There is change afoot everywhere in Unitarian Universalism. That’s ok. There’s some things that really need to change to serve the needs of the folks who want to stay connected to their faith.

The UU Young Adult Steering Committee is working hard on changes to better serve the community we have served for years. For one, knowing and owning who we are and why it is important that we exist at all. For another, knowing who our community is and how we can help you stay connected to your faith in ways that work best for you.
I’m simultaneously fascinated, excited and overwhelmed by the amount of change going on in how we communicate with each other. Contrary to how I deal with fashion(just doin’ my own thing), I usually like to wait until technology has become popular before I use it, because having something without having anyone to share it with isn’t very fun and doesn’t seem to be worth my time. I’ll just have to learn something else next month.
I want to find something where I can reliably reach the people I want to reach. It can be simple, I just want it to do the job. I also recognize the importance of innovation and change to improve the products we use for communication. So I keep informed the best I can and I listen to the friends who get all excited about digging into why one method is better than another.
I also wonder about how many of us still read newspapers and magazines. It’s hard for me to slow down long enough to read the UUWorld. Even now that I am subscribed to the email newsletter for UUWorld, my inbox gets so much “important” stuff that I skip through most of it. When I do take a little time to read a story, or there’s a link on Facebook, with a little commentary by a friend, I marvel at the ideas circulating now. It’s at those times that I want to go back and read it all – I feel I can never keep up with it. With the help of some very smart colleagues though, I’m finding more balance between my all or nothing tendencies.
The most important thing, though, is that our message gets to the people who need it, and the only people who can tell me if that’s happening are the people out there looking for UU Young Adult news.
That’s YOU.
So today I really just want to know -
How do you get your information about Young Adult goings on? Facebook? Email? Google Reader? The Newsletter from the Youth and Young Adult office? The blue boat blog? Twitter?
Let me know in the comments below!
Thanks!

*CAYAN is the proposed new name for C*UUYAN. Official action on this proposal will be taken at the ConCentric 2012 business meeting in Honeywell, Ontario during this year’s Opus. If you have ideas and enthusiasm around making this meeting as accessible as possible to those not able to be there in person, please email steeringcommittee@uuyan.org

The three days of our face to face meeting in Boston were an incredible journey of exploration. We began with many questions about who we are as a young adult network, who we serve, and what and how much we should be doing. What can we do with the resources we have now?

We had some incredible moments of clarity around these questions, and here is a piece of the result.
We determined that the people we serve, the ministry gap that we fill, are the young adults that find a spiritual community in the conference culture. We proudly affirm that those who attend conferences are a legitimate faith based community that deserves recognition.

For many people, conference culture is what keeps them connected to their Unitarian Universalist faith during their transient years. While General Assembly is typically seen as the event that draws UU leaders, 120 young adults attended Opus in 2000, and by 2007, 40 of them were ordained ministers. Opus indeed draws leadership, it’s the kind of leadership that sees the opportunity to minister to each other and build community.

This cohort of leadership also sees the importance of taking a break to recharge one’s batteries. I know every time I have attended Opus I have returned home renewed in my enthusiasm for Unitarian Universalism and ready to bring the better me that emerged to my day to day life. At local conferences I experienced how an intentional community coming together for even a short time, over a weekend, could have a transformative effect. Even the conference when I drove ten hours by myself for a weekend with maybe 10 people, turned out to be refreshing and worth the trip. These are the kind of experiences that enrich not only individual lives, but also the communities and congregations that are touched by those lives. This is a small taste of why the support of conference culture is important to Unitarian Universalism.

As the C*UUYAN steering committee discussed what we do as an organization, what we should do, and the role we play in the larger faith, we brought up the above points and many more, both positive and negative. Through challenging discussion about the community we hold so dear, we came to a very clear conclusion that while we have had lofty and worthy aspirations about who we could represent, what services we could provide, the reality is that a group of five volunteers working five or ten hours a week could not support such goals. Many of the problems of the past ten years have been simply because the leaders have been trying to do more than was really reasonable for a volunteer run organization. What we can do however is continue to support and finance those who put on the conferences we love. This is what we have been doing for years. This is what we are capable of doing really well. It is time we claim the importance of this work and advocate for its recognition.

The goal for this year is to do one thing, and do it really well. The goal is to serve Young Adults by making Unitarian Universalism accessible to them through conference culture.

The Youth and Young Adult Office at the UUA serves Young Adults in congregations. The Young Adults your steering committee is serving are Conference Attending Young Adults. While there is definitely overlap between Conference Attending Young Adults and Young Adults who are members of congregations (myself included), conference attendees are a specific identity group with specific needs. In recognition of this, as well as our renewed focus, we’ve decided that a more fitting name for our organization is Conference Attending Young Adult Network – or CAYAN. Yes, it is an acronym. I wish we could come up with something that wasn’t and still identified us accurately, but thankfully, it is a much catchier name! Easy to remember, easy to pronounce. So we proudly present, your CAYAN of Unitarian Universalists.

