Emily Conger and Aisha Ansano

Matt Meyer

This episode features Matt Meyer. MATT HAS LED WORSHIP FOR HUNDREDS OF CONGREGATIONS, TRAVELING THE COUNTRY SHARING A MESSAGE OF LOVE AND JUSTICE, THROUGH RHYTHM AND SONG. He is currently the Director of Community Life for Sanctuary Boston. One of our original ideas in making the documentary was to highlight different organizations that are continuing the ideas from the YRUU program. Either through their practices or by being led by someone who went through the program.  So, although we didn’t explicitly highlight Sanctuary Boston we used images from one of their worships in the film. Matt truly encompasses the spirit of YRUU and you will hear that through his words and singing. www.whyareyouyou.org

Emily Conger and Aisha Ansano

We first met with Emily and Aisha when they hosted a Dinner Church that we went and recorded. They call their gatherings Nourish. As the website–NourishUU.org [http://nourishuu.org/] says “Dinner church is all about nourishing bodies and spirits through food and ritual. It is a worship service and a meal woven together to tap into the heart of what it means to be in embodied spiritual community with one another.” We later visited them for a sit down interview along with (at the time) a 9 month old of Emily’s.  This made the interview interrupted slightly but that's what it means to be multigenerational. We decided to keep some of these inserted detours in this episode. Talking with them both really showed us how YRUU has spread beyond the program itself. How it impacts family life and how ministry can look. www.whyareyouyou.org

Lisa Feldstein

Lindsay recently caught up with Lisa Feldstein for another perspective on the Common Ground process and what it was like to work in the LRY Office.   www.whyareyouyou.org

Hank Peirce

Hank Peirce’s name came up at the very beginning of this project as someone we should consider talking to. He tells the story of how the name Young Religious Unitarian Universalist, with the acronym YRUU came to be.  But listen closely because he doesn’t take credit for coming up with the idea but rather was the messenger to the group. Later on in the process we received an email from someone who remembers a young woman had presented the name YRUU during the first Common Ground session.  It wasn’t until the second Common Ground session that they decided on a name. It is unclear if that young woman was even in attendance then. Hank of course has many amazingly fascinating anecdotes. So buckle up!  www.whyareyouyou.org

Sam Ames

Lindsay ended up doing a solo trip to Washington DC where she met with a few folx for interviews.  Sam Ames was one of them.  They met in a strange hotel right by a busy highway. Sam was so trusting of Lindsay to be in this weird place with framed pictures of squirrels and a small circular cushion that Lindsay sat on to listen to them. www.whyareyouyou.org [http://www.whyareyouyou.org]