By J.A. Dunn

LAKELAND — The Conference Council on Ministries’ (CCOM) Young Adult Ministry team is working to get its ministry back on track.

Even though the team voluntarily surrendered its 2004 funding of $10,000 at the 2003 Florida Annual Conference Event last May, that doesn’t mean the conference has abandoned young adult programming or its young people.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite, according to the Rev. Meredith McMillan.

McMillan is senior pastor at Christ United Methodist Church in Lehigh Acres and the team’s chairwoman. She said the group is in the process of reorganizing and attempting to determine how it can help congregations be in ministry with young adults.

“The conference has not given up on young adult ministry,” she said. “It’s going to take more than one group to create or restructure a group of people to deal with this issue. We need people to be involved who have a passion for young adult ministry.”

McMillan said the young adult ministry team wants to be a resource for congregations that decide they want to be in ministry with young adults. She said it’s often difficult for congregations to do that, however, because of the diversity within that group. Young adults can be college students between the ages of 18 to 21, young people who don’t pursue higher education, young people who enter the military, young married couples both with and without children, and a host of other combinations.

McMillan said some congregations are successfully ministering to its young adults, and the team will examine how those churches have achieved success.

“The answer is unique for each church,” she said. “There is no blueprint out there. We will be getting some fresh minds together who have a passion for young adult ministry and begin to tackle this issue.”

The General Board of Discipleship is also beginning to strengthen its emphasis on reaching young adults. It approved legislation during its Aug. 20-24 meeting establishing a Division on Ministries with Young People. The new area will help the church embrace youth and young adults as contemporaries in ministry and promote their concerns. If approved by the 2004 General Conference next spring in Pittsburgh, the division would be located at the board.

Ciona Rouse, director of the General Board of Discipleship’s Shared Mission Focus on Young People, said she doubts United Methodists are the only denomination searching for the best ways to be in ministry with its young people.

“The trend is that no church is alone in looking for ways to develop young adult ministry programs. We’re searching for where to go,” Rouse said. “What we want to do is be the resource that will equip congregations that, in turn, will help them nurture young people. We will be looking at doing something on the conference level to train churches.”

In addition to young adults comprising so many different types of people, their belief system is also different, according to Rouse.

“They want to be active,” Rouse said. “They want to be of service to their community and to serve one another. They are sensory orientated. They grew up with the Internet. They are going to reshape how we do ministry.”

The Rev. Marcus Zillman, campus minister of the Wesley Foundation at the University of Miami, said young people may want something new, but they also desire staples, such as a weekly message. The former pastor at Edge Memorial United Methodist Church in Groveland said a young men’s accountability group was popular at the church. He said university students have been asking for a worship service and Bible study.

“I think for young people it comes down to them knowing that God loves them. It doesn’t matter how bad they’ve been in the past,” said the 30-year-old Zillman. “Once they get that, they will share that with others.”

Regardless of how the conference decides to convey this message, the young adult ministry team will have the means to do it.