Unitarian Universalist Youth Ministry Survey Results Clara Barton District

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Unitarian UniversalistYouth Ministry Survey
ResultsClara Barton District
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Notes on the Survey

• There is no data available on youth in the
  Association to determine whether the distribution
  of survey returns is statistically representative
  or not.
• The survey findings described here should be
  understood within the context of those who
  responded to the survey rather than all UU
  youth.

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Note on this Presentation

• Unless noted, the data presented here is for all
  of the survey respondents continent-wide.
• Data for Clara Barton District respondents is
  included when it differed notably from the
  overall results.
• All percentages are rounded to the nearest whole
  number, which explains why the response to some
  questions does not add up to 100.

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• Who Took the Survey?

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• 1,399 surveys were analyzed.
• Surveys from the CBD made up
• 5 (69) of the surveys.

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Survey Respondent Demographics

• Age 1,285 respondents reported their age. The
  average age of survey respondents was 15 years
  old, for CBD and overall. The age distribution
  for CBD was also similar to the distribution
  overall.
• Junior High Youth (12-14) 37 (471 respondents)
• High School Youth (15-17) 59 (760 respondents)
• Older Youth (18-20) 4 (54 respondents)
• Identities The majority of respondents identify
  as female 57 in the CBD. Like the overall
  survey response, the vast majority of CBD
  respondents are also white (83 in CBD) and
  heterosexual (83 in CBD).

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• How Are CBD Respondents
• Involved in UUism?

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Do you currently attend religious education or
worship services at a UU congregation?
87 of all respondents say Yes.
Do other members of your family go to a UU
congregation?
Overall and in the CBD, more than 90 of
respondents say that their family attends a UU
congregation.
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Does your congregation have a youth group?
92 of respondents congregations have a youth
group.
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Do you participate in your district youth
programs?If yes Are you, or have you been, an
officer, leader, or representative in the
district program?
Compared to other districts, CBD has
proportionately more respondents who participate
in district youth programs.
Do you participate in continental youth programs?
The vast majority of respondents, overall and in
the CBD, do not participate in continental youth
programs. A total of 116 respondents participate
at this level.
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Leadership and Identity

• White respondents tend to hold more leadership
  roles at the congregational and district levels
  than respondents of color. At the continental
  level, leadership is more balanced between white
  respondents and respondents of color.
• Respondents who reported their sexual orientation
  as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, or questioning
  are very active in youth groups and likely to
  hold leadership positions.

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Length of Time as UU

• The majority of respondents are not new to
  Unitarian Universalism. There is some variation,
  however, depending on identity.
• Respondents who identify as gay, lesbian,
  bisexual, questioning, transgender, pansexual, or
  queer are more likely than heterosexual
  respondents to have been Unitarian Universalists
  for less than one year.
• Black/African American respondents tend to have
  been Unitarian Universalist for a much shorter
  period of time than other respondents, while
  biracial respondents have been Unitarian
  Universalist the longest of any group.
• Transracially adopted respondents and respondents
  who identify as Black/African American are more
  likely to no longer identify as Unitarian
  Universalist than other respondents.

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Besides a congregation, with what UU
organizations are you affiliated?
In the CBD and overall, the majority of
respondents have not heard of the organizations
listed. On the other hand, a significant
proportion of CBD respondents (25) are involved
in UU camps and conference centers.
Choices Canadian Unitarian Council DRUUMM
Church of the Larger Fellowship Continental UU
Young Adult Network Interweave Latino/a UU
Networking Association UU Camp and Conference
Centers UU Womens Federation White Allies
Other I dont know what these organizations are
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Five Key Areas

• There are five key areas in which responses were
  significant
• Meeting the Spiritual Needs of Youth
• Intergenerational Community and Youth-Adult
  Relations
• Priorities and Involvement
• Junior High Youth
• Welcoming All Youth

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Meeting the Spiritual Needs of Youth
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• A high percentage of respondents say their
  congregations provide opportunities to
• Learn new things
• Get involved in their communities
• Develop leadership skills
• They also feel welcome and respected in their
  congregations.

