Liberal Religious Youth
Encyclopedia
Liberal Religious Youth was an autonomous, North America
n youth organization affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)
. LRY was unique as a church youth group in that it was governed by its members, who were generally between the ages of fourteen and nineteen years old, with adults serving only in an advisory capacity. Though partial funding and office space were provided by the UUA, primary funding was through an independent endowment, the investment of which was controlled by the LRY board of directors.
Continental LRY was run by an executive committee, usually consisting of four or five full-time officers, elected to one-year positions by the board of directors. Executive committee members shared an apartment and office in Boston and, like the board of directors, were all under the age of twenty.
and the Universalist Church of America
in 1961, and has roots going back both to the Unitarian Young People's Religious Union
, organized in 1896, and the Universalist Young People's Christian Union
, founded in 1898.
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, LRYers were seriously involved in the counterculture
, civil rights
and anti-war
movements. At times these radical
activities were sanctioned by their elders in the church, but at other times they were condemned. In the 1980s, these activities continued but, along with the rest of the country, the leadership of the Unitarian Universalist Association
(UUA) was becoming more conservative, and relations between the leaders of LRY and the UUA became progressively more strained.
Due to ongoing conflict with Unitarian Universalist adult leadership, and amid a great deal of controversy, LRY was disbanded in 1982. Within the Unitarian Universalist Association it was replaced in 1982 by a new youth program, Young Religious Unitarian Universalists
(YRUU).
Many Unitarian churches had a local LRY chapter, which typically had at least one meeting per month, with some groups meeting weekly. The "locals" were organized into regional federations, such as LAF (Long Island [NY] Area Federation), CMF (Central Midwest Federation), or the Iroquois Federation (upstate New York), the members of which elected officers to represent them on the continental board of directors. Federations and local groups hosted weekend conferences at UU churches or campgrounds, at which the members of locals got to know their fellow LRYers from other locals, or from other regions entirely. Many LRYers would travel great distances for particular conferences, and hitchhiking was a popular mode of transportation. Near the end of LRY, there was also a growing population of LRYers who had no local group, and only attended conferences. This was largely because some UU Churches refused to allow LRYers to have a local at their church anymore.
Unitarian summer camps existed throughout the US, where campers often formed life-long friendships, and many counselors were drawn from active LRY groups. These camps included Rowe in Massachusetts
; Ferry Beach in Maine
; Homestead, originally free standing near Carmel, New York and later in Harriman State Park, New York
; Star Island
, in the Isles of Shoals
off the coast of New Hampshire
; Unirondack
, in the Adirondack Mountains
; DeBenneville Pines, in the San Bernardino Mountains
in California
; The Mountain, in Highlands, North Carolina
; and many others. Week-long summer conferences were held at many of these camps, and non-UU camps were sometimes rented for events such as OPIK in Tar Hollow State Forest
, Ohio, the LRY Continental Conference (aka Con Con), the location of which rotated throughout the US, and Summer's End, which took place every Labor Day weekend in New England. Summer's End is now an autonomous conference that occurs annually in mid-August.
Throughout the 60s and 70s, LRY had an office in the UU headquarters at 25 Beacon street, Boston. The office was staffed by LRYers elected from within membership. LRY also published a newspaper entitled "People Soup."
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n youth organization affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association , in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of...
. LRY was unique as a church youth group in that it was governed by its members, who were generally between the ages of fourteen and nineteen years old, with adults serving only in an advisory capacity. Though partial funding and office space were provided by the UUA, primary funding was through an independent endowment, the investment of which was controlled by the LRY board of directors.
Continental LRY was run by an executive committee, usually consisting of four or five full-time officers, elected to one-year positions by the board of directors. Executive committee members shared an apartment and office in Boston and, like the board of directors, were all under the age of twenty.
History
LRY was founded in 1954, before the official merger of the American Unitarian AssociationAmerican Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it merged with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.According to Mortimer Rowe, the Secretary...
and the Universalist Church of America
Universalist Church of America
The Universalist Church of America was a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States . Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the name was changed to the Universalist Church of America in 1942...
in 1961, and has roots going back both to the Unitarian Young People's Religious Union
Young People's Religious Union
The Young People's Religious Union, or YPRU, was a Unitarian Youth organization founded in 1896. It was superseded by Liberal Religious Youth in 1953, as Unitarianism and Universalism came ever-closer together, but before the official merge in 1961....
, organized in 1896, and the Universalist Young People's Christian Union
Young People's Christian Union
The Young People's Christian Union, or YPCU, was a Universalist Youth organization founded in 1898. It was superseded by Liberal Religious Youth in 1953, as Unitarianism and Universalism came ever-closer together, but before the official merger in 1961....
