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First steps taken in reaching young adults

September, 2000

The ink was barely dry on the Vision for Renewal and Growth, which includes in its four initiatives a new emphasis on young adult ministries, when the Conference scheduled its first mission trip designed specifically for 18 to 25-year-olds.

The trip, to Appalachia, went off without a hitch this summer but with one downside: just four young adults and two group leaders went on the trip.

“It really raised the question of how to reach 18 to 25 year olds,” said Sheri Anderson, one of the leaders and the Associate Pastor of the Central Square Congregational Church in Bridgewater.

“There were no pre-made channels to reach that age group. I called several churches to recruit people, and was amazed that only one had an email list of the kids at college,” she said.

“We had an incredible experience because we were a small group,” she said. “But I kept thinking ‘it’s too bad more people aren’t able to share in this.’”

The good news is, things will be different next time.

Susan Dickerman, Associate Conference Minister for Leadership Development, said the Conference is working on ways to reach out to young adults once they’ve left high school.

“This summer, we sent letters to our churches asking for the names and addresses of graduating seniors so we could begin to build a database of young adults,” Dickerman said. “The response has been great. We now have 360 names, so now we will be able to make personal contact.”

Also, the Conference Board of Directors recently added eight-hours a week to the part-time schedule of Carl McDonald, the Associate for Youth and Outdoor Ministries, to allow him to explore ministries to reach young adults.

Meanwhile, one participant of this year’s trip, Devon Neely, a 21-year-old student who belongs to the Congregational Church in Somerset, praised the trip.

“It was definitely worthwhile to see what life was like in Kentucky. They have less than we do, but it doesn’t seem to matter — there is such a big sense of community,” she said.

One experience that touched the group was when, toward the end of their stay, their van slid off the road into a ditch. Instantly, dozens of people from the neighborhood where they had been working came out to help.

“Here, I don’t even know my neighbors. If I got stuck on the side of the road, I’d be there for hours,” Neely said. “But there, the whole neighborhood came out and asked how they could help.”

The group spent nearly a week in Harlan, Kentucky, where they painted two houses and built a ditch for a water connection to a third. The trip was organized through Christian Outreach to Appalachian People, or COAP, which arranged the work and provided the group with housing and orientation. They spent a night at a UCC church in Virginia on their way to Kentucky, and another night at one in Pennsylvania on the way back.

Neely said the number of people in church her age has dropped off since she graduated from high school, and she said she isn’t sure what the answer is for attracting her peers to church. But she agreed that opportunities like the mission trip could help hold the interest of those who were active in high school.

“I would absolutely recommend this trip to others,” Neely said. “I’d like to do it again next year if possible.”

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