I Love CACs (part 1)

By: Erin Zysett, Salem sponsor (and Adult Adviser)

A common refrain from youth leaders, sponsors and advisors to any youth attending a CON is “Don’t get CAC’ed!” Meaning: don’t break the rules. Don’t break community. Be present. Be healthy. Be connected. I agree with the spirit of this message. Ideally, we don’t want a broken community. We want healthy behavior from everyone, but I am realistic enough to know you must always meet people where they are, and people don’t always come to us from a healthy place. It is our job, it is our calling, and it is our purpose to bring people along the path to our healthy, embracing, unbroken place of love. We can’t expect that everyone will start here.

It is common knowledge by now that we had a CAC at this past CON. I want to go on the record now saying I am thrilled. I was one member of the CAC team, and what I saw was the most beautiful example of ministry I have ever witnessed. CACs are not about punishment; they are about holding people accountable and getting them the support they need. Because, make no mistake, if a person lands in a CAC there is a call for help buried somewhere nearby.

This past CON was all about passing the torch, embracing our roots, learning from our history and owning our future. Having our first CAC in 3 CONs was a fantastic way to live up to our theme. It was a reaffirmation of the incredible ministry we do with CONs. To me, all the fun: lap tag, hair dying, capture the flag, dancing and singing workshops, the silliness and the No Talent Shows…these are just the shared experiences used to lay the trust-lines needed to draw people back in when they go astray. The fun leads to the deeper ministry done in touch groups, workshops and especially CACs.

CACs are a sign that our community is healthy and operating the way it should. It means someone in the community has gone astray, and someone else has cared enough for them and for our group to bring them back in line. We cannot be naive enough to think that no one breaks the rules, but we must recognize that when they do, someone has failed them in along the way. Perhaps the person wasn’t ready for the responsibility of a CON, and we failed by turning them lose in one too soon. Perhaps they haven’t connected enough at their home congregation and are hiding their pain. That is a failure of honesty on their part and observance on ours. CONs are intense emotional experiences that can create huge break-throughs for many people; some people are ready for those break-throughs. Some people are not. Those who aren’t will often revert to old modes of coping and disconnecting. They will run from comfort and emotional health. CACs are a time to not only hold them accountable, but ourselves as well. They are a time to examine the path we are all on, take stock of our surroundings and pull out the moral compass. We must prop up the offender, hold their hand, and find our way back to a place of love before we pass any form of judgment or accountability. In order to do what is fair and right for all, we must start with an open, loving heart. That is sometimes hard to remember in the midst of what feels like betrayal, but is a necessity for healing and reconciliation. The CAC process allows us time and space to breathe, get back on track and reconcile our mutual pain.

Fall CON 2011 reminded me why I do the work I do. I will still begin every CON weekend with the mandate: Don’t get CAC’ed! But, I will now add: it is so much easier to trust and ask for help before we land in a CAC. I will say this with the knowledge that not everyone can ask for help. Not everyone knows they need help until they are in too deep. Just know that I and others will meet you where you are, take you by the hand, and lead you back into community. We love you. We may have to send you away from CON for awhile, to give you room to work on self-love. Yet, in the midst of exile, please believe we are holding this very special space open for you—a sort of spiritual Robbie Rule—and we eagerly await your return.

I Love CACs (part 2)

By Devon Buckles, Spirit Corps Captain

At my first con there was a CAC, I didn’t know then what that meant, no one seemed to be saying anything except that it was a BAD thing. I remember Tandi stepping up in front of the con and telling us that she loved CAC’s, and thinking she was crazy. I now know what a CAC, or Conference Affairs Committee does/is and I agree with her. The CAC process is not one of horrible happenings, but rather of healing. Having now sat on a CAC as the youth YES team representative, I now understand the function of, and the reason we have CAC’s. The CAC is not designed to be a judicial system, but rather an extension of our CON Community. It is because we have the CAC system set up that we can have the amazing cons that we have. During the CAC itself the statement was made ‘this is the true CON Community, all the outside stuff is setup for this’. While this is a somewhat dull way to look at the community, it’s true. Our CAC process is the highest form of our community, yes it is how we deal with rule violations, but the process is that of holding our community accountable, of how our community deals with problems when they come up. I may have thought she was crazy at the time, but now I definitely agree with Tandi, I love the CAC process too.

