What is Youth Ministry?
Youth are an important part of our Unitarian Universalist communities, and youth ministry seeks to serve their developmental needs, help them connect to our faith and theology, understand their own identities, and build healthy communities together. For CUC events, “youth” are defined as ages 14–19, but congregations may set different age ranges, and some have separate junior and senior youth groups. The goal of youth ministry is to create safe spaces for teens within multigenerational congregations that are welcoming and radically inclusive, and that serve the needs of young people. Through regional and national events and online connections, we offer opportunities for youth to grow spiritually, develop skills, become leaders, and build healthy relationships with people of all ages.
How does the CUC support youth ministry?
Youth events: CUC staff and volunteers organize events and programs for youth and their advisors, including our national youth con CanUUdle, regional cons, trainings, and more. Upcoming ones are listed on our Events Calendar (choose the youth category).
Youth advisor support: We support religious exploration professionals and youth advisors in their youth ministry work. These adults play a key role in fostering youth development, creating healthy youth communities, and guiding youth into young adulthood. Our resources page will be useful to all adults working in youth ministry.
Congregational consulting: CUC Youth and Young Adult Ministry staff are happy to meet with congregational leaders and staff to help you develop your youth ministry.
Resources: The CUC collects and shares resources and best practices to help congregations learn about and develop their youth ministry, create healthy youth groups, recruit and train youth advisors, and navigate safety issues. Our Resources page contains a wealth of information and links.
Contact the CUC
We’re here for you! We can be a sounding board for your ideas, provide resources, connect you to other congregations that have had similar experiences, or organize an online roundtable or webinar to address a topic of interest.
Email youth@cuc.ca to contact a Youth Ministry staff member.
Get connected
The CUC maintains two forums for youth advisors, youth program coordinators, and other adults working with youth. They will help you to stay connected to each other, share support and resources, and collaborate in planning events.
- CUC Youth Advisors Facebook group
- Youth Advisors Announcement and Discussion email list (cuc-youth-advisors@googlegroups.com) – email youth@cuc.ca