Bridges Program
Bridges is a new program at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Detroit which is designed to help young people learn how to serve and lead others while acquiring the skills necessary to transition into adulthood with a strong faith, community connection, family life and sense of their own talents.
In 2006, under the leadership of Rev. Drew Johnston, 1st UU youth, staff and family members began to explore ways to meet the changing needs of young people from our church and community. Throughout the Spring of 2007 we held a series of discussions within and outside of our program; we asked parents, young people and congregants to brainstorm with us and come up with a comprehensive list addressing the question: what do young people need to know by the time they turn 18?
After three months of conversations and small group meetings we came up with a long list of skills, talents, information, and experiences that we felt were important for youth to have by the time they reached adulthood. This list was eventually condensed into 49 goals, which roughly fall into seven major milestones:
Principles
Sources of Inspiration
Community & Service
Worship & Personal Faith Development
Our Denomination & History
Social Action
Life Skills
Like many churches and organizations serving young people, we face a number of challenges: without a sense of accomplishment teens drop out or lose interest, some youth do not attend regularly, young people have differing abilities and levels of learning, and youth want opportunities to follow their own interests rather than the prescribed lesson plans prepared by teachers. To address these challenges we decided to completely revamp our program and start from the ground up. The result is Bridges, a goal-based learning program that takes young people through small steps using learning experiences that they choose to accomplish the milestones that prepare them for bridging to adulthood.
For more information about Bridges or how your young person can take part, click here.