Talk:Liberal Religious Youth

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Contents 1 "Youth" 2 External Links and Discussion of LRY and YRUU structure 3 Early YRUU vs Contemporary YRUU 4 What happened to it?

[edit] "Youth"

Refresh my memory, fellow Lesbian Refugees from Yugoslavia, what age range did "youth" officially cover? --Kathryn NicDhàna 20:31, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

What I hear from advisors in my district who were once LRYers, the age range varied by district, but was generally considered "high-school" aged. Number seem to have ranged from 14-20, though this was shortened or lengthened at times. HellaNorCal 00:06, 10 November 2006 (UTC

Yes, that's basically what it was like during my time, as well. (Back when hippie dinosaurs roamed the Boston Common...) --Kathryn NicDhàna 01:46, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] External Links and Discussion of LRY and YRUU structure

I'm thinking we should include the LRY online reunion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lry/ , even though it's only a YahooGroup, as that's where most old LRYers meet and talk. Technically, I guess we should also include my LRY site, http://bandia.net/LRY though I admit it is in desperate need of updating. Guess that's another thing to add to the project list. --Kathryn NicDhàna 20:34, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Hi Kathryn, your link doesn't work. Something I've been wondering, is how LRY was structured. Perhaps you could add some info on that to the article? I'm active in YRUU, and we have definite differences between Continental YRUU, and District-level YRUU. Thought the Youth Office is run by adults, our District-level YRUU (PCD here), along with continental Youth council, as far as I can tell, is run entirely by youth, with adults serving only advisory roles. I'm changing that section of the article to reflect this.HellaNorCal 01:13, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Fixed the link. The LRY part of the link is in uppercase (a sign I set up the page years ago). I should change that, actually, or mirror it in lowercase.

CV and areas of relative expertise or ignorance: I was in LRY in '79 through the end, first in the CMF (Midwest) and then on the East Coast. I served at the Continental office at 25 Beacon street in '80/'81, first as an intern and then as Director of Publications on the Exec Comm. I'm in touch with many old LRYers, including other Tacos (Exec Comm vets) and Board members, and one of my housemates is also a former Exec Comm member from the late '70s. I'm only vaguely up on what is happening with YRUU these days; I have some old friends and online acquaintances who are current advisors and/or ministers, and I have occasionally corresponded with current YRUUers. I also know folks who served as some of the first YRUU interns in the Youth Office, but I haven't been by 25 Beacon since the early '90s. Wayne Arnason was our "advisor" when I was on the Continental Exec Comm.

IIRC, for much of LRY's run the Federation/District representatives (Board Members) were democratically elected by the local groups, either at LRY meetings or as part of the regional UU meetings. We had twice-yearly meetings of the Continental Board, where Exec Comm members would be elected and we would deal with business like the budget, the endowment, and political and programming decisions. The Board also included some At-Large members, which were people like the Executive Committee members, and members of other committees like Judiciary and the Con-Con Committee.

There were also Fed/District YACs (Youth Adult Councils), but I don't recall them having any power except perhaps on a district level. It varied from Fed to Fed and local to local how interwoven LRY was with the UU structure. Some locals were kicked out of their churches, but continued to function with meetings in other locations and through attending local meetings at other churches. Near the end there were many LRYers who attended conferences but had no local. However, in other districts there was adult support up through the very end, and the transition to YRUU was smoother.

My understanding is that there have been some issues about how much power the current YRUU Youth Council actually has - especially when it comes to funding. Where is the current office? Last I heard they had been moved out of 25 Beacon and down the street. Are the Youth Interns still hired by the adult director to six-month terms? Or has any relative democracy and actual power been successfully reintroduced at a Continental level? --Kathryn NicDhàna 20:32, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm on my district YAC (which we just call Youth Council), so that's what I'm much more familiar with. But, according to YRUU#Youth Office, "The Youth Office consists of five full-time staff. YRUU Programs Specialists (YPSs) and Youth Ministry Associates (YMAs) serve on UUA staff for one year as full-time staff in the Youth Office at the UUA. They are generally youth who are bridging into young adulthood (16-22). The Youth Programs Director oversees the long-term work of the office. They are all supported by the Youth Office Assistant. The Youth Office also offers a summer internship as well as various volunteer opportunities."

That YPD is a paid, adult position from what I remember. C*YRUU (Continental Youth Council) definitely has limited Youth authority, but I believe that's an effect of their having to deal with the UUA right on top of them. My district Youth Council is going through a bunch of bullshit with our District board about a bunch of power issues (we used to be financially independent, and now they're trying to reign us in), and that seems to be what my friends on C*YC seem to complain about the most.

The only real bit of democracy I know of, is that each District's YCR (C*YC rep) is supposedly elected by their district's youth, although from personal experience it's a very limited election, most of the time. The Steering committee, who actually makes decisions for C*YC and C*YRUU, is just chosen by C*YC; they're seperated from the vast majority of YRUUers.

As for Continental Officers: They are elected at General Assembly, by Youth Caucus. The Youth Office doesn't make constitutional changes to C*YRUU; they only do boring things, for the most part. As far as I know, they're still at 25 Beacon St. It's nice to hear about LRY from someone who's not afraid to talk about it. HellaNorCal 00:23, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Early YRUU vs Contemporary YRUU

YRUU structure has changed significantly since the beginning in '82. I think for the purposes of this article, we need to focus on LRY and keep the YRUU comparisons minimal. Rather than try to cover changes in YRUU, especially as the current structure is somewhat better for youth empowerment than what it was initially, I'm going to tweak the additions somewhat to focus on just the transition period, then refer readers to the YRUU pages for further YRUU details. --Kathryn NicDhàna 18:10, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Sounds just fine to me. HellaNorCal 00:31, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

When I was a child, there was lry; but, these pages do not make much sense to me:

Young_People's_Religious_Union;

Young_People's_Christian_Union.

Thank You.

[[ hopiakuta | [[ [[%c2%a1]] [[%c2%bf]] [[ %7e%7e%7e%7e ]] -]] 00:46, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

YPRU and YPCU were the seperate Universalist and Unitarian Youth Organizations (respectively) which existed before merging into LRY. HellaNorCal 07:47, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] What happened to it?

This article seems to leave out any of the why surrounding the dissolution of LRY. I realize this is a highly controversial issue, that left many people feeling disenfranchised, and I also know of the tendency for winners to write history. That said, I'd like to see more of that, because what I've heard, as a YA who grew up in the YRUU era is somewhat disjointed and includes rumors, which I have never seen any verification of or reasonable refutation of that by the time the UUA stepped in, Every LRY member had an FBI file, because the organization was the largest distributor of Acid on the eastern seaboard, and that sometime near the end a minister walked in to his chapel to find a pile of naked youth, and a schedual taped to the wall with the last line reading "Drug induced orgy."

Maybe it's true? Someone help? Cite documents and memos that were passed around the UUA leadership in 1982.

LRY was different everywhere. The drug traditions of the east coast are still present in east coast YRUU groups. LRY in the PNWD was much different, from what my youth advisors tell me. LRY in the PNWD (and apparently a few other places as well) actually attained the goal of being a youth empowering organization and creating safe environments for youth to find themselves. I wouldn't doubt that story about the orgy; a lot of fucked up things happened in LRY in many districts, and a lot of fucked up things still happen in YRUU communities (especially on the east coast). I don't really have the time to devote to this article, but I could checck in and offer my observations every once in awhile if you so desired. HellaNorCal 07:55, 7 December 2006 (UTC)