Bethesda-Chevy Chase Congregation reaches out to youth during election season

Sitting on a densely tree-lined Cedar Lane in Bethesda, Md., the area’s congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association was packed with some of its estimated 560 members sharing lunches and swapping stories, enjoying the late afternoon October weather. 

They had joined together as a part of a larger UUA Mosaic Conference to discuss how to work for human rights and social justice. And on the bottom floor of the building, the youth members learned why and how to promote democracy. 

Neha Majumdar began attending the South Kensington congregation in. when she was around eight years old. Majumdar and her parents moved to the area about a year earlier and were introduced to the organization by a family friend. 

Now 17, she was one of the roughly fifteen young adults who had attended that Friday’s Service-Learning Project. According to Majumdar, this was her first type of youth democracy event at Cedar Lane, and the turnout was impressive.

“It was really interesting because all these kids from across the country and also kids that are local, kids that I’ve known since elementary school, were there and it was like a really cool blend of people, and I think that we all kind of brought a lot to the table in the conversation,” she said. 

The learning project included a morning discussion on why each attendee thought democracy was important and personal to them. This then trickled into an afternoon of letter writing to swing states where the teens utilized their own experience with democracy to urge members of swing communities to vote.

“This is the first time we’re doing this particular type of thing and inviting youth who may not attend Cedar Lane every week to engage in this type of work,” the Rev. Dayna Edwards said in an interview before the event. “But, you know, Unitarian Universalists love a letter-writing campaign. So, it is something that is part of the social justice work that we’ve done, you know, for various different issues.”

And though Cedar Lane has touched youth like Majumdar, the UUA congregation is still working to engage the outside community of Bethesda-Chevy Chase to get involved in not only the election but protecting democracy through what they call social justice ministries.

“One of the things that we try to do here at Cedar Lane, one of our mission statements, is to be a multi-generational community,” Edwards said. “And so, it’s important for us to learn how, for all of us to learn how to interact with, you know, each other, regardless of our age. So often in our society, we are segregated by age. And so, part of the beauty of church is bringing different groups and ages together.”

Members of Cedar Lane, and the broader congregation know the organization’s mission to be a welcoming environment for all, UUA conference planner Sana Saeed said.

“We are also rooted in our own values, around believing in the inherent worth and dignity of all people and the interconnectedness of the world that we live in,” Saeed said. “And how do we work together to be the beloved community that we see for ourselves.”

And though Cedar Lane is a congregation, its members do believe that its mission is more than election outreach. 

“I think that like going to this conference kind of opened my eyes a little bit more because I think that it’s really easy to think about religion and to think about a place that is technically like a congregation, technically like a church of some kind, as like a very stereotypical kind of format of conversation, right?” Majumdar said. “But realistically, Cedar Lane brings so much of a different feel to the table.”

Non-partisan engagement inside and outside the community seems to be how members work together to protect the democracy they believe could crumble. Whether that be through large events like the Mosaic Conference, or smaller ones like the youth service day, to Cedar Lane, it is just about getting involved in democracy.

Edwards is the Minister of Faith Formation at Cedar Lane and oversaw the service day, learning that the youth really did want to aid in the UUA’s mission of protecting democracy.  

“You know, sometimes I’m blown away by their insight into the process,” she said. “I mean, some of them go to private school, some of them are homeschooled, but overall, Montgomery County is doing a good job of teaching about the democratic process, and that shines through in their willingness and eagerness to engage in activities outside of the school that are going to protect democracy.”

“I think that like going to this conference kind of opened my eyes a little bit more because I think that it’s really easy to think about religion and to think about a place that is technically like a congregation, technically like a church of some kind, as like a very stereotypical kind of format of conversation, right?” Majumdar said. “But realistically, Cedar Lane brings so much of a different feel to the table.”

Majumdar agreed with Edwards, and the overall congregation’s belief in protecting democracy through the youth, in and out of school. Majumdar has been involved in student government since she was in middle school and has had the opportunity to work on different organizations in D.C, like interning for Congressman Jamie Raskin. 

“My personal opinion is that the most like, non-partisan way to kind of get engaged in your community is to vote, have a say, even if you’re not sure kind of how you feel about politics, necessarily, or you don’t have a platform to kind of share your voice, voting is the best way to do that,” Majumdar said. “So, I think things like that are kind of what fueled me to get engaged in that more.” 

Edwards said she believes Cedar Lane is a place for the youth to be themselves, like during the service event.

“As the national political climate is shifting, I think it’s important for especially youth to have safe places to be fully themselves and to explore their identity and all the ways that that makes sense for them,” Edwards said. “Whether it’s their racial identity or their sexuality identity or their gender identity, just having a place where everybody in the community knows that Cedar Lane is going to be a place where they can be fully themselves.”

Andrew Batcher is the Social Justice Coordinator at Cedar Lane, and within his purview, he helps encourage the broader community to vote and accept all, creating ministries for LGBTQ+ and racial justice to educate the broader community as well as doing like the youth postcard campaign through UUA’s UU The Vote movement. 

“I mean, a lot of people are very concerned about the threat to democracy right now and so that’s a major spiritual issue,” Batcher said. “I mean, that’s something that creates a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, and also a lot of desire to do something, right?” 

And with the congregation near D.C., the worries and want to do something for many members in pertinent, including the youth. Majumdar believes the organization’s closeness to the nation’s capital is “empowering” and is one of the reasons why Cedar Lane is intent on protecting democracy.

“D.C. is a powerhouse for change for our country, because everything about legislation, anything that is now, has to do with the changing and the kind of shaping of our country happens literally at our doorsteps,” Majumdar said. “I think that, like at Cedar Lane, they do really try to put a focus on how we can help to think about that a little bit more and have a conversation about what we want to do to further that change in our local spaces. Because change is not just national, it’s state-based, locally based.”

Locally, Cedar Lane will continue to have events revolving around democracy, even after the election. According to Edwards, the day after the election, Wednesday, Nov. 6, the congregation will host a post-election check-in and soup supper, and Sunday, Nov. 10, an election breather, with both open to anyone in the Cedar Lane, and broader communities.