, founded in 1898.
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, LRYers were seriously involved in the counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
, civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
movements. At times these radical
Radicalization
Radicalization is the process in which an individual changes from passiveness or activism to become more revolutionary, militant or extremist. Radicalization is often associated with youth, adversity, alienation, social exclusion, poverty, or the perception of injustice to self or others.-...
activities were sanctioned by their elders in the church, but at other times they were condemned. In the 1980s, these activities continued but, along with the rest of the country, the leadership of the Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association , in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of...
(UUA) was becoming more conservative, and relations between the leaders of LRY and the UUA became progressively more strained.
Due to ongoing conflict with Unitarian Universalist adult leadership, and amid a great deal of controversy, LRY was disbanded in 1982. Within the Unitarian Universalist Association it was replaced in 1982 by a new youth program, Young Religious Unitarian Universalists
Young Religious Unitarian Universalists
Young Religious Unitarian Universalists is a youth organization within the Unitarian Universalist Association in the United States and the Canadian Unitarian Council. YRUU is primarily run by youth, ranging in age from 14 to 20, with mentoring adult partners...
(YRUU).
Conferences and summer camps
Unitarian summer camps existed throughout the US, where campers often formed life-long friendships, and many counselors were drawn from active LRY groups. These camps included Rowe in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
; Ferry Beach in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
; Homestead, originally free standing near Carmel, New York and later in Harriman State Park, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
; Star Island
Star Island
Star Island is one of the Isles of Shoals that straddle the border between New Hampshire and Maine, seven miles from the mainland in the Atlantic Ocean. Star Island is the largest of the four islands in the group that are located in New Hampshire...
, in the Isles of Shoals
Isles of Shoals
The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of New Hampshire and Maine.- History :...
off the coast of New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
; Unirondack
Unirondack
Camp Unirondack is a Unitarian Universalist camp and conference center located in the western foothills of the Adirondack Mountains near Lowville, New York....
, in the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains
The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, Saint Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties....
; DeBenneville Pines, in the San Bernardino Mountains
San Bernardino Mountains
The San Bernardino Mountains are a short transverse mountain range north and east of San Bernardino in Southern California in the United States. The mountains run for approximately 60 miles east-west on the southern edge of the Mojave Desert in southwestern San Bernardino County, north of the...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; The Mountain, in Highlands, North Carolina
Highlands, North Carolina
Highlands is an incorporated town in Macon County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located on a plateau in the southern Appalachian Mountains, within the Nantahala National Forest, it lies mostly in southeastern Macon County and slightly in southwestern Jackson County, in the Highlands and...
; and many others. Week-long summer conferences were held at many of these camps, and non-UU camps were sometimes rented for events such as OPIK in Tar Hollow State Forest
Tar Hollow State Forest
Tar Hollow State Forest is a state forest in Hocking, Ross, and Vinton counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It is part of an area of protected land that also includes Tar Hollow State Park....
, Ohio, the LRY Continental Conference (aka Con Con), the location of which rotated throughout the US, and Summer's End, which took place every Labor Day weekend in New England. Summer's End is now an autonomous conference that occurs annually in mid-August.
Throughout the 60s and 70s, LRY had an office in the UU headquarters at 25 Beacon street, Boston. The office was staffed by LRYers elected from within membership. LRY also published a newspaper entitled "People Soup."
Notable LRYers
- Carolyn Garcia (aka Mountain Girl, aka Carolyn Adams) – Merry PranksterMerry PrankstersThe Merry Pranksters were a group of people who formed around American author Ken Kesey in 1964 and sometimes lived communally at his homes in California and Oregon...
and the wife of Jerry GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
of The Grateful DeadGrateful DeadThe Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
. - Joyce MaynardJoyce MaynardDaphne Joyce Maynard is an American author known for writing with candor about her life, as well as for her works of fiction and hundreds of essays and newspaper columns, often about parenting and family...
– author. - Ray Kurzweil – author.
- William G. SinkfordWilliam G. SinkfordThe Rev. William G. Sinkford was elected the seventh president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in 2001. Sinkford was elected to his second and final term as president in 2005. His installation as president made him the first African American to lead the organization. He...
– first African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
president of the Unitarian Universalist AssociationUnitarian Universalist AssociationUnitarian Universalist Association , in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of...
. - Joshua Prager – A physician leader in the field of neuromodulation.
- David HelvargDavid HelvargDavid Helvarg is an American journalist and environmental activist. He is the founder and president of the marine conservation lobbying organization Blue Frontier Campaign, a part of the Seaweed rebellion, which arose from his second book Blue Frontier...
– noted environmentalist.