"The Vision: A Church For All Ages" by Meg Muckenhoupt

Somewhere in the past 40 years, UUs have lost their "Universalist" faith. It isn't a question of who goes to heavan; we don't even believe that everyone belongs in our churches. Whenever I talk about young adult ministry at a UU coffee hour, church dinner or retreat, I hear the same story from some well intentioned middle-aged parent: "Oh, young people just aren't interested in religion. I wasn't! I came back to the church to raise my children in a community."

It is good, and right, and pleasant to provide children with a friendly, safe place to grow - but it is not the purpose of the church. We are, in theory, devoted to aiding people in their spiritual growth, in their "free and responsible search for truth and meaning." The denomination-wide emphasis on serving families with children excludes and marginalizes young adults, older adults, and childless adults - and often fails to serve the needs of the parents themselves. How can we grow spiritually if we demand that all of our members be in the same life stage, with the same concerns and responsibilities?

When we say that young adults, or adults with grown children, or any minority is "not interested" in the church, we really mean that the church is not interested in them - not interested in doing the work to keep them in the church, not interested in sharing power with people who may have radically different ideas about the church's mission, not interested in talking with people who may speak uncomfortable truths about UU complacency and self-satisfaction. I know plenty of young adults who have left the church simply because they felt like they didn't belong there. When they came to church, no one spoke to them; when they volunteered for committees, no one called them to tell them when the meetings were; when they offered at meetings, they were ignored - the institutional barriers go on and on.

My vision for our denomination is a church where everyone is supposed to come on Sundays - the youth, the young adults, the widow in her wheelchair, the gay couple who never had the chance to have children and no one is dismissed as "not interested." There will be time and space for people to meet in small groups with people; but the Sunday morning services will be open, accessible, and welcoming to everyone there.

We can do this by:
Making our services more accessible to people with different backgrounds and abilities. The "hymn sandwich" sermon-centered service may allow our "auditory learners" to learn and feel alive, but people who learn better through sight or movement are left feeling isolated, disappointed, and ashamed that they cannot follow the service. Catholic, Jewish, and Pagan groups learned long ago that integrating ritual into their worships could strengthen and deepen their congregants' religious experience; we can learn from them.

Changing our "welcoming" culture. Many churches leave a visitor's book lying in the coffee parlor, and let visitors fend for themselves at coffee hour, while the members stand around and talk to their friends. We don't intentionally exclude anyone; but we don't make much effor to bring the few people who stumble in our doors into the church, either.

Emphasizing that our community needs intentional stewardship - even affirmative action. Our churches "naturally" attract middle-aged families. To make our congregations more open to people of different ages, we need to create new, artificial social structures - group dinners, volunteer coordinators, one-to-one conversation programs - that will mix people in ways that just don't happen "naturally." We also have to aggressively seek out new (and sometimes untested) people for leadership within our congregations. This can be scary, but essential. Looking outward. We have a choice to make; we can either let our tiny denomination continue as it is, as a refuge for argumentative truth-seekers - or we can fulfill our early promise, and once again become a church that actively works to change our world. If your church can perform effective social action in your community, I can guarantee that young adults will come to your church - with a lot of other active, energetic people with passion, commitment, and ideas. Are you ready for them?

Meg Muckenhoupt resides in Arlington VA where she continues to challenge and cajole C*UUYAN with her articulate and powerful vision for community. Having been a central leader in Cambridge MA Young Adult Group, Meg is currently focusing on Mass Bay District Campus & Young Adult Ministry organizing. She was recently C*UUYAN Booth Coordinator extraordinaire at GA 2000.