Gathered Here is Now More Focused on Getting to Know Each Other
By Casey Stainsby, Youth and Young Adult Program and Events Coordinator for the Canadian Unitarian Council
The monthly online gathering for young adults (ages 18-35) will restart on November 4, 2019. It will then meet on the second Monday evening of each month. Gatherings begin at 5 p.m. Pacific, 6 p.m. Mountain, 7 p.m. Central, 8 p.m. Eastern, and 9 p.m. Atlantic time, and last for 75 minutes. See the Gathered Here Facebook event for more info.
This year we are focusing on getting to know each other. It can be challenging to build trust quickly when there is a different group every month, due to the drop-in nature of Gathered Here. To address this, we will be spending more time on each call doing activities that will help us learn about each other. This change is in response to the feedback of young adults who attended Gathered Here over the past year.
The feedback we received also confirmed the three main reasons young adults are coming to Gathered Here:
- For connection with YA community (to see old friends and meet new people)
- For spiritual grounding (rest and reflection)
- To share what’s going on in my life, be witnessed and held
Gathered Here also provides an avenue for connecting with the Young Adult Pastoral Care Team, staying in the loop about CUC young adult events and opportunities, and for sharing wisdom with each other based on our life experiences. It is particularly important for young adults who are not connected with a local Unitarian community.
We hope that you’ll invite the young adults in your life to join an upcoming Gathered Here call. Together, we will find connection and create the opportunity to share what’s on our hearts in a spiritually grounded and loving community.