Info from the link below, Dan...
>>> Before LRY
Once the concept of youth existed, churches began to form local, regional, and continental groups to address the needs of this very specific age group. In 1889 the Universalist youth organized to form the Young Peoples Christian Union (YPCU). and in 1896, the Unitarian youth followed suit with the Young Peoples Religious Union (YPRU).
The YPCU
The YPCU became very active fairly fast. Since its inception in 1889, they had been working enthusiastically and hard toward a strong program. They established mission funds, tried to publish a national newsletter, and started summer programs. In 1901 the denomination acquired Ferry Beach, a Maine camp and conference center which has maintained the affiliation ever since. It was there that the YPCU held its first convention. Beginning in 1919, the YPCU held one-week long summer institutes there, each of which had a theme, workshops, and speakers. It is a format that is still employed by a number of Unitarian Universalist camps and conference centers across the country. They instituted a nationwide Young Peoples Sunday, still found in many congregations as Youth Sunday when the youth group designs and leads the service. Between 1927 and 1930, they also held leadership conferences for older young people (now referred to as young adults persons of and near college age) at Ferry Beach. Both institutes are once again in place as YRUU and UUYAN weeks at Ferry Beach. In addition to increasing youth involvement and visibility, the YPCU had become involved in social and mission work. At their first national convention they pledged eradication of the degradation . . . [of] drink and alcohol habits (Miller, 186) and at the same convention they undertook to start a parish, build a church, and partially fund its minister. This was successful, if precarious, and by 1939, when the YPCU celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, the YPCU had been responsible for the building of 5 churches. It was also in that year that the programs at Ferry Beach were expanded and separated to form a junior camp (7-15), a senior camp (15-1
, and a young adult camp (Miller, 181). As previously mentioned, they removed the reference to Christ from the masthead of their national publication in 1931, and ten years later they changed their name to reflect their denominational affiliation, calling themselves the Universalist Youth Fellowship (Marshall, 214).
