Rick's Rants » YRUU

A brief goodbye to UUYOUTH.NET

lryer — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 14:38:56 +0000

I’m going to take down uuyouth.net this week. I will move the useful content to lryer.org. I will try to keep the pointers aliased so that bookmarks go to the same place. Basically because no one has been interested in making use of uuyouth.net, and I am now disconnected from UU youth programs. I will post more details as I get the move set up.

Update: uuyouth.org/rick now points to the right place and the blog is running, now if I can just get .net pointing to the right place.

Just who are you people?

lryer — Mon, 02 May 2005 17:36:25 +0000

An interesting new study about the values and politics of Generation Y has important input for folks contemplating the design of a youth program. Generation Y may be loosely defined as those born between 1980 and 2000 (though the report really only covers only the adult members of this generation, those currently 18-25 years of age).

The report, with the somewhat gimmicky title of “OMG: How Generation Y is Redefining Faith in the iPod Era” (pdf), was written by Anna Greenberg and is based on a large-scale survey with oversamples among Jews, blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Muslims, as well as supplementary analyses of Census and other data, all conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner

Ruy Teixeira, Democratic/progressive political analyst, has a good digest of some of the findings from a political angle:

Generation Y is extraordinarily diverse in a race-ethnic sense. Only 61 percent of Gen Y adults are white; 15 percent are black, 4 percent are Asian and 17 percent are Hispanic.

Generation Y is more secular and less Christian. Almost a quarter (23 percent) have no religious preference or are agnostic/atheist, 4 percent are Jewish or Muslim and another 7 percent are other non-Christian; only 62 percent identify themselves with some Christian faith.

Gen Y is at the leading edge of what Chris Bowers has pointed out is an extremely fast-growing demographic: the non-Christian coalition. Between 1990 and 2001, according to CUNY’s American Religious Identification Survey, non-Christians grew by 84 percent (from 20 to 37 million adults), including an astonishing increase of 106 percent (from 14 to 29 million) among seculars.

Generation Y is very liberal on social issues. A majority (53 percent) flat-out support allowing gay marriage. And 63 percent say women shoudl have the legal right to choose an abortion.

Generation Y is unusually liberal in an ideological sense. More Gen Y adults say they are liberal (31 percent) than say they are conservative (30 percent).

Generation Y leans strongly Democratic. Gen Y adults give Democrats an 11 point edge on party ID (39-28).
The Emerging Democratic Majority WebLog – DonkeyRising

There is a clear argument that growth opportunites favor reaching diverse and unchurched and offering a welcoming community. The junior high/middle school years are crucial in the development of independant identity, and a spiritual identity is an important part of that self definition. For a youth in a family that is not tied to a church this begins a time of great fluidity. How do we get the message out? How do we serve youth once they show up at the door? The need for a youth component of CYF is one implication.

Instead we seem to be growing more fearful of “unaffiliated youth” who are attracted to YRUU.

April she will come…

site admin — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 02:03:19 +0000

So here it already month 4 and the eve of daylight savings time. I here in Boston this weekend, hogging BettyJeanne’s computer. It’s the final Steering Committee at Picket & Elliot House. We get one more to chance to do it right before Youth Council at GA in June. Wish us luck.

I had a wonderful weekend last week co-leading an LDC in Berkeley (and had barely 2 days inbetween.

Random and disconnected notes

lryer — Sat, 26 Feb 2005 02:04:37 +0000

The facilitator presents us with wheel of the cycle of life, positing a 28 year repeating cycle of individual development. I think it is a useful personal perspective for evaluation of an induvidual life, but I am leary of applying a developmental model like this to ministry to a specific age range. Individual variation at that scale tends to overwhelm broad pattern abstraction.

Al notes that as he has aged, YRUU has become “less of a safe place.”

Part of the parenting experience is a necessary rejection of indentity with the child so that we take on a protective role. A different perception of the environment is important. A parent must percieve the environment as a source of danger. Youth must see a source of possibility.

Reconnecting is an important part of advisor training.

I am always worried when teasing out dichotomies, that the dichotomies will get pissed off and attack.

Hannah: “Historical people”

That many youth have no interest in the nuts & bolts of governance is not a revelation. It is just as true of adults in the denomination. That in no way negates the need for governance work. It is sacred work.

“fear of tipping the balance of power”

UT: “The challenge for a group which has been given a responsibility is how to get rid of the responsibility.”

Can we

guarantee

the safety of your children? Can we

can’t trust

the behavior of your children they probably shouldn’t participate. Will your children be safer doing whatever they will do if they don’t go to the con? Or have you just not thought about what they do whehn they are “home”? Will they be supervised every moment. Are you only worried because of some rumor you heard about what happened “this one time at a con?”

Live from Massachusetts

lryer — Fri, 25 Feb 2005 01:49:21 +0000

Blogging from the Essex Conference Center in Essex, MA, just because I can. I’m up here for what seems to be currently called the Convocation on Ministery With Youth. The plan is to begin the process of evaluating and potentially making big changes in the way the UUA does youth ministry. What are our unserved constituencies? Can we reach them and still preserve what it is that we love about YRUU?

This is a lovely place in the woods north of Boston. Simple but very well appointed. Should be a good place to think. I hope we can find a way to give a useful purpose to this weekend. I fear that the concept of this weekend is not clear enough to focus the activity. I have an open mind and good will, however, so we will see.

Our job is to pass legislation, not read it…

lryer — Tue, 23 Nov 2004 17:28:09 +0000

I have heard some grumbling about the tendency of Youth Council (and other arms of YRUU) to put off important business until there is no longer enough time or physical/mental ability/stamina to give serious consideration to matters at hand. Buck up guys, you are not alone. It is quite evident this weekend that the US Congress works the same way. Not only did the consideration of the budget (arguably the most important legislation the congress considers) not get taken up until a special weekend session of the lame duck congress, but the “lawmakers” only had one day to consider the over 1000 page bill. That means that no one knows what is in the bill. This goes so far that it appears that no even knows how some provisions, like the grant access of Congressional staff to IRS records, got into the text of the bill. The bill was passed, however, even though it appears that no one even read the bill.

Greetings from Boston

lryer — Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:43:21 +0000

I had to post once from Pickett and Elliot House here at the UUA in Boston. I’m at my first YRUU Steering Committee meeting, and have now officially survived it. We managed to chew off a big chunk of the “Common Ground 3″ problem/opportunity in a manner that honors the difficulty we have with the proposal. I have had only limited views of the city: run/walk around Boston Commons Friday morning, shopping downtown (for a belt) yesterday, and a walk by John Kerry’s house on the way to a wonderful Thai restaurant, “The King & I”, last night. It has been a very good experience working with this steering committee, and I look forward to the year.

For all you condom art fanx

lryer — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 14:10:49 +0000

From the Bangkok Aids Conference

Blame industrialization

site admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2004 20:55:05 +0000

From a daytime “Judging Amy” episode:
“Since we brought the kids in from the fields, no one’s known what to with them.”

Smallest PortalCon may have been best

site admin — Mon, 26 Jan 2004 16:04:52 +0000

I had a great time this weekend and I think most everyone did. No broken limbs, anyway. 50 proved to be a very good size for a con. It was small enough that there was very little cliqueing. This seemed to be great for the first timers, who seemed to get bonded into the group fairly quickly. A marathon wink game really helped add an extra level to group connections. (And followed the “District Wink Rules.”)
I would love to see some comments on this.
PS – Charlie asked for a shout out here. Glad to — I’m just happy to know that someone is reading this!