Tell us what you think right here on the blog! And continue to check uuyan.org for updates and email steeringcommittee@uuyan.org with any questions. We’re looking forward to an amazing year.

Well just in case, here’s an update from the CUUYAN Steering Committee.
The Central Midwest District hosted a wonderful Opus retreat for the second year in a row at the beginning of August. We’re so grateful they’ve reignited that flame. Robbie Bryden came forward with a proposal from our friends in Canada to host Opus 2012 at Unicamp, north of Toronto. The Opus community came to consensus in favor of the proposal.

Kelly Rauch was elected Facilitator of the Steering Committee at Opus.

Julie Brock was elected for the vacant At Large position at Opus.

Raziq Brown was appointed from a wonderfully strong pool of applicants to be our Observer to the Board. I look forward to watching him wield those mad observing and communicating skills.

Suzanne Bernardi resigned from her 2nd year At Large position. We are grateful for her dedicated work over the past year!

We’ve taken a couple of months to get organized. And I do mean that literally. There is a great deal of clutter left over from the last 10 years or so that we’re either not using or we can’t sustain. So we’ve put it in storage while we deal with some basics. Here is the plan for this year’s Steering Committee.

1. Cultivate a culture where we work really well together as a committee.
2. Cultivate a healthy working relationship with the UUA board and Youth and Young Adult Office.
3. Create a transitional budget for this year.
4. Help Canada put on a really fantastic Opus.
5. Come up with a plan for the next two years.
6. Come up with a sustainable budget for the next two years.

We’re meeting every other week for an hour if we can or an hour and a half. When more time intensive planning is called for, we’re meeting weekly.

For example, our face to face meeting in Boston is October 21-23, and we’ve been asked to plan the Sunday worship for the Board and UUA Staff. Thanks to Julie’s connections and super-duper seminary skills!

Because both groups are in transition and we all are all doing such important work, we are just thrilled to pieces to have the chance to worship in community with our fellow leaders. This kind of mutual support is essential.

The nature of Young Adult life is chaotic, but this work is so important to all of us that we have decided to take the slow and steady approach. We will do the things we can and do them really well. When we are ready to add to our responsibilities, we will look carefully at how to plan new things responsibly and sustainably.

Because of the committee’s commitment to consistent work towards building a healthy organization, we decided not to scramble to appoint someone to fill Suzanne’s position before our meeting in Boston. While it turned out great for the Observer position, and we had a fantastic pool of applicants, that kind of down to the wire pressure is not something we want to become a habit.

The two main goals of our upcoming face to face meeting is to develop some clarity around the purpose and scope of CUUYAN and build some healthy relationships. When we have that healthy foundation and clarity, then we can dig into the best ways to do that work for YOU.

In absolute faith,

Kelly Rauch
Julie Brock
Alexis Ettner
Bethany Lowe

Apply to be the C*UUYAN Observer to the UUA Board of Trustees here!

Applications are only up for a short time, let us know what you can do today!

Opus 2011 Scholarship Application

So, I know. You’ve looked at the title of this document and groaned. Who has time to do fundraising? You’re probably already in a position where you’ve taken on too much anyway, you amazing YA leader, you. After all, no one is hassling you to take his or her money, but everybody hearts young adults.

Fundraising may not be glitzy or glamorous, but it is nonetheless very necessary to cultivate your fundraising skills. Building strong and sustainable young adult movements takes money. It’s also totally ok to fundraise to get yourself to a conference or an event. Hopefully, UU adults and allies care about supporting young adult leadership and leadership development, and will be happy to help you get to UU Young Adult events this summer. Ideally this will help you raise money for your travel expenses to this Summer’s Opus.

Raising funds locally, “grassroots style,” isn’t as difficult as you may think. It just takes patience, practice, and the courage to actually ask for money to support your work. And you do believe in your work, and love it, or you wouldn’t sacrifice as much of your time as you have already. So get out there and just ask.

I’ve enclosed a sample letter. Some folks to send the letter to include churches, individuals within a church or congregation that have supported or might be interested in supporting young adult activities, professors or advisors at universities, and family members. Don’t forget to check out other sources of funds. (like asking for money through your campus ministry group, etc.) Here are some more tips for grassroots letter writing fundraising (called direct mail fundraising in the non-profit world).

1. Send the letter.

2. Ask for a specific amount of money and be really clear about what it will be used for. For example, ask for $25-$50 per person and be clear that it will be used to buy a plane ticket to get to OPUS.

3. Give folks a place to send money.

4. Follow up with a phone call, or several phone calls, until you get a definite answer.

5. Keep a list of who sends you money, their addresses, and how much.

6. Write Thank You Notes! This is crucial. Don’t forget. Tell them what you learned at the conference and what you are planning doing with the skills you gained.

Don’t be afraid to ask for money. Keep calling. This is all much easier than it seems.

It is very important that you to remember that you need to come right out and ask for support. It is the hardest part of a slightly uncomfortable conversation, but in the end, it is going to make or break you effort. Here’s an example: “So, would you be willing to give a $25 or $50 donation to our young adult group to attend this important conference?” It really is as easy as that.

Think. What has your young adult or campus ministry group done recently? How does what you do or will do impact and strengthen the congregation. Stress that you are building leadership for the future of your congregation to encourage folks to donate money. It works.

Be confident and persistent. Generally, it is good to send a letter, followed with a phone call to set up a meeting, then setting a meeting time with the supporter so you’ll actually be able to pick up the check. Sometimes, a meeting isn’t necessary: the person may prefer to just send a check to you in the mail. But usually it is a good idea to meet face to face with your supporter.

Don’t feel guilty. If a person is not able to give you support, they won’t. You aren’t “conning” anyone into anything. Most young adults are workers and are themselves in debt. People understand this, and if you can present yourself as a responsible, ambitious, and dedicated organizer, your supporter will feel some gratification in supporting your cause.

If you’ve never talked to your supporter before, reference whoever or however you got their name. “Cold” calls are the most difficult, because the supporter will feel no connection or obligation to your organization. Articulating a connection makes everyone feel part of a larger movement.

Good Luck!

Sample OPUS Fundraising Letter:

Dear Potential YA Supporter, I’d like to take the time to tell you a little about OPUS, a conference of the Continental Unitarian Universalist Young Adult Network (C*UUYAN). C*UUYAN is made up of Unitarian Universalist Young Adults ages 18-35. Opus is the annual spiritual retreat of the Continental Unitarian Universalist Young Adult Network. We are an intentional community of seekers exploring liberal religion, social justice and diversity. This year, OPUS will explore and honor our roots–as a religious community, a young adult network and as individuals.

Young Adults are valuable parts of our congregations. Young adults help to build for the future. C*UUYAN helps to foster a strong young adult community across the continent. The need for an organization for young adults isn’t as much because young adults are “special” as it is because young adults are at an age range not traditionally well-served by congregations. Often UUs move far from their home congregations around age 18 and don’t find a congregation where they end up, particularly when they end up in a tiny college town. They lose their connections with UU community. C*UUYAN works to create a community of young adults and to connect that community with congregations. C*UUYAN has been successful in helping to build strong young adult support networks across the continent, but there is still much work to be done.

Locally, our group and I have been working to build and sustain a local young adult movement. This past year, I have helped our young adult group do__________. Next year I hope that we will be able to__________. It would strengthen my leadership skills and provide a strong base for building this congregation’s young adult group next year if I attended OPUS.

OPUS will take place just outside of Chicago, IL It costs roughly $____ to fly to Chicago from ________. Would you consider contributing money to help sponsor my trip? I am asking for individual donations of $25-$50. You can make checks payable to ________ and they can be sent_________ or you can contact me to arrange a pick up.

Thank you for your time. I will be calling you soon to discuss a possible donation.

Sincerely,

UU Young Adult

Take a look!

CUUYAN Bylaws 2011

The C*UUYAN Steering Committee is proud to announce it’s newest task force: The Story Collective, whose mission is to create a useful, easy to understand, elegant, scalable history of Unitarian Universalist Young Adult movements. This is a large project with many facets. In these beginning stages we are asking questions of our community, gathering together our history, and inviting the community to think about our future.

Our first project is to bring a young adult voice to the worship at the 50th Anniversary General Assembly in 2011. In approaching the anniversary of the UUA, many UUs have been reflecting on the history of our denomination and where we are heading in the future. This reflection is not limited to ministerial professionals or long-time GA attendees, it’s a topic that can be addressed by all young adults. And we would love your help in making that happen!

This is an invitation for reflection on what you value about your UU spirituality and community, and a space to imagine the future of our denomination. We have two questions that we would specifically like to feature, and we hope to present your responses incorporated into a multimedia worship piece at GA.

Below are the questions we invite you to reflect upon (no length requirements or limits). We hope to feature as many young adult voices and responses as possible.

1. What would your ideal Unitarian Universalism look like if we had ten years to get it right? What would your community, your spiritual practice, your congregation or your conference look like?
2. What aspects of contemporary Unitarian Universalism do you cherish and want to preserve for the next generation of young adults?

The C*UUYAN Story Collective formally invites you email us your answer to one or all of the questions below to cuuyanstorycollective@gmail.com before February 15th.

Also! Look for further announcements from The Story Collective on Twitter (@cuuyanstories), on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cuuyan-Story-Collective/194739263874263), and in future YaYA newsletters.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you!

• Sarah (Serastar) Freese,  Madame Facilitator
• Suzanne Bernardi, At-Large
• Alexis Ettner, At-Large
• Lindsay Simon, At-Large (re-elected for a one year term)
• Bethany Lowe, Liason to the Young Adult Caucus of General Assembly