and lasting connections with one another.

We are including an eight-session, less homework intense, program for young adults and a six-session program to launch the UU Wellspring Reads: Sacred Earth program, a series of sessions designed around the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, combined with the book The Sustainable Soul by Rebecca James Hecking, and additional readings and videos.

The five spokes of UU Wellspring small groups

  • Deep listening in a small group
  • Daily spiritual practice
  • Spiritual companionship
  • Deeper understanding of Unitarian and UU history and theology
  • Living your convictions

Sources: First Year UU Wellspring Program

UU Wellspring Sources is a unique 10-month small group program offered in a multi-platform setting. The twice a month, 2-hour sessions offer participants an opportunity for spiritual deepening that leads to more joyful living, increased confidence in Unitarian identity, and faithful justice making in their lives and in their communities.

Sources begins with a start-up retreat on October 5, 6-9 pm and meets 2 times a month October through the middle of June.

Wellspring Reads: Sacred Earth

person sitting alone on a large stone at the edge of a pool of water in the forest
photo: uuwellspring.org

Sacred Earth is the first program in “UU Wellspring Reads,” six-session programs that provide foundational experience that are dear to Unitarian Universalists’ hearts. Sacred Earth combines the wisdom of Indigenous understandings of reciprocity with the sacred earth, and with spiritual practices that connect our spirit to nature. The experiences, reflections and discussions strive to engage participants deeply in the web of life and your Unitarian Universalist faith.

Our Sacred Earth offering is facilitated by UCV member Martha Saunders. Martha is a retired university lecturer in Religious Studies with a long-time interest in eco-spirituality.

UU Wellspring for Young Adults (UUW-YAH!)

poster of the Earth from outerspace and the caption "The wide, wide world of Spiritual Practices
photo: uuwellspring.org

Connecting to Inner Beliefs

UU Wellspring for Young Adults is designed for a cohort close in age, 18-29 or 25-35 for example. It is a chance to ask the big questions in life and reflect on what is deeply important to you. Each 60 to 90-minute session begins with a check in and sharing of spiritual practices. The session source is introduced and explored through videos, short readings and sharing.

Connecting to the Great Beyond

As Unitarians and UUs we don’t always talk about spirituality and UUW-YAH! Gives you a chance to wonder how our souls are connected to the great beyond as we explore our six Unitarian Universalist Sources.

Connecting to Peaceful Practices

You’ll have a chance to try out spiritual practices, which can simply be choosing an intention, such as gratitude, and thinking about it as you carry out an activity. For example, you might choose to attend a class, a daily task, or work with gratitude.

Join In

This 8-session series can be offered as either a fall or spring session meeting bi-weekly or October to May meeting monthly. Online or in-person.

Let’s Remember How We Got Here

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Before we go off in all directions for the summer, let us recall the sequence of events that have transpired and brought us to this place, because when we return in the fall, ‘this place’ will not have pews, it will have beautiful new chairs. It will also have new lighting and sound systems.

Changing the pews to chairs was suggested by Steven Epperson a year ago and has been discussed casually for some years. Steven brought it up again right before he left, urging us to upgrade and share our Sanctuary with the wider community, thus attracting diverse younger people. He specifically said to the Board that he felt the pews should be replaced by chairs so that the space is more adaptable; this could greatly enhance our community outreach efforts and thus keep UCV relevant and sustainable.

Then, when UCV was offered an anonymous gift to upgrade the lights and sound of the Sanctuary shortly after Steven left, the Board did some research as to what an upgraded Sanctuary could give us, and the larger community. Moreover, a UCV Young Persons Task Force was formed and they submitted a fulsome report about what young Unitarians want from their spiritual home.

Our research and this report revealed that replacing the pews with chairs would give us a space that is much more flexible and could therefore accommodate various forms of worship, walking meditation, circle dance, Indigenous and other cultural forms of ceremony, Jazz Festival events, cabaret fundraisers, and Writers Festival events, to illustrate just a few. It would also allow folks with physical challenges, such as people in wheelchairs, to sit up front and not have to be relegated to the back of the room. The room could also be configured into a circle, the most democratic of configurations, allowing everyone equal status and accessibility.

So in short, it became evident that changing pews to chairs needed to be part of our Sanctuary upgrades because changing pews to chairs deepens our commitment to radical inclusivity. Moreover, the Sanctuary upgrades project furthers our community outreach and membership-building efforts. Having the Sanctuary empty during the pandemic seemed like an ideal time to make all the upgrades.

So the Board engaged the congregation in discussions around the possibility of Sanctuary upgrades (which included replacing pews with chairs) in fall of 2020, and the response we received at the forum we held at that time was enthusiastically in favour of the changes.

Following this engagement with the membership, we brought it to a discussion and a vote at the AGM in November 2020. At that vote during the AGM, the vast majority of UCV members voted in favour of the Sanctuary upgrades and changing the pews to chairs while keeping the balcony pews in tact and a few on the sides.

In this way, our beautiful Sanctuary will become a more welcoming space for various forms of worship, various physical abilities, become a cultural destination, and most importantly, attract a younger and more diverse demographic to our Church which will ensure that UCV will thrive into the future.

This has been a very challenging time for all of us, and as a congregation we continue to rise and meet those challenges as best we can. Although change is always difficult, we know from experience that from every ending comes a new beginning. I hope you will embrace our new Sanctuary this fall, and all the possibilities it affords.

With that thought and on behalf of the UCV Board of Trustees, I wish you a safe and peaceful summer.

Best wishes, Diane Brown, UCV Board Chair.

