Building new young adult communities one church at a time ~ The Michigan Area Reporter

By Ang Hart, Detroit Conference Director of Youth and Young Adults

Anyone who is part of Annual Conference each year knows the presence of young adults has been growing at the conference level for many years. But anyone who is not part of that body might not know much about it.

Either way, most people who have set foot inside a United Methodist Church in the last five years realize young adult ministries is one of the primary growing concerns and focuses in our denomination.

But what is a mystery to some is the direction the new Conference Commission on Young Adult Communities is hoping to take local churches in the next five years.

It is one of the best-kept secrets of our conference — one that more and more people will start being let in on.

In August, the Commission had its first retreat. There they decided on a vision, mission, structure and future actions.

They decided they would have two focuses: The first being ministry with local churches and the second being partnerships with other agencies in the conference.

Their plan to work with local congregations is three-fold.

The commission will first find a representative for each district.

Second, that person will be given the knowledge and resources to train others to start a local Young Adult Ministry and to organize and run a ReThink Church Event.

Third, the district representative will go out and train churches in their district and help them form or maintain a Young Adult Ministry that fits the life of that church.

Any church can work with a representative, and each church will have a different outcome. Some of the district representatives have been chosen already; Dan Philips in the Ann Arbor District, Alyssa Grant in the Detroit West District, Kayla Roosa in the Saginaw Bay District and Kaitlin Norton in the Flint District.

Norton is already piloting the program in Flint, while he rest of the representatives are getting ready to be trained.

The commission is still looking for people to do ministry for the Detroit East, Marquette and Port Huron districts.

The second main idea is to start partnerships with other agencies in the conference.

For example, the commission wants to work closely with agencies who deal with vulnerable persons.

In 2012 they hope to help raise awareness about vulnerable persons and young adults that are classified vulnerable persons.

The commission also has existing on-going partnerships with other groups, such as Keep Making Peace and United Methodist Women.

If you or someone you know are passionate about these ministries, and are under 30 and interested in working with Young Adults or working as part of this team, the commission is always looking for new people.

For those interested in having a district representative come to their church or for agencies of the conference who would like to partner with the commission, please contact Ang Hart at ahart@detroitconference.org.