First Parish in Cambridge Young Adult Group
Who We Are
The Young Adult Group (YAG) is a thriving community for ages 18-35 at First Parish in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Unitarian Universalist). With a focus on kindness and respect, we welcome a diversity of people and ideas, and seek to build deep, lasting relationships. Knowing that our inner lives of self-discovery are enriched through participation in an intentional community, we strive to grow together in awareness, conscience, and spirit.
Our young adults come from a variety of faith traditions and backgrounds; they may be unaffiliated with a religious denomination, nonreligious/secular, searching for a spiritual community, "spiritual but not religious", undecided, or a combination of the above. Many are also members of the Unitarian Universalist congregation, and find deeper fulfillment by participating in other aspects of community life. We are mindful that each brings something unique to the group, and that growth is a process of teaching and learning from one another. We are an inclusive circle and invite our members to participate as they are able and comfortable. All are welcome!
See our mailing list and calendar.
Time and Place
As of October 2022, we meet online (on Zoom), approximately once a month on a weekday from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm Eastern Time. For as long as we're meeting online, we welcome all young adults to join us regardless of where you are or whether you have any other relationship with First Parish in Cambridge. At this time, our meetings typically consist of a "check-in" followed by an informal activity such as conversation or online board games.
Meeting dates are typically chosen by a poll. See the mailing list for announcements of polls and of the chosen date and planned activity for each meeting.
Weekly Topics
In the past we have had a rotating schedule of topics that include Community Building, Spiritual Discussion, Creative Activity, Creative Sharing, and Worship. Details on our topic schedule and planning guides can be found here.
Unitarian Universalist Young Adult Resources
Boston-area hubs for UU activity include The Lucy Stone Coop, a housing cooperative in Roxbury that hosts weekly community dinners, events, and leadership trainings focused on social justice; The Sanctuary Boston, a new community of vibrant worship and real connection that alternates between First Parish in Cambridge and First Church in Boston; and UU young adult groups at Arlington Street Church and First Parish in Brookline. See a complete list of young adult groups here.
Looking for an online community? Check out Quest for Meaning to meet others and explore their collection of blogs, articles, and facebook pages about spirituality and religion. There is also a young adults section.
Interested in joining a campus group? Explore the Unitarian Universalist Association's resourceful campus ministry page and email ya-cm@uua.org to connect with an existing group or start your own!
Other Online Resources
Finding a Spiritual Home: Unitarian Universalism for Young Adults, Online Article by Michael Tino.
An Overview of Unitarian Universalism, hosted at The Pluralism Project (and authored by one of our own UU young adults!)
"Blue Boat" the Unitarian Universalist Association's blog about Young Adult Ministries
These are also available on our former Resources page.
Contact
If you have any questions or would like any additional information please feel free to contact us at youngadults@firstparishcambridge.org.
Internal Resources
We keep some of our internal documents on Google Drive rather than the wiki. Ideally each would be linked from the appropriate place, but for now we're collecting some of the recent public documents in this Google Drive folder.