This article is from CONtext

The River is My Home

By Sophia Warner, Eugene, First time con attendee

Once many flower blooms ago, Mother Earth carved a large crater. She spit into the crater and made it the home of a special type of fish called the Cispus. The Cispus had such a great spirit as a community that Mother Earth decided to speak to the fish. Her warm kind voice vibrated through the pool. “If you can change this pool to a river that flows through the fourth mountain range, I will proffer a special gift for all of your kind.”

The Cispus knew they were stronger as a community, so all the fish came together as one and started chipping off bits of the lake. The work was slow, but piece-by-piece the Cispus molded the lake into a river. The task took many seasons to complete. Once the fish made it past the last mountain range, they waited and waited, wondering what it was they had worked to achieve.

The sun started to fall. The moment it left the sky, Mother Earth’s voice rumbled as if from the peaks of the surrounding mountains. She said, “I will now give you your great gift. I will make you humans, but before you evolve I will name this river after your kind. In this way you will always know where you are from and may return when you wish.”

Now, an innumerable number of blooms later, the children of the Cispus return to the river once a year under a new name, the Unitarian Universalist youth. When they come together they become just as close as their long gone ancestors. Secretly, somewhere deep inside, they all know this river is their home and that they will always come back to it.

This article is from CONtext

Images and Gratitude

Anne-Marie Davidson, PNWD Con Consultant

It is hard to translate what my heart wants to say to my typing hands, so I will try to translate the images...

When I first get to Con, during setup, I see this map in my head, with the Con site in the middle of it. Around it is our district, and all along the roadways and freeways and lines on that map are vehicles: cars, vans, one very rowdy bus, and they are all driving toward Con, all on their way there, full of expectation, anticipation, apprehension. When they arrive, they will see we are there, waiting for them, ready to welcome them; they will know that this is where they want to be.

In my mind, during con, I see this spiderweb. The spiderweb is my mental map, the connections that form the weekend. Some are people, some are tasks, some are events, some is time... it is vast and beautiful, interconnected, fragile.

Between people, I see the light within each of us reaching out toward others, sometimes tentatively, sometimes readily. With our affirmations of one another, those energies touch and interact and grow until that inner light becomes our halo, surrounding us in light.

This is what you mean to me. You are the welcomers. You create the web, form the connections, send energy that strengthens. You are the light bearers, illuminating the path for others, helping them find their own... you are why this conmunity is what it is.

I am ever grateful for all that you do, in this community, and for all your acts of service.

The very long list of thank yous:

Deans: Nick T & Elissa M

Spirit Corps Captains: Devon B & Riley H

Con Chair: Annie S

Worship: Lydia P & Emma C

Touch Groups: Martina H and Alice R

Workshops: Libby H and Ava K

Registrar: Seriah M

T-shirts: Emma R

Mug Books: Emily L

Site ops / No-Talent Show Host: Logan G

Chaplains: Quinn H & Lorelei P (youth), Kristin D and Job R (adults)

Adult Advisors/Helpers: Ann C, Erin Z, Erich B, Liz S, Amanda R, Eric V

Head Sponsor: Ward R

Nurse: Sharon T

Workshop leaders (not already mentioned): Jeff P, Bill F, Barrie O, Kevin C, Tracy Y, Andy B

Newcomer Orientation Leaders: Owen H and Kevin P

Touch Group Leaders (not already mentioned): Helena K, Sara B, Ben K, Hannah H, Cass B, Elizabeth H, Ethan R, Fernando K, Audry F, Sasha I, Zoe V, Laura J, Dane M, Jake B, Leigh F, Veronica S, Abbie G, Ian G, Brenna Y, Taylor O, Erika D, Makayla V, Kati H

Sponsor sitters (not already mentioned): Haven B, Carson P, Lewis B

That’s 63 people, and I didn’t even get to those who served on Spirit Corps.

To any and all of you who served this weekend, or whom I may have inadvertently forgotten: THANK YOU!

This article is from CONtext