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• On all levels of youth ministry and across all
  ages and identities, a large percentage of
  respondents in the CBD and overall report that
  their spiritual needs are not being met.
• Congregation is my spiritual home 53 overall,
  46 CBD
• Youth group meets my spiritual needs 53
  overall, 44 CBD
• District programs meet my spiritual needs 70
  overall, 67 CBD
• Continental programs meet my spiritual needs 63
  overall, 50 CBD

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Describe your spiritual beliefs and how
involvement in your UU congregation has helped
shape those spiritual beliefs.
The responses to this question reflect a diverse
UU youth community. Older respondents were
more likely to share a detailed description of
their spiritual beliefs, while younger
respondents were sometimes unsure. Many
respondents mentioned the influence and value of
their congregations Coming of Age program.
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Reflection Questions

• How can Unitarian Universalist youth ministry
  help youth to determine their spiritual needs,
  articulate their faith, feel spiritually
  fulfilled, and live out their faith in the world?
• How do congregations and the district currently
  contribute to the spiritual development of youth?
• How could congregations and the district
  contribute to the spiritual development of youth?

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Intergenerational Community and Youth-Adult
Relations
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How would you rate each of the following members
of your congregation on their support of youth
and youth ministry?
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• Throughout all districts, respondents who
  participate only in RE feel more
  congregation-wide support than respondents who
  participate only in youth group.

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• Some respondents who have been enriched by their
  involvement in district and continental youth
  programs and the possibilities for youth-adult
  partnerships at those levels are not finding the
  same support from adults in their congregations.

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Reflection Questions

• What aspects of congregational life may cause
  youth who are active in district and continental
  youth programs to feel alienated or isolated
  within their own congregations?
• What can 1) congregations and 2) district and
  continental leaders (youth and adult), do to make
  the majority of youth feel supported in
  congregations?

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• Priorities and Involvement

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Which of the following activities are you
involved with in your congregation?
Choices Social action Worship service Help
with RE Social events Fundraising Music in
worship Coffee hour Choir Committees Teach
RE Board member

• The most common congregational activities among
  CBD respondents are
• Lead/participate in services
• Social action
• Help with coffee hour
• 34 of CBD respondents are not involved with any
  activities in their congregation.

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Youth Programs and Congregational Involvement
Respondents who are involved in youth programs,
or whose congregations do not offer a youth
program, are more involved in congregational
activities than respondents who choose not
participate in youth programs.
For example, the most common activities across
all districts
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Involvement Beyond the Congregation
Youth group involvement is positively correlated
not just to congregational involvement, but also
to involvement in district and continental youth
programs.

• District Youth Programs
• Youth Group District Youth Programs 48 of
  respondents
• No Youth Group District Youth Programs 31 of
  respondents
• Continental Youth Programs
• Of the 116 respondents who are involved in
  continental youth programs, 102 are involved in
  their district and 108 are involved in a youth
  group.

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Which of the following describes why you no
longer go to an RE program or youth group for
12-18-year-olds, even though you are the right
age to attend?

• This graph, which depicts the results for all
  respondents, shows the top three reasons as
• 1. Too busy
• 2. Didnt like other
• youth
• 3. Started attending
• worship instead

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Reflection Question

• What could motivate youth to become and remain
  actively involved in different types of youth
  ministry?

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Junior High Youth
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• The following is what junior high respondents in
  all districts reported

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Congregational Involvement

• The top congregational activities among junior
  high respondents are
• Social action (28)
• Leading or helping with worship services
  (26)
• A third of junior high respondents are not
  involved with any congregational activities a
  much higher proportion than high school (age
  15-18) respondents.

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Should junior high youth programming be separate
from high school youth programming?
Note Percentages include only the respondents
who are involved at that level (district or
continental).
High school and older respondents are more likely
than junior high respondents to believe that
there should be separate age-based programming.
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How do you find out about district and
continental youth events or activities?
Junior High District Participation
Junior High Continental Participation
Junior high respondents currently rely on local
sources (youth advisor, RE director, friends) and
electronic sources (e-mail, websites).
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Junior High Survey

• A recent survey of UUA districts and CUC regions
  sought to discover the levels of programming and
  representation of junior high youth. The survey
  included input from every UUA district and three
  Canadian regions.

