Table of Contents:
Resolutions:
These proposals were discussed and adopted by Youth Council using the formal consensus
process.
- Let Bylaws Be Bylaws...For a Bit Longer
- Letter from POCC regarding POCAC
- YFUUD Resolution
- YRUU Response to the YRUU Question (of the Summit on Youth Ministry)
Click Here to Refer to the Youth Council 2007 Minutes.
Let Bylaws Be Bylaws...For a Bit Longer
Sponsors: YRUU Steering Committee
Point Person: Nick Allen
WHEREAS a resolution was passed at Youth Council 2006 calling for an update of the YRUU bylaws and the election of a “Taskforce on YRUU’s Bylaws and Policy and Procedure,” AND;
WHEREAS the Summit on Youth Ministry took place a week before Youth Council 2007, AND;
WHEREAS there is a great deal more discussion that YRUU as well as many other vital stakeholders in youth ministry before there is a clear direction for the future of youth ministry, THEREFORE;
BE IT RESOLVED that YRUU will suspend the process to update its bylaws until more clarity has been achieved regarding its future AND;
BE IT RESOLVED that YRUU empowers its Steering Committee to readdress this issue at the appropriate time, and, if not addressed by Youth Council 2009, that Youth Council delegates may act at that time to move the bylaw updating process forward.
A letter from POCC regarding POCAC
To Youth and Young Adults of Color in the Unitarian Universalist community and those who wish to support Youth of Color in their endeavor to get a full and satisfying spiritual experience:
On July 27th 2007 the organizations known as People of Color Caucus (POCC) and The People of Color Advisory Council (POCAC), which were positions left for Youth of Color on Young Religious Unitarian Universalist Steering Committee were recognized as token positions and unaccountable to Youth of Color in the Unitarian Universalist faith therefore they were dismantled. These positions were originally created so Youth of Color would have a voice in the governance of YRUU despite this these positions was merely a farce to make YRUU as a whole seem as representative of all youth.
Youth Council to be concise is a General Assembly of Youth delegates who are involved in YRUU across the continent, their positions are known as Youth Council Representatives usually elected to their positions by their district or region. Due to the lack of diversity within our faith it is very often that all the Youth Council members other than POCC are White youth. Due to YRUU proclaiming a commitment to Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive work it was hard for them to make decisions and policies that didn’t reflect the interests of White Youth. Now one may ask: If the Youth Council Representatives (YCR) are elected to their position that Youth of Color must have placed them there thinking their interests were at heart. Unfortunately, the majority of Youth of Color in our faith do not attend district events, many of which don’t even attend their congregational services due to alienation, marginalization and a strong feeling of invisibility being in a faith not supported by demographics. Since, this is the case the YCR system was flawed and unintentionally racist. Thus the positions of POCC and POCAC were created temporarily relieve this malfunction in the system.
People of Color Caucus is a body of Youth of Color selected by availability to represent their constituents “The Youth of Color community in the Unitarian Universalist faith”. I say availability because though leadership skills, Anti-Racist Analysis and a connection to Youth of Color in the UUA or CUC is a bonus there are not enough Youth of Color in leadership willing to put themselves in a position which usually gets extremely stressful and degrading. The majority of the Youth of Color who are recruited to fill these positions are unsupported and unconnected to larger Youth of Color Community therefore giving Youth of Color an impotent voice in the YRUU decision making process.
This years POCC has decided that we would change this flaw in the system and hopefully make the positions formerly known as POCC and POCAC accountable to Diverse Revolutionary Unitarian Universalist Multicultural Ministries Youth and Young Adult Steering Committee (DRUUMM YaYA SC) instead of no one.
The People of Color Caucus intentionally decided to have no one run for POCAC, thus disbanding it. Our purpose was to end this tokenizing committee and instead focus on one that can be fully accountable. Our action was bold, but necessary, and we believe that it will be successful.
YFUUD Resolution
Sponsors: Tsuki Naka, Paul Gupta, Alice Mandt, Peter MacDonald, Brian Acevedo, India McKnight, Helia Daigeau, Emma Olson, George Brown, Laura Spenser, Nguyen Weeks.
Point People: Tsuki Naka, Helia Diageau
Primary Aid: Darrick Jackson
UU Principle: All of them…
(The inherent worth and dignity of every person; Justice, equity and compassion in human relations; Acceptance of one another and encouragement of spiritual growth; A free and open search for truth and meaning; The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large; The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all; Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.)
Specific Problem being addressed: in the 2005 Youth Council resolution "it's time we did even more for anti-racism in YRUU" The YFUUD ((YRUU Fund for Unitarian Universalist Development) was devoted to youth of colour programming, and the power to allot the money was given to POCAC. As there will be no POCAC, there will be no one to allot the money.
Hope to Achieve: the power to allot YFUUD money for youth of colour programming be given to the youth positions on DRUUMM YaYA steering committee.