If you’re 18-35 and want to meet other Unitarians your age…

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A special invitation from the Canadian Unitarian Council to new-to-UU young adults

Are you interested in connecting with other young adult (18-35 year old) Unitarian Universalists? Gathered Here is a monthly 75-minute online check-in and gathering that will give you a chance to meet other UU young adults and experience the warmth of our national community.

2nd Monday @ 5pm on Zoom

Join other UU 18-35 year olds on Zoom (a video-conferencing platform) for the sharing of joys and concerns, deeper check-ins, prayerful reflections, and an opportunity to process current events with a spiritually grounded community. Gathered Here generally takes place on the second Monday evening of each month at 5pm Pacific/ 6pm Mountain/ 7pm Central/ 8pm Eastern/ 9pm Atlantic. It’s a free drop-in gathering, so no advance registration is necessary. Search “Gathered Here” on the CUC website or on Facebook to find upcoming dates and login instructions.

Here are some more ways for UU young adults to connect online.

CUC Website

http://cuc.ca/young-adults/

Our congregation supported this year-long project

http://cuc.ca/young-adults/young-adult-project/

Facebook Links

Canadian Unitarian Council Youth and Young Adult Ministry page

https://www.facebook.com/CUCyayaministry/

UU Young Adults in Vancouver

Closed Group (You can ask to join)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/122226307860396/

90 members

UU Young Adult Connections

Closed Group (You can ask to join)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/698574876830392/

A continental group only for those between 18 and 35

1300+members

Description

There are a lot of UU young adults* wandering the continent but it’s easy for us to feel isolated. This group is here to combat that feeling and connect us to each other. Feel free to share events and information, ask questions, and invite other young adults you know. THIS GROUP IS INDEPENDENT OF THE UUA. *The UUA defines young adults as people between the ages of 18-35. If you are younger than 18 or older than 35, this is not the group for you. Note: We also welcome anyone who identifies as a U/U (Unitarian or Universalist) rather than as a UU.

 

Text reminders

There’s a lot to keep track of, which is why we’re offering a new way to get the most important info about young adult events sent directly to your phone. We will use this service to send monthly reminders about Gathered Here, as well as other important event notices such as registration deadlines. Here are instructions for how to sign up for text reminders using a service called Remind.

1) By text:
Just text @cucya to (502) 694-1142 and you will be signed up for reminders. You should receive a confirmation from Remind right away.

2) Online:
Visit rmd.at/cucya to sign up for text, smartphone notifications and/or email reminders. By creating an account, you can change your settings or unsubscribe at any time.
* Remind was designed for classrooms, so you’ll get a prompt asking whether you’re a teacher, student, parent, etc. Just choose “student” to move to the next page.

3) By email:
Send an email to [email protected] and request to be added to the reminder group. Please include your cell phone number in the message.

[Thank you and credit to BLUU for the text notification idea and instructions! Visitblacklivesuu.com/ to learn more about their incredible work]

Additionally, you can always check in on what events are coming up for young adults atwww.cuc.ca/community/young-adults/young-adult-events/

 

CUC eNews November 2018

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Highlights: New CUC Youth Observer, Board brainstorming using De Bono’s “Six Thinking Hats”, “Shining Lights” and special CUC Funding Programs, CUC Liaison role revived, Young Adults monthly zoom get together, other Roundtables & Webinars…

Download the CUC eNews from the communications page on the CUC website.

Subscribe to the eNews here: 

Articles include:
• Update from the Board President – Read about the September board & staff retreat held in Guelph, ON.
• New Youth Observer to the CUC Board (YOB) – Meet Liv Gardiner, our new YOB!

Liv writes: “I’m 19 years old, and am from Winnipeg, where I
attended the First UU Church of Winnipeg for 14 years. I’m in my
first year of University at Dalhousie in Halifax…”


• 2019 Annual General Meeting (AGM) – The upcoming AGM is scheduled for May 11, 2019, and will be hosted by the Unitarian Congregation of Mississauga. Review information about submitting motions.• Planning for the AGM – Tips for delegate selection (due by April 1). Learn how to register your delegates.
• CUC Liaison Role Revived – The CUC Liaison is the bridge between your congregation and the CUC. Read about their responsibilities. (Currently at UCV this is Keith Wilkinson with help from Lynn Armstrong, Emilie Adin, Olivia Hall, Kiersten Moore, and Neal Cameron. Contact Keith if you’d like to help out.)
• Canada and Cannabis – The CUC has a long history of advocacy for the legalization of marijuana reaching back to the 1960s.
• International News – The International Women’s Convocation Fall 2018 newsletter is available now.
• News from Our Congregations – The Westwood Unitarian Congregation has become Canada’s First FreeThinker Friendly UU congregation.
• Shining Lights – The deadline for the 2019 Shining Lights nominations is coming up on December 15.
• Stories from the Nominees for the 2018 Shining Light Award – Learn more about Community Conversations at the Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough.
• Grants and Subsidies – The CUC manages a variety of grants and subsidies to support congregational outreach, innovation, and seminarians.
• Job and Volunteer Opportunities – Openings are available for CanUUdle staff, Unicamp is looking for a new Executive Director, and the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo is searching for a part-time consulting minister.
• Upcoming Events – Besides our CUC roundtables and webinars, the Eastern Regional Fall Gathering is happening on November 17. Register now!

• Gathered Here – A new program of monthly zoom chats for young adults

 2018 – November 12, December 10
2019 – January 14, February 11, March 11, April 8, May 6, June 10, July 8, August 12.

• Organizational Tip – Check out the advantages of role-specific email addresses for leaders.
• Contact Us – A full listing of CUC Board and Staff contact information.

If you have information you would like to contribute or are interested in writing an article for the eNews, please contact[email protected].