OMD Up-Close A monthly feature electronic magazine of the Ohio-Meadville District February 2012 Youth and Young Adult Ministries in the OMD and Beyond

UU Youth Work  and Summer Outreach Experience Just Around the Corner

One of the first things we teach our children is that Unitarian Universalists are the people of the open minds, the loving hearts, and the helping hands… then we provide opportunities for them to learn how to live their faith. The UU Youth Work Camp is one of those opportunities for youth aged 14-18. In late June (24-30), a total of 30 youth and adults from CERG (Central East Region Group) will travel to the Appalachian South FolkLife Center in Pipestem, West Virginia to engage minds, hearts, and hands in helping others. Registration is open now. On March 1st we will open registration to additional youth in our region (CERG).

With the generous support of the Fund for Unitarian Universalist Social Responsibility, we are able to offer this AMAZING week-long experience, van travel, meals, and lodging included, for $250. Registration forms and scholarship applications can be found at the OMD website: www.ohiomeadville.org. Congregations are encouraged to help support camper registrations through financial gifts and fundraisers. For information: Contact Michelle Buhite, Intern for Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry mbuhite@ohiomeadville.org

A Report From the CERG Youth Summit

I asked Oliver Evans (Akron, OH), one of our district’s representatives at the Central East Regional Group (CERG) Summit, to share his experience. His words capture (better than any report I could offer) the experience of youth and adults in conversation together to build youth ministry in our region. Enjoy! (M. Buhite) (edited for length)

I am Oliver Evans, a UU Youth who represented the OMD district at the recent CERG Youth Summit. As everyone arrived I was surrounded by seventeen amazing youth and adults whom I had never met before. During the evening we discussed what our purpose for being together was. We defined what exactly Youth Ministry is, how it affects us, and what we can do about it.

Throughout the next day, we discussed the relationships between districts, congregations, and the region, and where innovation or improvement was possible within those relationships. The part of the Youth Summit that was the most incredible, though, was not the actual topic of our discussions, but the way in which we discussed them.  Everyone’s opinion was equal to that of any other person in the room. By meeting all of these new people, I have widened my perspective on Unitarian Universalism as a whole. I am very excited about implementing the ideas which we came up with, as well as bringing them back to share with the youth in our own district.

To read Oliver's full report, visit the OMD website Youth pages.

Youth in Leadership

My name is Caitlin Ballinger. I am 18 years old, a UU for just as long, and a total leadership nut. My journey with UU OMD started in the 3rd grade when my family attended Summer Institute at Kenyon College. Seven years later I returned to SI as a touch group leader, and yet another year later I was the Youth Co-chair on the SI Youth Panel. Working as a touch group leader and on the panel have been some of the best experiences of my life. As a touch group leader you honestly work WITH an adult. You are a team. My favorite part of being a co-chair and a touch group leader was the fact that the adults on the panel treated me as their equal. I was a teammate. The opportunity to step up and be responsible is something I got with the panel and have found across our district since.

As I bridged out of the SI youth program I was welcomed with a new opportunity to lead the CON side of the district as a new Conference Dean. I jumped at the opportunity to work side by side with youth and adults once more. I have found the Dean/Tri-chair position very fulfilling.
And now I have been invited to continue the adventure by co-leading a Youth Advisory training for youth and adults later! I couldn’t wait to jump at the opportunity to lead with Ellen Carvill-Ziemer on the adult/youth relationship. I did mention I’m a leadership junkie, didn’t I?

The connecting theme in my life has been the overwhelming understanding of and respect for the pairing of youth and adults. I have made lifelong friends of all generations and found a spiritual practice through these leadership opportunities. Our principles tell us that we are all connected and that every person is important. Youth-Adult relationships and leadership-teaming embody these ideas, and our district is great at fostering such pairings. To encourage and teach people how to work together across generations is such an honor because I whole heartedly believe that this is how we will change the world. It is said that the young people lead the revolution, but without the wisdom of the past paired with this new outlook, we will never achieve anything more than a variation on the past. I have a dream of a new and brighter future, and through OMD leadership, I have the partners necessary to achieve it.

Youth Anticipates Justice Assembly

Hello. My name is Leigh Duckworth and I have attended the First UU Church (Columbus, OH) almost all of my 17 years. I attend Olentangy Liberty High School, a school of almost 1,500 kids. I am the only Unitarian at my school.

One of the greater challenges in being the only Unitarian Universalist in school, besides trying to explain our beliefs, is the feeling that we are so small. Even my World Religions teacher this year had never heard of my church. I come here for a sense of community and to be honest, to be with other youth like me. We're a small group but a tight one.

Which is why I'm looking forward to the Youth Justice Trip to GA where - I've been told - I will have the chance to meet hundreds of youth like me. I cannot imagine a gathering of thousands of Unitarians in one place but hopefully I will get a chance to go and see for myself just how large a church we really are. I want to connect with other UU youth. I want to feel a part of a larger community and to celebrate our beliefs. And not to have to explain who I am and why I am this way. I'll be with kids just like me.

Want to attend GA but need help? Check out the Phoenix Witness Scholarship Fund. Applications Due March 31.

OMD YAC is Back

By Caitlin Ballinger, OMD YAC Co-Chair
With a new tri-chair system in place, the OMD YAC is stronger than ever! This summer we greeted an “old” friend, Nathan Staples, at the UU Church of Wooster for our planning weekend. Nathan led us in jubilant song and dance and encouraged us to reevaluate our current system, negotiate new positions and guidelines, to discuss and define our directives, and to set goals for the short and long term to achieve those directives. Nathan, along with the help of our new friend and mentor, Michelle Buhite, re-kindled the spirit of OMD YAC, and for that we are profoundly grateful.

Now on to the CONs! So far this year we have had TWO wonderfully brilliant CONs in Cleveland, Ohio. Our Senior High “Neon-CON” was held at the Shaker Heights church. We had workshops on everything from how to play it safe at a dance-party and prevent date rape, to making colorful clothing for our own Rave Saturday evening. Our Junior High CON was hosted by our lovely North Olmstead Congregation in November and was yet another “fantastic” event. So fantastic, actually, that that was the theme! Our junior-highers embarked on adventures with superhero and fantasy themed touch groups and activities.

Our next time together will be Feb 24-25 for the YAC meeting to plan the upcoming Social Action Con (SAC) to be held in Columbus the weekend of March 16-18. Our Social Action Coordinators have done an awesome job planning offsite expeditions for us to make a difference and learn from the local community, and planning our Theme Related Event. We will be working closely with Planned Parenthood; an especially fitting journey in light current events. We look forward to helping further Sex Education and support a group that supports our own health.

CON will be in Akron this year in May! On Cinco de Mayo we will share our fondest memories of the time we have had with our bridging seniors and participate in meaningful worship. We will have young adults come and talk to our bridgers to ensure that the path is just that, a bridge. We are sooo very excited to have those old friends returning and know that we will have a fantastic weekend! Don’t miss out. As you can see from the great events we have had and are currently planning, OMD YAC is up to all good and ready for more! Join if you want to have a good time with some outstanding people both young and young of heart.

A full list of all of YAC's conferences and meetings is on the OMD website YAC page. Also find out more at the YAC website at www.omdyac.org

Young Adult Ministry Road Show Coming Soon!