Uniteens - Leader Info

Age Policy for Uniteens and Y.O.U.

The USCR Regional Policy for Uniteens and Youth of Unity to attend a USCR Regional Retreat is:

Uniteens: In order to attend a regional Uniteen retreat, Uniteens must be in grades 6, 7, 8 or equivalent, with a minimum age of 11 and a maximum age of 14.

Youth of Unity:In order to attend a regional YOU retreat, YOUer’s must be in grades 9, 10, 11, 12 or equivalent, with a minimum age of 14 and a maximum age of 19; or, if no longer in high school, a maximum age of 18.

Attendance Policy for Uniteens and Y.O.U.

The USCR Regional Policy regarding class time hours needed in order to be eligible and spiritually prepared to attend Uniteen and Youth of Unity USCR Regional Event are:

Uniteens: In order to attend a regional Uniteen retreat, Uniteens must have attended at least 6 Uniteen Sunday lessons in the 3 months preceding registration. No exceptions.

Youth of Unity: In order to attend a regional YOU event, YOUer’s must have attended at least 6 YOU Sunday lessons least in the 3 months preceding registration. No exceptions.

All participants must be able to honor heart agreements, function in a group setting and MUST attend the entire weekend from check-in thru Closing Ceremony. Youth with special challenges requiring close, personal adult supervision should be accompanied by a parent or familiar adult who will not be responsible for the rest of the group.

Uniteens moving into Y.O.U.

The first Rally that new incoming YOUer’s are eligible to attend following their graduation from 8th grade is the Fall Rally.

The intent is for Uniteens to move into the YOU class over the summer and get used to the high school program which is significantly different from Uniteens. Fall Rally is geared to new freshmen and is only three days long as opposed to attending a four or five day event with a lot of focus on graduating seniors. Although there are sometimes first-time attendees at Bi-Regi, they are students who have completed 9th grade and for whatever reason either were not involved in YOU, or were unable to attend Fall or Winter Rally of their freshman year.

We will be delighted to accept these new ninth graders AFTER they begin ninth grade and the current seniors have graduated. The difference between the lives of an 9th and a 12th grader, no matter how mature a graduating 9th grader may be is tremendous, much less between an 8th and a 12th grader.

Overnight Participation for Uniteens to attend a Unitreat:

Currently no policy exists. Although it is highly recommended that each Uniteen group provide an overnight opportunity for the youth to spend time getting to know one another and practicing being a group prior to attending a full length weekend Uniteen Retreat away from church and home.

Service Hour Policy for Uniteens:

Currently no policy exists. Although it is highly recommended that each Uniteen group provides service in their local church and community.

Service Hour Policy for Y.O.U.

The USCR Regional Policy for Youth of Unity to attend a USCR Regional Event is:

• To attend Fall Leadership = no service hours required.
• To attend Fall Event = a minimum of 10 service hours.
• To attend Winter Event = a minimum of 20 service hours.
• To attend Summer Bi Regional Event = a minimum of 30 service hours.

The service hour requirement follows the school year calendar and will return to zero following the summer event.

Drivers to Events

For the safety of our youth and in compliance with the guidelines of our Association of Unity Churches,
all attending churches must be transported by and have present at the event a Leader, Sponsor or church-approved chaperone (minimum of twenty-five years of age) with a valid driver’s license and good driving record.

Adult Leaders

All attending churches must be transported by and have present at the event a Leader, Sponsor or church-approved chaperone (minimum of twenty-five years of age). Criminal Background Check required.

Junior Sponsors / Leaders

Junior Sponsor’s are invited to attend events, provided they are twenty-three years of age,
are approved by the Youth Director and Minister, and are attending with the lead Uniteen Leader or lead Y.O.U. Sponsor. Criminal Background Check required.

NGU Age Leaders at Uniteen Retreats (Only)

NGUer’s are invited to attend Regional Uniteen Retreats in a leadership and support capacity to the Regional Consultant in charge. Attendance is by invitation only, and requires a completed the NGU Support Staff Application, are approved by their Minister, and are attending with the lead Uniteen Leader. Criminal Background Check required.

Criminal Background Checks

For the safety of our youth and in compliance with the guidelines of our Association of Unity Churches, a background check must be held on file at the church for all adults attending regional and national events. The recommendation from the Association is that the CBC be renewed every three years.

USCR Guidelines for Hosting a Sub-Regional Event

Please see the following forms available on the website for complete information, guidelines, policies and procedures prior to organizing any details of the event.

All events are to be discussed with and approved in writing by both the host Minister and the appropriate Regional Consultant prior to inviting other churches or making any commitments to facilities or resource persons. Written approval is obtained by completing the USCR Minister/Ministry Approval Agreement form and the USCR Event Notification form.

FORM NAMES:

• Local and Subregional Definitions
  
• USCR Guidelines for Hosting a Sub-regional Event
  
• USCR Minister Approval Agreement
  
• USCR Metro Event Notification
  
• USCR Sub-Regional Event Notification

Definition:
A local, Metro, and Sub-Regional event is any event in which a church invites other churches in their community area to attend their event. Each local, metro, and sub regional event has specific mileage distances as a boundary for attendance and appropriate travel times.

The South Central Region includes the following states: Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming.

The four Communities within the South Central Region are:

• Mountain: Colorado, New Mexico, El Paso, Texas and Piedmont, SD
• Plains: Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska
• North Texas: Northern Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Northern Louisiana
• South Texas: Southern Texas, Southern Louisiana
  

Purpose:
The purpose for hosting any event is to provide spiritual, social, service, and skill learning opportunities for your church’s youth and other Unity church’s youth in your area. It is also an opportunity for the host Church to develop stronger youth leadership skills and youth /adult team partnerships.

Financial responsibilities of hosting an event:
This host ministry guarantees payment of all financial responsibilities fees, in the event any of the financial obligations are not paid in full. Any profits generated from any Metro, Community or Sub-Regional event will be returned to the Regional treasury. The Regional treasury intends to give a 30% of net proceeds love offering to the host church’s program. The remaining funds will go to future events to benefit all of USCR’s youth.

NOTE: Any exceptions to any USCR Regional Policy must be approved through the Regional Consultant in Charge and discussed with the Education Liaison on the USCR Board by the Regional Consultant.