BC Youth Adult Committee – A Reflection on Its History
BC Youth Adult Committee – A Reflection on Its History
Fairly shortly after I stepped into the role of youth advisor at the North Shore Unitarian Church, I was asked if I would consider applying to be an adult member of the Pacific Northwest District’s Youth Adult Committee. At that time service delivery to Unitarian Universalist congregations came from the Unitarian Universalist Association. Each district was organized so that they contained the same number of Unitarian Universalists in each. The Pacific North West District was formed in 1962 and was made up of congregations from Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Oregon and BC.
In the spring of 2002, at General Assembly in Quebec City, Quebec, the Canadian Unitarian Council became responsible for service delivery to Canadian congregations. This decision meant that BC would no longer be a part of the Pacific North West District’s service delivery. It was a difficult time for those involved in youth ministry in this area. Changing relationships are difficult and the feeling of loss was huge. The youth on both sides of the border wanted to continue their relationship and agreed that every second year the youth in BC would host the spring youth conference. Youth in BC would be welcome to attend other conferences being hosted by the Pacific North West District.
At the first BC Region Fall Gathering held in the fall of 2003 hosted by the North Shore Unitarian Church, the BC YAC was formed. It took the Terms of Reference used by the Pacific North West District’s Youth Adult Committee and modified it for its own use. The Terms of Reference at that time included roles for a Canadian Unitarian Council Youth Advisory Group representative, a representative to the Youth Adult Committee of the Pacific North West District, and a Youth Council representative for Youth Council of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Over time members of the BC Youth Adult Committee came together with a sense of purpose and established a number of policies on their own – examples being a Smoking Policy, a policy that requires immediate response to an e-mail known as the infamous Oven Mitts policy, drop in policies and an election process. Its activities were focused on maintaining relationships with varying bodies and providing conferences and trainings for BC Unitarian youth.
The relationships maintained included:
- A representative to the Youth Advisory Group of the Canadian Unitarian Council. Each region in the organization of the Canadian Unitarian Council had one youth representative. Youth representatives were chosen by the regions, therefore providing four youth to the Youth Advisory Committee. Adults were invited to apply to the Youth Advisory Group – one from the western part of Canada one year, and one from the eastern part of Canada the next year. The main purpose of the Youth Advisory Committee was to advise the Director of Lifespan Learning in matters and issues in youth ministry.
- A Youth Council Representative (YCR) to the Youth Council of the Unitarian Universalist Association. This position required the person to be able to attend Youth Council. Each district of the Unitarian Universalist Association would send one youth representative to Youth Council. Youth Council was held once a year for a week in the summer at varying locations throughout the United States. While each district/region would choose and appoint their own YCR, adults would apply for a certain number of positions to serve on Youth Council. The Canadian YCR positions were phased out after Terre Commune. The person holding the position would be responsible to attend Youth Council bringing the concerns and activities of their district/region the Council.
- A representative to the Pacific North West District’s Youth Adult Committee. This person was selected by the BC Youth Adult Committee. Their primary role was to keep in communication with the group and relay concerns and issues to them, and theirs to the BC YAC. After the conference hosted by BC YAC in the spring of 2006, there was a joint meeting between the BC YAC and members of the forming Youth Empowerment Services of the Pacific North West District. The meeting was instrumental in the formation of this new committee. In 2009, after PNWD’s GoldMine ended there was another meeting held between the two youth organizations with members attending from the following constituencies: PNWD staff, PNWD Board member, Liberal Religious Educators Association Board member to discuss the state of youth ministry and safety at youth conferences. There was only one adult from BC that attended to represent the Canadian point of view.
The three conferences the BC YAC focused on included:
- Providing the youth programming at the BC Region Fall Gathering, held in the fall at varying congregations. The BC YAC decided fairly early on to maintain a social justice focus for this conference. After a great deal of trial and error, the youth opted to provide their own programming rather than opt to host a Chrysalis training at this event.
- Providing a yearly Chrysalis training event for BC and PNWD youth. The Youth Office of the Unitarian Universalist Association was able to provide trainings for six trainings available to districts and regions. Every year the BC YAC organized and hosted a training that was typically held in February. A list of the trainings hosted by BC YAC include:
o 2011 – Leadership Development Conference
o 2010 – Spirituality Development Conference
o 2009 – Chaplain Training
o 2008 – Groundwork
o 2007 – Spirituality Development Conference
o 2006 – Leadership Development Conference
o 2005 – Spirituality Development Conference
Hosting a conference for BC and PNWD youth every second year in the spring. Conferences hosted included:
o 2012 – Camp Cispus, WA
o 2010 – Fort Flager, WA
o 2008 - Evans Lake, BC
o 2006 – Camp Jubilee
Over the years there were so many people involved in the activities of the BC YAC that in order to list them all, I would be fearful to miss out a person from the list. There were so many people that gave tremendous amounts of energy, love, care, and attention to youth ministry over the years. I have been humbled and honoured to work with each and every one of them.
