Alpha Connections: Meeting the Needs of Young Adult UU’s

The March Alpha Connections Florida District Young Adult Conference was a success! Held in Orlando & hosted by the Young Adult Group of First Unitarian of Orlando, there were 25 attendees from all over Florida. This was the first Young Adult Conference in Florida in a long time, and the first UU conference for many of the attendees.

The conference was filled with fun for all—long time friends re-connecting and people getting to make new friends. We discovered through work-shops, worship and a terrific coffee-house just how much talent a group of UUs can have.

The conference’s goal was to create community and friendships among UUs from age 18 to 35. We talked about the special needs of young adults when it comes to Campus Ministry programs (which currently only exist at FSU and U of F) as well as in congregations. Many of the attendees spoke of their difficulties in connecting to their local congregations. Of course, this is a situation common throughout the UUA— and is one that the UUA is working on.

We in Florida are hoping to be in the forefront of finding ways to keep UU young adults active in congregations and encourage new young adults to discover a place within Unitarian Universalism.

The hopes that grew out of Alpha Connections? We’d like to see Campus Ministry Programs in more colleges and universities, we’d like to see a program to aid congregations in addressing the needs of Young Adults and we’d like to see a strong Florida District Young Adult Community—similar to the style of YRUU. Those are also the goals of the Florida District Campus Ministry/Young Adult Subcommittee.

— TOM COOK

If you or someone else in your congregation have any questions about young adults, please contact Kim Ross Frichter at 850-562-7378, kross@rice.hep.fsu.edu, 5726 Doonesbury Way, Tallahasee, FL 32303 or Tom Cook at 407-898-7586, blackcat@magicnet.net, 2504 E. Jefferson St. #12, Orlando, FL 32803. We are the co-chairs of the FL Dist. Campus Minitry/Young Adult Subcommittee and would be happy to answer any questions.