Mission: Championing the next generation in claiming and transforming their world.
Welcome to our NextGen Unity page! Formerly also known as Next Generation of Unity (NGU), and Adults of Unity (AOU), this Early (Young) Adult ministry focuses on supporting programs designed for ages 18-35(ish).
Y.O.U. Fall Rally 2023: ConnectionsThis retreat, although not technically within the parameters of NextGen, is being hosted by your NextGen teams to welcome our 2023 LoveLight leadership team from South Africa! (To find out more about our LoveLight program, see "LoveLight," below.)
WHAT: “Connections,” a camping/lockin-style retreat (read: limited showers and beds, sleeping on floor will be common for teens, some will be staying in a yurt with a floor) where we will come together in Spirit to explore and celebrate our connections to culture, ourselves, and each other.
WHERE/WHEN: The Light Center in Baldwin City, KS, October 6-8.
WHO: ALL REGIONS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND! Additionally, we are inviting not only our Y.O.U.ers and established Y.O.U. chapters, but also any individual teens with your ministry outside of Y.O.U. That means any individuals who are reluctant to join because they “don’t want to be the only one there”. This is a wonderful opportunity to introduce those young people to the Y.O.U. experience and help to jump start the excitement within your chapter!
HOW: Registration is only $110 per person.
Registration is now open here (you can simply ignore and close the popup login screen): https://unitychurches.app.neoncrm.com/event.jsp?event=1260&
Early registration (and tshirt size guarantee) closes September 22, and late registration (fingers crossed you get your tshirt size) ends October 2.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Y.O.U. Indie (International Officers) alumni Lu Bickerton and Amelia Valery are planning with our team and will be helping to co-host the event.
- Our LoveLight team from Riviersonderend, South Africa, will be joining us!
- Dances of Universal Peace cultural and musical experience facilitated by seasoned community veterans: back to our roots to learn the origins and meanings of DOUPs!
- Camping in the fall at the gorgeous location of The Light Center: https://www.lightcenter.info/
For more information on this event, stay tuned to this page, as information will be posted as it is made available. You may also contact your Early Adult/NextGen Program Coordinator, Rachel Gaither. We hope you will join us!
NextGen SpiritGroups
What are NextGen SpiritGroups? NextGen Unity adopts the SpiritGroups model for small group cohesion, resources, support, and training. SpiritGroups are a specific format of small group ministry, and are supported at many different levels within the Unity movement, providing our NextGen program hosts, leaders, and members with many avenues of support at many different levels. SpiritGroups are close in format to the traditional Youth of Unity (Y.O.U.) chapter experience, in that the group is small, and the focus is on building trust, relationships, and connection, but it is within the format of an adult ministry. NextGen SpiritGroups can be attached to a local Unity church or ministry, or they can stand alone and connect directly with our home office at Unity Worldwide Ministries (UWM). Their format can be in person or virtual, and a national NextGen virtual chapter is scheduled to begin meeting in September of 2023.
Want to create your own NextGen group? Host training for leading a NextGen SpiritGroup is offered through UWM on a love offering basis to anyone who meets the eligibility requirements! To become a NextGen SpiritGroup host, please contact the Early Adult Program Coordinator, Rachel Gaither, or visit UWM's SpiritGroups page for more information about SpiritGroups programming. To register for the upcoming New Host Training, held on July 31st from 7-9 PM CT, please visit: NextGen New Host Training. Before you register, you must be enrolled in UWSI. If you are not, please enroll first here: Enroll in UWSI. This is a one time fee of $35, and takes 3 -5 business days to process. If you are unsure that you are enrolled in the school, please contact Erin Morse at emorse@unity.org and she can confirm for you.
Already running a NextGen group? We want to hear from you! If you have an active NextGen (NGU) group, or know of one, please reach out to us. We want to know how you are doing, and offer our support, including information about upcoming events, possible trainings and/or opportunities for funding and community connection. Join our nationwide database of NextGen groups to receive community support, connection, and participate in something bigger! Contact the Early Adult Program Coordinator, Rachel Gaither, for more information about how to register for the NextGen database.
NextGen Cultural Ambassadors
This new program is focused on international exchange travel, service, and personal development. It is the early adult portion of the overarching vision of Unity Cultural Ambassadors, being developed from the LoveLight program (keep reading for more about LoveLight!). Stay tuned to hear about this exciting and cutting-edge leadership and exchange program being developed! To find out more on how to support or donate to this budding program, or how to get involved in its development, contact your Early Adult Program Coordinator, Rachel Gaither.
LoveLight
"For above all, love is a sharing. Love is a power. Love is a change that takes place in our own heart. Sometimes it may change others, but always it changes us." ~ James Dillet Freeman
LoveLight is an international outreach program, originated out of a Unity ministry (The Light Center: Robin Goff, LUT), that builds cultural bridges through service. Partnering with the impoverished rural community of Riviersonderend (RSE), South Africa since 2002, LoveLight seeks to assist in breaking down poverty and barriers to prosperity through building up education and cultural bonds in communities. Since their partnership with LoveLight in 2002, the community in RSE has built a Children's Sanctuary, established an annual Youth of Unity (Y.O.U.)-style teen self-esteem and leadership camp called "Ubuntu Camp", and brought their high school graduation rate up from 2 to 20 each year (1000%). The community has, to date, sent over 30 first-generation students to University since their partnership with LoveLight began.
The Exchange Program: Every year, youth leadership is chosen to represent RSE at the international Y.O.U. conference (I.Y.O.U.), and teen leadership is chosen from the U.S. to support the Ubuntu camp, led by the local youth leadership. Without the onus of religious proselytising, this non-denominational camp uses universal spiritual tools based on Unity's spiritual principles to build confidence, self-esteem, leadership, trust, and community.
The Story of LoveLight: LoveLight was originated as part of the outreach programming of Unity Light Center (Robin Goff, LUT), and partners with its sister community of Riviersonderend (RSE), South Africa. Riviersonderend (RSE) is a very rural village about 2 hours east of Cape Town, SA, and is heavily affected by poverty, lack of resources, and the AIDS epidemic and the AIDS orphan crisis in South Africa. Working with Unity Light Center, a committee of RSE residents determined their most pressing priority should be the education of the children.
That is where LoveLight was born--first as a children's sanctuary, where grandmothers of the community would meet the children of the community, make sure they had a hot meal, assistance with school work, and someone to talk to about their struggles. In 2013, LoveLight adopted the Peace by Piece program model of an exchange program, and implemented a Youth of Unity (Y.O.U.)-style retreat they call "Ubuntu Camp".
LoveLight's Vision: The 20 years of success of this program make it an excellent template for the entire Unity movement to engage in outreach on a global scale: the respect and partnership of non-proselytising, community-oriented, self-sustainable, and affirmative spiritual service all over the world. The possibilities of a thriving LoveLight program include: working with our National Unity Religious Schools outside the U.S., supporting remote Unity ministries around the globe, and voluntourism opportunities for our constituency that supply our movement with an infusion of cultural bridging, education, and diversity.
LoveLight runs on funding from donors and sponsors. If you would like to support the building and expansion of this amazing exchange program for youth, please consider a donation, or contact your Early Adult Program Coordinator, Rachel Gaither.
Related Resources
Top 10 Ways to Make Your Church Intergenerational
This resource helps ministries and leaders develop programs to invite more young adult participation in a ministry. How many can you incorporate to reach young people?
