Who We Are

A girl with braided hair, smiling, sitting on the floor. She is holding a Barbie doll and surrounded by gift bags and presents. There is a brick wall and a fireplace in the background, indicating a cozy indoor setting, possibly a birthday or celebration.
A woman smiling with arms raised and out to the sides in a dark setting.
A woman smiling and cooking at an outdoor food stall, with people dining in the background through a rain-covered window.

From Director: Lindsay Caddle LaPointe

Finding a “community with intention” was not on my radar as a 13-year-old growing up in Duxbury, Massachusetts. I had just finished taking the course AYS (About Your Sexuality now named OWL - Our Wholes Lives) where I experienced bonding with other youth from different churches in the area.  Then with very little knowledge of what came next,  I came of age to join the Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) program.

Now, I am a dancer, mother, spouse, educator, filmmaker, and creative with her own business—and I would not be empowered to be who I am today if it weren’t for the YRUU program. 

I can say the same for my good friend, Dawn MacKechnie. 

Now also a mother, wife, and graphic designer, Dawn is also the director of children and youth ministry for the Unitarian Universalists church in Barnstable, MA—a job I saw coming for her when we were just 16.  Even then, she was a leader to her peers, listening and guiding them to better places.

In 2021, we mused, once again—and over a pandemic quarantine Zoom call, we started asking the questions: 

  • What was that experience we had in YRUU?  

  • How did we know, at the age of 17, how to lead an entire memorial service for a member of our youth group who died?

  • What are the former YRUU participants doing with their lives now? 

…

Dawn and I knew that making a documentary about this extraordinary YRUU program was something worth telling. 

So, with the help of award-winning journalist Naomi Kooker who provides us an outside perspective having grown up a preacher's kid in the United Methodist Church, she, Dawn and I began this journey.

Our documentary's title: Why Are You You? (Now spelled out) has the purpose to document and hold space in our UU history and to show how YRUU transformed and saved lives, but how teen empowerment is nothing to mess with: When we find a sense of belonging at the most tender times in our lives as youth, we thrive as adults. 

Meet the Team

  • A woman sitting on a chair in front of a professional video camera on a tripod during an interview or filming session indoors. She is smiling and wearing glasses, a black sleeveless top, and a blue skirt.

    Lindsay Caddle LaPointe

    CONNECTIVE DIRECTOR
    EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | EDITOR

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  • A woman with shoulder-length brown hair smiling outdoors at dusk, wearing a denim jacket and earrings.

    Dawn MaKechnie

    EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | GRAPHIC DESIGNER

    Read Bio
  • A woman with short blonde hair smiling, wearing a blue knitted shawl, seated at a restaurant table with a menu and glasses of water, in a well-lit restaurant with large windows and stone walls.

    Naomi Kooker

    PRODUCER | SCREENWRITER

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  • A smiling older man with gray hair wearing a checkered shirt standing in a cemetery with gravestones and colorful flowers in the background.

    Roberto Mighty

    PROJECT ADVISOR

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  • A woman with shoulder-length light brown hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, smiling at the camera. She is wearing a black blazer, a light-colored top, and a necklace with a small pendant, standing against a plain light-colored background.

    Betty-Jeanne Rueters-Ward

    CONSULTING PRODUCER

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  • A man wearing a graduation gown and a colorful sash stands behind a podium, smiling and speaking at an event in front of a brick wall.

    Rev. Sam Teitel

    PASTORAL MINISTER

  • Portrait of a woman with curly hair, wearing glasses with a polka dot pattern, smiling, against a blue background.

    Charise Sowells

    DEVELOPMENT PRODUCER & MUSICIAN

  • A man with a beard and sunglasses sitting on a wooden bench in a park during daytime.

    Dr. Pants (David Broyles)

    MUSIC FEATURED

  • Person with short hair and blue glasses smiling while holding a guitar, wearing a colorful beaded necklace and a black shirt, against a dark background.

    Lea Morris

    MUSIC FEATURED

  • Profile of a young man with red hair, glasses, and a rainbow tie-dye shirt, standing near a rocky shoreline with the ocean in the background, under a partly cloudy sky.

    Firefly

    MUSIC FEATURED

  • Micheal Wall

    MUSIC FEATURED

  • A woman taking a selfie outdoors near a lake, smiling, wearing a life jacket and earphones, with cloudy sky and green trees in the background.

    Miche Madrone

    DEVELOPMENT RESEARCHER

 What was the Young Religious Unitarian Universalist program?

  • Youth and adult delegates from all over the country came together in two conferences called Common Ground 1 and Common Ground 2.

    The official first date YRUU began was Jan. 1, 1983.

  • The Unitarian Universalist Association funded this program from 1983-2008.

  • Leadership Skills, Community Building, Social Justice, Worship and Learning Experience

  • Many local congregations used the name YRUU for their youth groups because they were a part of the larger continental group. After the congenital program went away these groups decided to keep the name YRUU going locally.

A diagram of sample Youth Adult Committee structures, including voting and non-voting positions and officers, with labels for each role and symbol key for youth and adult members.
A document titled 'The Purposes of Young Religious Unitarian Universalists' explaining their mission to foster spiritual growth, community, and religious values among youth and adults, encouraging understanding, independence, and respect.
A diagram of the components of the YRUU (Youth Rights and Responsibilities Union) organizational structure, including the District Representatives, UUA Board of Trustees, UUA Administration, Youth Council, Youth Office, and Steering Committee, with details about the number of delegates and roles.
Black ink splash with radiating lines on white background

Thank you to our funders!

Unitarian Universalist Funding Program, New York Sate Convention of Universalists, Individual donors to our campaigns through: Seed & Spark, Faithify, and Givebutter

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