Young Adult Ministries

Andy Gathman

The past year was a turning point for Young Adult Ministries in many ways. In 2005, we clarified our vision, set out new strategies, developed new teams, and welcomed many new faces to Central's young adult community.

One of the consistent challenges of young adult ministries has been the issue of age. How do we define who is a young adult? If it is an age range, what ages are we called to serve, and what do we do when people become "too old" to fit?

Our vision addresses those questions by choosing a ministry that is not age-specific. Instead of focusing on particular ages, we are designing our program to address the needs of people who are in one way or another transient. This may come in the form of relocation, career changes, or even philosophical transience as people try to work out how to live their life. Our vision is to provide "spiritual permanence for transient people." This means that for however long or short someone is at Central, they will be able to take with them new steps of faith that will stay with them wherever they go next.

The first thing we want to do is provide ways for newcomers to find community. This year, we formed the Events Team, led by Heather Bailley, to help plan and execute fun and meaningful young adult events. A mainstay event continues to be "First Fridays," a regular young adult party. These monthly gatherings provide a place for people to meet one another and experience the initial chemistry that is vital to developing deeper relationships.

We continue to provide small groups as a place where those relationships can grow. To help facilitate newcomers get into a small group, we also formed the Connecting Team this year, led by Mandi Pusateri. You may have noticed the Small Group connect table in the Concourse this fall, which allows the connecting team to make sure that newcomers have a way to learn about and sign-up for a small group each week. As a result of contacts made at the connecting table, three new small groups were formed in 2005, and many other people were placed in existing groups.

In the coming year, we hope to continue the growth we witnessed in 2005. We plan on developing our current small groups and forming new ones by training current and new small group leaders and coaches. We are continually looking for new ways to help fulfill our vision and provide spiritual permanence for transient people. You can also expect to see new young adult events, Sunday school classes, seminars, and retreats on topics relevant to transient people. Please pray for God's continued direction on this ministry.