How this will further the principles and visions of YRUU:
Youth of Color are an essential part of the YRUU community. By continuing to not provide the support they need, we're pushing Youth of Color out of YRUU.
Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression is at the forefront of our vision. YRUU has made a commitment to work toward becoming an Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive organization. It is our imperative to do whatever we can to work further toward that commitment.
These are the goals of YRUU…
-Establish a continental community of youth.
-Provide for worship, celebration and rites of passage.
-Build the Unitarian Universalist movement: it's traditions, membership and heritage.
-Develop personal growth and leadership skills.
-Develop individual social consciousness: be group agents of change and encourage members to be peaceful citizens of the world.
-Develop a communications network.
-Develop educational resources.
-Develop continuity between program levels, from younger to older.
-Foster tolerance, understanding and acceptance of diversity.
-Provide resources for identifying and training program advisors.
-Develop skills in group interaction and relationship building.
-Build a greater understanding between youth and adults.
The sponsors of this resolution believe that none of these goals can happen without a change in the way we currently support Youth of Color.
Short term goals and steps to achieve:
1. Pass this resolution
Long term goals and steps to achieve:
1. the "hope to achieve" will be achieved.
Resources YRUU has that will be used: no resources will be needed.
Financial impact: none.
Evaluation: will be done by DRUUMM YaYA SC and the youth of colour community.
Response to the YRUU Question
In response to the questions regarding the role of YRUU in a new vision of youth ministry, Youth Council is making the following statement:
YRUU1 provides a valuable space for youth empowerment and allows youth to govern within their faith community. Many youth, as a result of their involvement and empowerment on the district/regional and/or continental levels, also become more invested in their congregations. We, Youth Council, believe that youth empowerment (as defined by the Task Force on Ministry to and with Youth) must be protected. The restructuring of YRUU and youth ministry should maintain our core youth programming (see below) because it is valuable to the youth that YRUU already serves. However, youth ministry, of which YRUU is a part, must expand to better accomplish the visions of the Summit on Youth Ministry. Youth Council believes that a youth continental leadership structure must exist; however, it is open to changes involving the current continental structures such as YRUU Steering Committee and Youth Council.
It is unrealistic for YRUU to meet every need of all UU youth; however, it does meet needs for many through current services such as:
- Leadership development, especially through the Chrysalis Trainings,
- Youth programming at General Assembly,
- Continental, district/regional, and congregational youth governance,
- Providing youth groups with resources,
- Synapse, list-serves, and other forms of communication,
- Groundwork and other AR/AO trainings,
- Ministries to Youth of Color,
- Ministries to queer youth2.
We, Youth Council, recommend that YRUU could serve more youth by implementing the following objectives, including but not limited to:
- Closer communication between congregations and district/regional-level youth governance,
- Closer communication between Steering Committee and youth district/regional governing bodies (YACs/DYSCs/RRYSC),
- Closer communication between continental YRUU Steering Committee and Canadian Advisory Youth Adult Committee (CAYAC),
- Closer communication between Steering Committee and DRUUMM YaYA,
- Creating new and improving existing safe spaces for and ministering to Youth of Color and queer youth,
- Redesigning existing or designing new trainings for shorter events or a series of mini-trainings,
- Mentorship between congregations with strong youth ministries and those struggling or just getting started,
- Sharing of resources between districts/regions,
- District/regional services that help protect youth groups from conflicts involving political fluctuations in congregations,
- More opportunities for direct representation of congregational youth, specifically on the district/regional level,
- Encouraging direct mentorship between youth leaders.
We, Youth Council, recommend that youth ministry expands to also accomplish the following objectives, including but not limited to:
- Offering more ministry to non-congregational youth,
- Offering more ministry to youth in congregations who are not served by youth groups,
- Creating youth ministry training for ministers,
- Creating youth ministry training for religious professionals and laypeople,
- Creating new and improving existing safe spaces for and ministering to Youth of Color and queer youth.
We, Youth Council, recommend these actions to accomplish the above objectives:
- Providing conflict resolution services for youth in congregations with conflicts involving political fluctuations in congregations,
- Creating an extension of the Church of the Larger Fellowship specifically for youth,
- Encouraging youth representation on search committees for people who minister to or advise youth,
- Encouraging youth representation on leadership bodies traditionally reserved exclusively for adults,
- Implementing a more frequent feedback process from congregations and districts/regions to the Office of Youth Ministry,
- Better publicizing and advertising youth leadership positions.
YRUU is a youth organization sponsored by the UUA and is primarily organized on three levels:
- As youth groups in UU congregations,
- As Youth-Adult Committees or Youth Steering Committees on a District/Regional level which plan conferences and trainings for youth and youth advisors, and which advocate for youth on a congregational and district/regional level, and
- On a continental level as Youth Council, Steering Committee, and at continental events and trainings.
This includes youth who identify outside of the gender binary.
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