Intergenerational UU communities aren't just beautiful aspirations; they are one key to a long-lasting faith organization. We know that it's possible to celebrate the differences between how each age expresses their UUism while simultaneously bridging the cultural gap, because there are wise folks in our midst who care deeply about this issue and have done a lot of thinking and experimenting around it. In this episode, we will learn about the realities that prevent engagement between older and younger adults, what's been working, what could help, and what still needs our attention. We'll look at the trends happening within the larger society and how these are impacting UUism. Guests include: Peter Scales, First Unitarian Church of Victoria Jim Sannes and Ellen Papenburg, Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice (CUSJ) Casey Stainsby and Reverend Danie Webber, CUC Youth and Young Adult programming staff Camellia Jahanshahi, Rising Together host Z Brimacombe with Ilara Stafaniuk-Gaudet, Loving Justice group, Brenagh Rappaport and Maya Ferguson Klinowski, hosts of Gathered Here Reverends Anne Barker and Linda Thompson, CUC's Congregational Life Team Robyn Newton and Catharine Strickland, UUs of the Salish Sea Questions Younger UUs speak about life feeling precarious, including insecure housing and employment. The value of paying young adults for time spent on UU's work was lifted up. What questions and ideas arise when you consider paying younger leaders for their roles in their UU community? Ilara Stefaniuk-Gaudet said, "Because we have focused so much on the individual, there is not so much a strong sense of a collective". a. What, if anything, has an individual vs collective focus manifested in your local and national UU community? b. How could UUs create more balance between individual and collective while still emphasizing each person's right to their own search for truth and meaning? Rev Danie Webber shared that younger UUs often value authenticity over politeness, and older UUs often value politeness over authenticity and that this difference may play a role in the silos that seems to be happening in some places. Can you think of examples or real-life scenarios of this? What responsibility, if any, do younger UU's have to carry forward the traditions, values, and legacy of the UUs that came before them? What responsibility, if any, do older UU's have to fertilize the work of younger UU leaders, even if what they are co-creating is not a UU expression that older UU's prefer? If UUs were to create a program that taught and celebrated the role of UUs in all stages of life, what components would be key for each stage of life, including infancy, childhood, teenagerhood, young adult, mid-adult, recently retired, and very elderly? How can we use the old structures of UUism to support something new coming forward rather than allowing them to be a barrier to something new coming forward? Notes and Links Volunteer-Supporting Charities Are Closing at Alarming Rates, PANL Perspectives, Tues. Aug. 22/23 Canada’s first State of youth report: for youth, with youth, by youth, Government of Canada (Retrieved Sept. 11, 2024). Critical lack of volunteers putting Canadian non-profit services at risk: Volunteer Canada, CBC News, Jan. 24, 2023. Youth Volunteering: Let’s make space for our young people again! , 125 United For Literacy, Sept. 12, 2023. Volunteer Canada- August 2023- Pre-budget submission to the House of Commons, Volunteer Canada, August 2023. Note 1: The "well in the middle of the village" is an idiom for a watering hole, or a place where people socialize - the well is the life source that brings people together, and a symbol of the depth of relating between them. Amber Bellemare Note 2: Emergent Strategy [book], adrienne maree brown, 2017, AK Press. Amber makes reference to this author and emergent strategy. Note 3: Discord is a type of social media that some people are using to stay in touch. It is quite popular with Young Adult UU's.
