NEWS BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF 
Young adults throughout the Baltimore-Washington Conference are invited to attend the Young Adult Christian Cafe, a summer retreat, Aug. 4-7, at the Shiloh Retreat Center in Hagerstown.
The theme of the retreat is 'The Real World: Getting to Know God Right Where You Are.' Activities will include movies, Bible study, workshops, concerts, swimming and a midnight trip to a pancake house. The Rev. Candice Lewis, pastor of New Life UMC in Jacksonville, where the oldest member is 45, will be the facilitator. The cost is $200. For more information, contact the Rev. Kevin Smalls at (410) 309-4310 or
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Smalls |
'It is time for people under 40 to reclaim their place in The United Methodist Church, said the Rev. Kevin Smalls, the Baltimore-Washington Conference's new young adult ministry coordinator. 'Let's get this party started.' Smalls, who began his new position as an associate council director July 1, feels an urgency about bringing people age 18-39 back to church. Currently, he said, the average United Methodist is 57, while the age of the average American is 39. In addition, only 34 pastors under the age of 35 serve the 695 churches in the Baltimore-Washington Conference. Smalls views these statistics as a God-given challenge. 'It's always possible to be a vibrant church,' he said. 'It's always possible to reclaim the movement and action of the Spirit.' Enabling local churches to do that is a job he is looking forward to. But to draw young adults, churches need to wrestle with questions about how willing they are to change. In the 1970s, Smalls said, 'Methodists were neat and orderly with an impressive structure. Every 't' was crossed and every 'i' dotted.' Today's post-modern culture tends to find such structure irrelevant, he said. People are seeking relationship, community, meaning and significance. ''Why?' is the question of the day,' Smalls said. Young adults are questioning everything we have believed. They want to know why it's significant and how it relates to their lives. 'If they sense church may not be relevant, they seek answers elsewhere.' Smalls is encouraging churches to engage young adults in conversation. 'Culture raises the questions that faith has the answers to,' he said. 'Most people in the world talk about God. We're finding ways to expand the God introduced to them by their parents and grandparents.' For churches interested in being in ministry with young adults, there are three vital ingredients, Smalls said. You have to make them laugh; you have to provide moments of enlightenment; and you have to agitate them and provoke a slight confrontation about what they believe. 'Do those things and they'll come back,' said Smalls, who also stressed that churches should consider what they do best and build on that. ' There is an error in doing what everyone else is doing,' he said. 'Context determines everything. Who are the young adults in your community, how do they spend their time, what do they value? ? Ask these relevant questions and then duplicate what young adults do socially in the context of Christian faith. Include God in the conversation.' As he begins his new job, Smalls is rejecting the role of administrator. 'I want to be a pastor to the young adult community, an associate pastor to every pastor involved with young adults.' Smalls is excited about challenging the church to become more relevant. Risk, he said, is vital. 'I'm gonna try. I'm not afraid to flunk. If I do, that just means I need to do something differently.' As he begins this new ministry, Smalls is also eager to talk with everyone and asks that young adults throughout the conference e-mail him at
. 'I will respond,' he said. 'Young adults really, really, really want to be involved. They love doing things for God. We need to provide a place for that to happen.' |
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