Q. I've been talking with our religious education director about the rich experience youth had at the Salt Lake City General Assembly in June, and we'd like to hear about other congregations' experiences, how they went about organizing the trip, how they managed funding, etc.

A. "I'm a big promoter of sending youth to GA," says the Rev. Greg Stewart, minister of religious education at Neighborhood Church, Pasadena, CA (579 members). "It is worth, arguably, a year's worth of Sunday school and worship." He recommends building enthusiasm by having youth from the district who have been to GA talk to your youth. 

The youth will need to raise money all year to fund the trip, says Stewart, noting there are scholarships from the UUA Youth Office, but ultimately the congregation must invest in this endeavor. Individual members have also sponsored youth. It's important, he says, for adults to see that youth are attempting to raise their own funds and then they'll help. Stewart also recommends that upon their return, all participants in GA present a worship service (rather than a report) on their GA experience.

Bobbie Poole helped organize a trip to GA 1999 in Salt Lake City by about 25 youth from the Mountain Desert District, including nine from her church, Foothills Unitarian Church, Fort Collins, CO (366), where she is a youth advisor. The district rented three mini-vans and the group slept on the floor of a UU church in Salt Lake City, bought and prepared its own food, and took showers in the hotel rooms of adult attendees from their own churches. 

She recommends a high adult to youth ratio (five to one on this trip) and close supervision of youth attending GA for the first time. It also helped that the district had a display booth in the convention hall where youth could stash their gear and rendezvous during the day. The trip cost about $300 per youth, including registration, travel, meals, lodging, $25 spending money, and a YRUU tee shirt.

The expectations for the youth were clearly spelled out before the trip. The youth were given a code of ethics, attendance requirements, detailed GA schedules, and a food preparation/ cleanup schedule for the week. 
Registration for youth at GA 2000 is $120. Hotel housing is available for $245 for the week. 

Q. My church is likely to go to two Sunday services because we're too crowded on Sunday morning. We already see that the two services will not be identical—the choir wants to sing in just one service, probably the latter. Also, the children's religious education programs will be different. What I want to avoid is the scenario where everybody comes to the second service and the first one withers on the vine. What have people done to enhance the service at the less popular time and to build it so it has its own constituency?

A. When there are two services, the later one usually attracts significantly more participants, say leaders in many congregations. Special music can help to fill up the first service. Also, consider having the choir sing only two Sundays a month if it participates in both early and late services. Or, form choir subgroups to sing at the earlier service.

It's probably impossible to achieve an even split, says Martha Osgood, former membership chair who usually attends the early service at the UU Church, Eugene, OR (219). She finds the coffee hour between the services a good way to keep up with friends who attend the later service. Give the earlier service two or more years to attract a following. Promote it as a way to free up the rest of the day. 

The UUA also has a free booklet, Considering Two Services. Order it from Adam Stuhlfaut, Office of Congregational, District, and Extension Services, 25 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108; (617) 742-2100, ext. 269. It recommends adding a second service if 75 percent of the desirable seats in the meeting room are full.