YRUU Inspiration and Love
I had the opportunity to attend a UUA youth summit with a few of our amazing high schoolers and YRUU Advisor Jim Gamble last weekend in Oak Ridge, TN. What an uplifting experience that was! I’ve got to tell you, folx, I love our youth. They are kind, inclusive, curious, thoughtful, fun, and mature teens. Uniquely themselves and beautiful in their own right, they also have a synergy that creates a positive, respectful, bright light together. I am inspired by our young UUs!
At the youth summit, our Asheville group gathered in person with other teens (and a sprinkling of adults) in tandem with four other host sites across the southern region. We connected with each other and peers new to us; we talked about who we are as a youth group; we dreamed together about what UU youth culture could be; we worshiped, sang, danced a little, ate, and played. It was heartwarming to hear from our articulate Asheville youth that UU youth group is a place where “I can be myself unapologetically,” that “makes me happy, and I am loved for who I am,” and where “I want to explore our diverse lives in the group” (paraphrasing a little as I wasn’t recording during the youth summit). This echoes what I heard recently when I spent time with our middle graders (5th-8th) on a Sunday morning; a common refrain from that set was, “I like being here because I get to spend time with friends I don’t normally get to see during the week and do different things.” (Now weeks ago, I can’t remember all of what they said but do recall having a full heart that day as well.)
This place, the space and time and resources we commit to one another – those who we know and befriend, those younger and older who we don’t know well yet – is not magic (a lot of it is definable math). But its effect is almost magical. Our congregation coming together weekly and more often nurtures the spiritual seeds planted in all of us, and together, we are a bountiful garden. This month and always, I am thankful for our Asheville congregation and wider UU family.
P.s. I also want to share some other good news from our high school youth group, a.k.a., YRUU = Young Religious Unitarian Universalists. Beyond the youth summit, they have had an active fall season together, despite a short hiatus after the storm. They recently completed painting the new street pantry box that is now in place on Charlotte Street (see photos of that weeks-long project below and hear about it from them during worship in December); they processed at PrideFest with our congregation; they prepped postcards for UU the Vote; they made care packages for our recent YRUU graduates; they explored Tarot as spirituality with Rev. Audette; youth families gifted a Soup Sunday to our congregation last month and have another (trip fundraiser) “Soup to Go” this Sunday during the craft fair; they have plans for a wisdom story and Parents Night Out, both in December; and they’ll be leading worship in February. Our congregation is fortunate to have engaged families of all ages, shapes, and sizes. We hope you join us in honoring and supporting them.
And a special shout out to YRUU Advisors Margaret McAlister, Joanne Fox, Jim Gamble, and Sarah Kirkpatrick. Also to Anita Feldman for collaborating on the pantry project with our youth.
Jen Johnson, Religious Educator