Respectfully submitted,
Samaya Oakley
May 2012
Fairly shortly after I stepped into the role of youth advisor at the North Shore Unitarian Church, I was asked if I would consider applying to be an adult member of the Pacific Northwest District’s Youth Adult Committee. At that time service delivery to Unitarian Universalist congregations came from the Unitarian Universalist Association. Each district was organized so that they contained the same number of Unitarian Universalists in each. The Pacific North West District was formed in 1962 and was made up of congregations from Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Oregon and BC.
In the spring of 2002, at General Assembly in Quebec City, Quebec, the Canadian Unitarian Council became responsible for service delivery to Canadian congregations. This decision meant that BC would no longer be a part of the Pacific North West District’s service delivery. It was a difficult time for those involved in youth ministry in this area. Changing relationships are difficult and the feeling of loss was huge. The youth on both sides of the border wanted to continue their relationship and agreed that every second year the youth in BC would host the spring youth conference. Youth in BC would be welcome to attend other conferences being hosted by the Pacific North West District.
At the first BC Region Fall Gathering held in the fall of 2003 hosted by the North Shore Unitarian Church, the BC YAC was formed. It took the Terms of Reference used by the Pacific North West District’s Youth Adult Committee and modified it for its own use. The Terms of Reference at that time included roles for a Canadian Unitarian Council Youth Advisory Group representative, a representative to the Youth Adult Committee of the Pacific North West District, and a Youth Council representative for Youth Council of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Over time members of the BC Youth Adult Committee came together with a sense of purpose and established a number of policies on their own – examples being a Smoking Policy, a policy that requires immediate response to an e-mail known as the infamous Oven Mitts policy, drop in policies and an election process. Its activities were focused on maintaining relationships with varying bodies and providing conferences and trainings for BC Unitarian youth.
The relationships maintained included:
- A representative to the Youth Advisory Group of the Canadian Unitarian Council. Each region in the organization of the Canadian Unitarian Council had one youth representative. Youth representatives were chosen by the regions, therefore providing four youth to the Youth Advisory Committee. Adults were invited to apply to the Youth Advisory Group – one from the western part of Canada one year, and one from the eastern part of Canada the next year. The main purpose of the Youth Advisory Committee was to advise the Director of Lifespan Learning in matters and issues in youth ministry.
- A Youth Council Representative (YCR) to the Youth Council of the Unitarian Universalist Association. This position required the person to be able to attend Youth Council. Each district of the Unitarian Universalist Association would send one youth representative to Youth Council. Youth Council was held once a year for a week in the summer at varying locations throughout the United States. While each district/region would choose and appoint their own YCR, adults would apply for a certain number of positions to serve on Youth Council. The Canadian YCR positions were phased out after Terre Commune. The person holding the position would be responsible to attend Youth Council bringing the concerns and activities of their district/region the Council.
- A representative to the Pacific North West District’s Youth Adult Committee. This person was selected by the BC Youth Adult Committee. Their primary role was to keep in communication with the group and relay concerns and issues to them, and theirs to the BC YAC. After the conference hosted by BC YAC in the spring of 2006, there was a joint meeting between the BC YAC and members of the forming Youth Empowerment Services of the Pacific North West District. The meeting was instrumental in the formation of this new committee. In 2009, after PNWD’s GoldMine ended there was another meeting held between the two youth organizations with members attending from the following constituencies: PNWD staff, PNWD Board member, Liberal Religious Educators Association Board member to discuss the state of youth ministry and safety at youth conferences. There was only one adult from BC that attended to represent the Canadian point of view.
The three conferences the BC YAC focused on included:
- Providing the youth programming at the BC Region Fall Gathering, held in the fall at varying congregations. The BC YAC decided fairly early on to maintain a social justice focus for this conference. After a great deal of trial and error, the youth opted to provide their own programming rather than opt to host a Chrysalis training at this event.
- Providing a yearly Chrysalis training event for BC and PNWD youth. The Youth Office of the Unitarian Universalist Association was able to provide trainings for six trainings available to districts and regions. Every year the BC YAC organized and hosted a training that was typically held in February. A list of the trainings hosted by BC YAC include:
o 2011 – Leadership Development Conference
o 2010 – Spirituality Development Conference
o 2009 – Chaplain Training
o 2008 – Groundwork
o 2007 – Spirituality Development Conference
o 2006 – Leadership Development Conference
o 2005 – Spirituality Development Conference
Hosting a conference for BC and PNWD youth every second year in the spring. Conferences hosted included:
o 2012 – Camp Cispus, WA
o 2010 – Fort Flager, WA
o 2008 - Evans Lake, BC
o 2006 – Camp Jubilee
Over the years there were so many people involved in the activities of the BC YAC that in order to list them all, I would be fearful to miss out a person from the list. There were so many people that gave tremendous amounts of energy, love, care, and attention to youth ministry over the years. I have been humbled and honoured to work with each and every one of them.
Respectfully submitted,
Samaya Oakley
May 2012