Since joining UUCF as the Young Adult Community Leader, I have routinely found myself returning to the words of visionary author and facilitator adrienne maree brown. Her work “Emergent Strategy” has been both a supportive guide and invitational challenge for me in the work of young adult ministry. The vision she casts throughout the text […]
Where Two or More Are Gathered
Apr. 22, 2019. By Young Adult Community Leader Tyler Coles. Three weeks ago I had the opportunity to take part in the Gathering Summit, a virtual convening of community builders from around the world. The core of this convening was twofold: to ponder why people no longer engage traditional places of “meaning-making” and to share […]
An Embodied Sense of Freedom
Jan. 21, 2019. By Young Adult Community Leader Tyler Coles. I will never forget the moment I was first asked, “What does liberation feel like?” It was a soggy, humid morning following a long night of dancing and laughing around a bonfire at the Highlander Center with other black and brown organizers from across the […]
What Are We Building? And How Are We Building It?
Oct. 22, 2018. By Tyler Coles. Like many who grew up in the rolling hills of the Appalachian Mountains, I always found autumn a welcome relief following the tedious days of summer. The cool temperatures and falling leaves form a picturesque memory in my mind as my friends and I would take part in one […]