Basic Data 78 of districts/regions offer
junior high programming. Eight
districts/regions have junior high representation
in their youth leadership structure.
This 2006 survey was conducted independent of the
UUA by Tim Murphy, Youth Office Chrysalis Trainer
and Youth Advisor at UU Church of Indianapolis.
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Reflection Questions

• Junior high respondents are rooted in their local
  congregations, but seem to be interested in being
  more involved in the larger movement.
• How can we ensure that there are relevant
  opportunities and resources for junior high
  youth, and that this information reaches them,
  enabling them to be actively involved both within
  their congregation and in the larger UU community?

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Welcoming All Youth
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• The response to the survey suggests that the UU
  youth population is predominantly white and
  heterosexual, with a female majority in most
  districts.
• How does this affect whether our youth ministry
  is welcoming to youth of diverse identities and
  backgrounds?
• The following is what respondents in all
  districts reported

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GLBTQQ Youth

• Respondents who identify as gay, lesbian,
  bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning are
  very active in Unitarian Universalism and hold
  many leadership positions.
• Compared to the proportion of heterosexual
  respondents involved in the following, these
  respondents are more likely to be
• Involved in congregational activities
• Involved with other UU organizations
• Involved in local, district, and continental
  youth programs
• Leaders in congregational and continental youth
  programs

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GLBTQQ Youth and Group Pressure
The group/program places a lot of pressure on
people to have the same attitudes and beliefs.

• Respondents who identify as bisexual, pansexual,
  queer, and questioning are most likely to report
  feeling pressure to conform to group attitudes
  and beliefs in local and district youth programs.
  Conversely, on the continental level,
  gay/lesbian and heterosexual respondents are most
  likely to feel group pressure.

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Gender and Leadership
The following table shows the proportion of male,
female and transgender/genderqueer/other gender
respondents involved in youth program leadership
Even though transgender, genderqueer and other
gender respondents hold proportionately more
leadership positions than males/females, they do
not rate their experience as positively
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Gender in Youth Ministry

• Compared to the proportion of male/female
  respondents, respondents who identify as
  transgender, genderqueer, or other genders
  consistently rate their youth group experience
  lower.

For example
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Race and Youth Ministry
Respondents of color are more represented at
the district/continental levels, and hold
proportionately more leadership positions in
continental programs. Even though respondents
of color make up a larger proportion of
continental participants than at other levels of
youth programs, Black youth in particular are
less likely to feel that they belong in the
continental community or that their spiritual
needs are being met.
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Transracially adopted respondents made up 63
(37) of all adopted respondents. 34 of them are
People of Color.

• They rated the youth group experience
  consistently and significantly lower than other
  respondents especially in the three areas above.

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Reflection Question

• How can congregations support the healthy racial,
  gender, and sexual identity development of youth?

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• Conclusions

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What is a Good Youth Ministry?

• Most respondents agree that youth ministry should
  be
• Fun.
• Inclusive and welcoming of all viewpoints and
  interests -- even traditional Christian ones.
• Somewhat structured and offering opportunities
  for leadership and responsibility.
• Designed to provide more opportunities to explore
  and develop spiritual beliefs.
• Warmly accepted and supported by all adults in
  the congregation.
• Grouped by age to allow more age-appropriate
  programming.
• Flexible enough to address a variety of social
  justice issues and interests of the youth
  involved.

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• The results of the survey suggest that Unitarian
  Universalist youth ministry should
• Be strong at the congregational level,
• Provide opportunities for youth to connect with
  youth in other congregations,
• Be supported by committed and involved adults.

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Desired Outcomes of the Consultation on Ministry
To and With Youth

• More than just a one-size-fits-all youth
  ministrya youth ministry that is robust,
  flexible, and diverse
• Denominational youth work that focuses on
  serving local congregations
• Mutually respectful and empowering relationships
  between youth and adults
• Anti-racism and anti-oppression work infused
  within every part of youth ministry, with a
  recognition that there is not one "right" way of
  doing the workproviding a forum for youth
  identity development and institutional change
• A youth ministry the meets the spiritual needs
  of youth and increases the spiritual depth of our
  congregations
• Effective communication within, between, and
  among all areas of the Association.