| Young Adult and Hispanic ministries emphasized By Melissa Lauber
UMCONNECTION STAFF The commitment of the Baltimore-Washington Conference to evangelism was reaffirmed when annual conference members voted May 28 to fund a new young adult coordinator and continue the position of conference coordinator of Hispanic ministries. Following three Christian rock anthems by the band from Exit 146, a youth ministry of First UMC in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., the 1,200 conference members meeting at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, learned that people ages 12 to 30 make up only 12 percent of the membership of The United Methodist Church.  | MELISSA LAUBER/UMCONNECTION | The band from Exit 146 at First UMC in Berkeley Springs, W.Va., rocks annual conference prior to a report on young adult ministry. Several musical groups performed during this four-day meeting. |
The average age in the United States is 35. The average age of a United Methodist is 53. Only 15 percent of United Methodist clergy are under age 39. These startling statistics were accompanied by a video in which young adults responded to a series of questions about God, expressing a spirituality outside the United Methodist mainstream. Stories about people ages 18 to 35 who felt alone and isolated in Methodist pews were also shared. 
Stewart | Henry Stewart, a member of Emory UMC in Washington, D.C., who grew up in the conference, expressed his concern with a church that has not crafted a response to a changing, more recklessly secular world. He and the conferences Young Adult Task Force, suggested a solution of 'memory coupled with vision.' Conference members responded by voting to fund the conference Council on Young Adult Ministries for 2005 in the amount of $54,000 and to provide $111,000 for salary, benefits and part-time administrative assistance for a new conference coordinator of young adult ministry beginning in January. The tremendous growth of Hispanic ministries since the Rev. William Caraballo-Lopez Jr. was hired by the Board of Congregational Life in 2002, prompted conference members to make the position of coordinator of Hispanic/Latino ministries a permanent one. The conference also affirmed the work of six missioners who recently completed training in Hispanic ministries as they were introduced to the conference. These lay people will be starting new faith communities, like the ones being formed in homes in Washington, D.C., and in Laurel. In its focus on evangelism, the conference gave out three $1,000 awards. The 2004 E. Stanley Jones award was presented to the Rev. John MAkwalu, of Calvary-Casa del Pueblo UMC in Washington D.C., who took in 80 people by profession of faith last year. The multicultural church offers worship in five languages. The Denman Award for laity went to Angela Spenser of Jackson Chapel UMC in Bartonsville, for her 'servant-heart and creative mind' in building the Frederick Districts youth ministry. The Denman Award for clergy was given to the Rev. Joseph Daniels Jr., pastor of Emory UMC in Washington, D.C., which has grown from 70 in attendance at worship on Sundays to more than 300. Martha Knight, director of the conference finance and administration noted that membership was down by 2,532 members since last year and that the average attendance at worship in the conference had shrunk by 3 percent. While 269 churches of the conferences 698 have grown, 190 did not receive any new members on profession of faith. To help address this issue, the conference Board of Evangelization is holding an Evangelism Conference Nov. 12-13 in Frederick. | 
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