What is your target demographic? – Are you looking at targeting single adults? Married families? Both? College students, people in transition, or all of the above. Whatever your target demographic, you want to be sure that you are focusing on a group of people that actually exists within your community.

What are the needs of your community? – Do young families need childcare, support, and fellowship? Are the young people in your area being challenged or do they need a bible study, discipleship, and mission opportunity?

What are the gifts and skills of those willing to lead? – Young adult ministry doesn’t need a dedicated leader like a youth or children’s ministry might, but the group does need a facilitator or group that can get things and keep things moving.

Curriculum, events, schedule, recruitment and fellowship are all factors that will need to be addressed once a group is beginning to establish themselves.

In order to bring together those in our conference who are actively doing young adult ministry and help them begin to be resources for each other, I’ve set up a Google Group to share ideas, ask questions, and discuss young adult ministry. It is my hope that this message board will be a place of encouragement and collaboration. This group is a message board where you can post a topic, respond to others, and share your ideas.

If you are passionate about young adult ministry, check out this group and begin sharing your thoughts!

Around the CTC (Central Texas Conference…of the United Methodist Church!) we have our own acronyms that can often be confusing. In August we dissolved the SLT (Student Leadership Team) and in January we are rebuilding this team and calling it CCYM (Conference Council on Youth Ministries). This is the title given to student leaders at the conference level given by the BOD (Book of Discipline).

As if all of that weren’t confusing enough, CCYM and CTCYM are very similar in name, but very different in practice. CCYM is the Conference Council on Youth Ministries and is the student leadership team for the Conference. Student leaders must fill out an application and submit it completed by January 6th in order to be considered for the leadership positions available. A version of the leadership structure is available here. CCYM leaders and team members help plan, vision, and execute events, gain leadership experience, and are empowered to serve in their local church, districts, communities, and the world by using their gifts and skills. Adult leaders are needed from each district to empower students to discover and use their gifts for the glory of God. CCYM falls under the direction of Leanne Johnston.

CTCYM stands for Central Texas Conference Youth in Mission.  CTCYM is a mission experience for youth and adults around our conference. Each summer more than 2,500 youth and adults join together to repair and rebuild homes and small facilities weathered by age, poverty or natural disaster. CTCYM Group Registration needs to be postmarked by Dec. 29^th to take advantage of $100 per trip fee. After that, the fee is $150 per trip, and Group Registration closes Jan. 12, 2012. INDIVIDUAL registration begins Jan. 15, 2012. There is no other deadline until March 8, 2012, which is the deadline to get the Early Bird Rate for Sr. High and Combo. The Senior High and Combination (Jr. and Sr. High) trip is June 10-16, 2012 and the Junior High trip is July 15-20, 2012. CTCYM comes under the umbrella of the Center for Mission Support and the incredible leadership of MaDora Ratliff and Rev. Kyland Dobbins.

Whew! Hopefully that explains this a little bit. If you have any questions about CCYM or CTCYM, please feel free to contact Leanne, MaDora, or Kyland.

While April still feels very far off, there is a lot of planning and organizing that needs to happen between now and then to make the Great Day of Service a success.

If you are a church that wants to get involved, consider being a host site for your district.

What does a host church do?
Worship and training – Some of the basic needs will be to provide a place for the worksite training on the morning of April 14th. This is where teams will meet before they are sent to their worksites. At the end of the day, the host church will have all participants come back to their site for worship. The church can either provide worship (resources will be available) or they can coordinate with another church willing to provide worship at their location. Worship can include hymns, a band, homily or sermon, communion, and other liturgy.
Food – Coffee, breakfast, donuts, and sack lunches can be provided, but that is not a requirement. A church may also choose to provide snacks at the end of the day.
Worksites – The host church will be involved in recommending worksites to the district. Worksites can be anything from construction and painting to serving and sorting.
Publicity – A host church can help with publicity and getting the word out to their congregation and community that the Great Day of Service is coming.
Coordination with the District – The host church(es) for a district will work together to provide a great experience for all participants. The conference and the district will provide resources for host churches including a worship outline, schedule, and publicity resources.

Of course there are many other opportunities for churches and groups to get involved. If your church or group would like to help provide worship, food, worksites, or other supplies, that’s wonderful and welcomed as well! Watch for registration forms available in January for worksites to sign up and for individuals and groups to sign up to participate.

Contact Information
Central Texas Conference Service Center – 817-877-5222
Rev. Kyland Dobbins, Missions Experience Coordinator – ext. 25
Rev. Dawne Phillips, Director of Missions – ext. 11
Leanne Johnston, Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult Ministries – ext. 19

One thing Kapreta was interested in with regard to our meeting is getting Fort Worth area youth involved with Habitat. She can provide one day or multi day local missions opportunities for youth ages 12 and up. Groups can simply register with her for a specific date and show up to work. No tools, skills, or prior knowledge needed. They take care of everything. While they are just about done work for the year, they are accepting volunteers for various Thursday-Saturday dates in the new year.

If you are interested in learning more about Habitat, I encourage you to check out their website or facebook page.  I encourage you to contact them to get some dates booked for your youth or church groups – it’ll be a great experience!

If you are not in the Fort Worth area, I encourage you to contact your local Habitat for Humanity for more information about volunteer opportunities.

Looking for a good theme idea for your next series, retreat, or program? Check out National Youth Worker Convention Resources and borrow their theme ideas, media, and videos!

While this event is hosted by Cluster Groups 20 and 26, if you are in the Ft. Worth/Arlington area and would like to attend, please contact Jo-Jo and Brad. We’d love to have you!

In response to your newsletter item on Young Adult ministry, I thought I would share a few thoughts from my experience.  My husband and I teach a college-age Sunday school class at Woodway FUMC.  We were asked to serve in this role when it was perceived that there was a need.  We started out with one regular attendee.  Now in our fourth year, we have eight students.  Given that many churches in our area have large college ministries, we recognize that we cannot and do not want to compete with what they are offering.  For the students who faithfully attend our class, we have realized that not all young adults are looking for a flashy contemporary worship service full of a bunch of other young adults.  Some young adults prefer traditional worship and a multigenerational church family.  Marketing our church for what it is helps prevent visitors from being disappointed.  We need to be authentic in describing what we have, and open to ways God might lead us to change.  Once our core group of students was established, they began bringing friends.  Our Sunday School class has expanded to after-worship fellowship lunches at restaurants and a weekly mid-week Bible study in our home.  I guess my best suggestions for those starting out on this journey would be to pray frequently and expectantly, allowing God to lead the way.  Also, truly investing in the development of our students has fostered deep, meaningful relationships in what we hope is a safe place for young adults to explore who God has created them to be.

Prayer is definitely an important element when started, continuing, changing, or working in ministry in any capacity. It’s something very important to remember when working with young adults because it causes us to slow down, listen for God, and act on what God wants and what is best for the community, not just what is easiest or most comfortable.

If you have a personal story about your involvement in local ministry, youth, young adults, or otherwise, I’d love to hear your story!