Identity Formation
Unitarian Universalists bring our full selves to religious community. This means we celebrate the identities of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and religious heritage that enrich our community. Youth and young adults explore, question and negotiate different aspects of our identity as part of a meaningful spiritual journey.
Welcoming
We are called by our belief in the inherent worth and dignity of all beings to welcome people of many identities. People of color, transgender and gender nonconforming folks, and people living with disabilities have been historically marginalized within our faith. Our spiritual practice of hospitality requires us to grow, learn, make mistakes, acknowledge hurt, apologize, and try again. Curricula on anti-racism and multiculturalism for youth and young adults, about whiteness, and class and classism are powerful resources for the work of welcoming.
Going Deep
As Unitarian Universalist youth and young adults explore what it means to be us in our world, we move through various stages in our identity development. Our needs for community, spiritual practices, and action shift as we change how we relate to our identities. Whether we are educating ourselves about our ethnic heritage, reflecting on the complexity of being transracially adopted, seeking out a community of UUs of color, exploring what it means to be a white UU, or questioning our sexual orientation or gender identity, we seek to love ourselves for all that we are.
Offering Support
As caring adults, youth advisors, ministers, religious educators, mentors, campus ministry leaders, chaplains and camp and conference staff, we offer support to youth and young adults as they explore and navigate their identities. Strengthen our ministry to UU youth and young adults of color by checking out these resources!