How can churches support our young people in not getting burnt out? Burnout is the real mental and physical health consequences of trying to succeed in a system designed to privilege the few.
Burnout is a systemic issue.
Maybe you read Anne Helen Petersen’s How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation article we posted on the YM Facebook page last week. Maybe you read her follow up Here’s what “Millennial Burnout” is like for 16 Different People and Tina Clark’s expansion of the conversation on twitter and her article This is What Black Burnout Feels Like and @untonuggan's discourse on burnout through the lens of chronic illness and disability. The TL;DR/“I’m too burnt out to read a bunch of articles” is that burnout is a catch all word for the culmination of the mental and physical health consequences of enduring in a white supremacist, ableist, capitalist hetero-patriarchy. The extent to which we experience burnout, and our capacity to remedy burnout symptoms and root causes, is largely influenced by our identities, privilege and status, but it’s experienced even by those who the system is designed to privilege.
What does this mean for leadership in our UU faith movement, particularly in a youth ministry context? - Leadership development pathways must emphasize not the skillful execution of tasks but rather ways of being or orientations to leadership that move us towards liberation - Affinity and identity groups focused on healing the symptoms of our broken world, internally & externally, are integral to healthy youth ministry - Church can be a co-creation of welcoming and inclusive spaces for our young people to find respite and rejuvenation from everyday and identity stressors so that - We can connect young people to our congregational or denominational justice ministries to channel their healing power outward.
Here are some companioning resources.
Deepen your understanding of the 4th competency for ministry to and with
youth: Creating an Inclusive Youth Ministry with these trainings and resources.
This Active Listening workshop in the 9 session curriculum participants experience being truly listened to and identify key aspects of active listening.
Identity-based space is a practice of Unitarian Universalist communities
seeking to address the particular spiritual, community, and justice needs of specific identity-groups.
Youth Ministry Revival:Registration is open for All Are Called, March 1-3 in Bethesda, MD. UU UNO Spring Seminar: Registration is open for Equity in Action: Gender in an Intersecting World, April 11-13th in New York City, NY. UU College of Social Justice: Volunteer Opportunities, young adult internships and Activate trips are available on the UUCSJ Calendar. Summer Seminary: Registration opens January 28th for SumSem at Iliff, July 23-29 ing Denver, CO Thrive Youth: Registration opens next month for Thrive Youth, July 17-21 in Minneapolis, MN.
