Minister's Page
Nancy and I were looking for a new adventure
This year I will be the Interim Minister
of the Unitarian Universalist Church of
Studio City, California.
Our address is:
11023 McCormick Street, #321
No. Hollywood, CA 91601
Or maybe we can Skype: "rev.mike.young".
Nancy's cell: (808) 389-2225 — salth2onancy@gmail.com
After 44 years of ministry as a Unitarian Universalist minister at churches in California, Florida and Hawaii, Nancy and I decided to become itinerate. Since it was a new adventure, we chose to make it really new and went off to be the Interim Minister of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Waterville, ME. Yes, it was cold up there! But we had lived in sunny climes since finishing theological school in 1965, so what the heck.
We stayed there two years and were ready for our next adventure. Mike is still happy ministering and Nancy continues to blossom in all the things she does. So, where are we now? At one of the more exciting churches in the Los Angeles Area: Studio City! Yes, those studios.
We hit the ground running, as they say. We're living in NoHo—that's North Hollywood, the arts district. Live theatre, incredible restaurants, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and like that.
Rev. Mike Young was the Interim Minister for the Universalist Unitarian Church of Waterville, Maine from Summer 2009 to Summer 2011. He has served Unitarian Universalist churches in Palo Alto, CA, West Los Angeles, CA, Tampa, Florida, and Honolulu, Hawai'i. A graduate of The University of Redlands and Andover Newton Theological School, Rev. Young was one of our earliest Community Ministers, serving as UU Campus Minister at Stanford University '65-69 and later working to develop innovative juvenile programs for the Los Angeles Juvenile Court. He has been very active in the communities he has served, and has received several awards for interfaith, inter-racial and social justice activities.
Rev. Young is the author of A Preachers Poems, a volume of poetry published by Praxis International, available on Amazon.com.
Mike and Nancy are chronic parents – 34 children in all, depending on who you let them count. Two biological kids, one adopted, a long string of foster kids, refugees and foreign exchange students now scattered all over the world. Nancy Young is a poet, artist, potter and sculptor. She is a docent at the Honolulu Academy of Art.
For a fuller biography go to Ministerial Record
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A RECENT MINISTER'S COLUMN
I am a Peter Pantheist. Peter Pan: who refused to grow up; and Pantheist: the whole universe is the Holy. What, then, is the Gospel According to Peter Pan?
You are an incarnation of the most high. Your consciousness is the universe being and becoming conscious. And being that one is absolutely the most important thing for you to be and to do. Your particular expression and experience of that is unique, unprecedented. Nothing about that experience is trivial or unimportant. And, you are nothing special; for all of that is true of everyone you meet, as well.
You are not alone. You are intimately connected by every molecule and fiber of your body and being to everything else. It takes the whole universe doing exactly what it is doing for you to be here now. And it takes you, here, now, doing all of the things that you are doing in your life, for the universe to be here now.
It's okay to be who you are. You are exactly where you are supposed to be and are doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing. Not because everything is determined. But precisely because nothing is determined. You are blossoming at your own correct rate. You do not ought to change anything. And you can change everything !
The Good News is that there is nothing wrong! You are not broken, and don't need fixing. You are not lost. You couldn't be, because you are trailblazing anyway; it's all new territory. No one has ever been exactly where you are before ! To be broken implies a model of how you ought to be that you aren't! But there is none. You are unique! There is nothing to compare yourself to! To be lost implies a goal to reach, but there isn't any. No map could possibly guide you to an experience no one has ever had before.
But the Good News is also that there is help. A lot of help ! All you need. Though your quest is unique and there are no footsteps to follow, there are and have been a great company of questers with whom to share the adventure. Skills and wisdom exist that you may find useful. Others have. And that sharing is part of the quest. Some will not prove useful; or will not be useful now, but may be later. Others will be just what you need. And you have some to share as well, that are exactly what another needs. And you may not even know it.
Finally, there is no hostile territory. No enemies to defeat, no battles to be won. There is only the adventure. Every conceivable potential enemy is a quester just like you. Like you, they are exactly where they're supposed to be. Like you, they are an incarnation of the most high. If they mistake you for their enemy, you don't have to buy into it.
You can't grow up. There is no up to grow ! You can only be alive or be dead. There is only one way to be alive, but many ways to be dead. One of the ways to be dead is to become an adult — that living death. That is not growing up. That is not growing. Or, you can remain an infant. Never leave the protected womb of the culture's easy prescribed answers: Do as you are told; think as you are told, and behave yourself ! Don't take risks!
Or, you could discorporate — you could pull the plug. But what's the hurry? You'll get there soon enough. You miss the best parts of the trip taking shortcuts. Death is a part of the quest. You will not escape it. But let it come where it belongs, as the result of living the quest well. Even then, you will still be one with the universe. You will still be connected. It will still be okay. Taken early or late, in rich ripeness or still green; you will have put all the living that would fit into that eternity that is your unique incarnation.
Reach out and touch someone. Go ahead, take hold of one another's hands.
Oh, Yes. Part of the Gospel of Peter Pan is that there is resurrection of the dead. If you are an adult, or an infant, or one of the other ten thousand forms of the living dead, you can be resurrected to aliveness. Sometimes all it takes is a touch, or a word, or a smile, from someone who is alive . . . whether they know it or not.
You have just been touched.
—Rev. Mike Young
Up-Coming Adult Religious Exploration Opportunities:
Reading The Bible
In Historical, Cultural and Linguistic Context
A Discussion Led by Rev. Mike Young
TWO SESSIONS: Either/Or
Tuesday morning, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Thursday evening, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Whether one believes in the Bible or not, it is indispensable for understanding the Western heritage. It often doesn't say what folk think it does. And, read in full historical, cultural and linguistic context, it is often a much more interesting literature.
I'll share what I know, from the best Biblical scholarship available.
Here's an MP3 of an Introduction to the Old Testament:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_GY_9cspOQ6NjM1MjQxOWUtZDRjYS00ZDA0LTkxNDktYTAxNzRmNTE5ZmEw
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Introduction to
Unitarian Universalist History and Heritage
Led by Rev. Mike Young
First Sunday of each month, 11:30 a.m. After the service
One of the best ways to understand our peculiar religious tradition is by looking at how we got this way. We'll take a lighthearted romp through the history and conflicts that shaped us and the values that have grown out of them.
Whether you're a long time UU looking for a refresher or a newbie considering joining us, you'll enjoy the history and theology of our living tradition.
Rev. Mike Young, Interim Minister
church: (818) 769-5911, cell: (207) 313-7232
e-mail: revmike@uustudiocity.org
My Office Hours are:
Tuesday mornings 9:00 a.m. To 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday afternoons 1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Thursday afternoons 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Other times by appointment
Mondays are my day off and I belong to Nancy, but the rest of the week...
If I'm too busy to see YOU, then I'm TOO BUSY! Call or come by.
For more information about me, look here:
