Before one of our Alaskan youth came to GoldMine last summer, little was known about Unitarian Universalism in Alaska. When Chris Jenkins showed up at GoldMine last summer, there was shock among the crowd. “I didn’t even know UU’s were up in Alaska!” one GoldMiner piped in...Others asked the typical Alaskan questions--do we live in igloos (the answer is no), others asked about Sarah Palin...(not going there,) and yet still others were curious about how UUism worked up in Alaska.
U.U.ism, like everything else in Alaska is a little different. We’re kinda independent. We do things our own way without being told what to do. I’m here to talk about what UUism looks like in Alaska.
There are three distinct U.U. Churches in Alaska. One is Fairbanks, Alaska. One in Juneau, Alaska (Serena, one of our youth who went to SeptiCON lives there), and the “megachurch” is in Anchorage, Alaska where the majority of Alaskan CON-goers came from.
Our church in Anchorage is pretty much like every other church. We have a phenomenal DLRE, Rosene Beachy who works tirelessly to educate our young minds about Unitarian universalism. She’s the only reason Chris went to GoldMine in 2010, and we owe her more than she will ever know. We have the regular gambit of UU programs. We educate ourselves about our sexuality in OWL. We have the Coming of Age program where we learn about ourselves and question our principals, and we Bridge into our fellowship and the greater community as a whole every year. And this year, we are becoming part of the larger UU community in the Pacific Northwest District.
One Alaskan went to GoldMine last year, and six Alaskans went to IndividUUality (Fall CON) in 2010. Before that, Alaskan’s hadn’t been to a PNWD event in over 10 years.
Alaskans kind of did our own thing. We ran our programs and held youth group but didn’t really feel a part of the whole big picture of UUism throughout the world. Now, we do. It took a lot of work to get us here, but we finally feel a connection to the greater UU community.
When six Alaskans went down to Fall Con in 2010, we came back energized, and fired up to get our entire youth group down to CON (there's 28 of us). When we got back and told our youth group about it, there was excitement about CON, but a little skepticism that we could get all of us to CON--it was a lot of money in plane tickets at over $400 a piece.
Then, Kendra, one of three youth group leaders told us about Krispie Kreme donut sales as a fundraiser. (We don’t have a Krispy Kreme in AK). Months later we flew in 1,000 dozen Krispie Kreme donuts to Anchorage and sold them to neighbors, and strangers at Fred Meyer, and any other place we could think. (Again, being Alaska, people will drive from nearly anywhere to get Krispy Kremes).
The fundraiser was a fantastic success. We sold all of about 90 dozen donuts and we raised over $4,500, and got Sixteen Alaskans came to SeptiCON with the help of companion fares, and a bus driver named Digger, this year.
And you know what? We had a great time, and can’t wait to come back!
Everyone had a fantastic time at CON. We loved the fact that there is a greater community in the world spreading love and the seven principals among youth. We love the fact that you can come to a community and feel welcomed no matter what you look like, or how you act.
It’s true. Alaska is far away from the rest of the District. But, Alaska has come a lot closer to the district. All it took was a single voice of action and leadership...All it took was for one person to say “I want to be a part of the larger fellowship. I want to be involved with the UU church in the lower-48. I want to take a leadership role in the church.” And that’s exactly what we did. We love this community a lot. We love our district and the youth that are a part of it. Alaska is back on the map, and we look forward to being a bigger part of the Pacific North West District for years to come.
Anchorage YRUU Youth Group
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