Reinventing the Wheel: Unitarian Universalist Youth History and Covenantal Theology

Abstract

A paper examining Unitarian Universalist youth movements since 1953, asking how the past might inform youth history today. Roughly chronological, this paper looks at moments in history through four central themes: youth culture, youth empowerment and adult commitment, governance and distribution of material resources, covenant as a process for decision-making and conflict-mending. Ultimately, it argues that Unitarian Universalism calls us to center relationship and covenantal processes in order to enact sustainable and faithful ministry to and with youth. This paper also takes a historiographical stance, arguing that this is a history that is important to tell, and that Unitarian Universalists stand to benefit from paying attention to how we tell these stories.