Resurrection
Lutheran Church
Engaging Young Adults (EYA)
Rooted in our congregation’s belief in “showing up, being with, and loving (God, self, and others)”,
we seek to respond to young adult’s desire to connect, serve, and learn.
~ Mission Statement of the Engaging Young Adults (EYA) Team
18-35ish, the age group referred to as young adults, includes many subpopulations. However, this overarching time in people’s lives is marked by drastic changes in identity and community. This is a time that challenges people’s understanding of self, life, and the world.
People frequently find themselves facing this time with a childhood faith that is too small. And the need to test their faith is met by communities that often make no room for their questions and doubts, no room for their struggles or the baggage of failures and mistakes, no room for them to explore their gifts, or to try on who they might be in and for the world.
Resurrection has been intentionally listening to young adults at church, in coffee houses, bars, concert halls, and at kitchen tables. As we listened, we heard three recurring themes our young adults have committed to intentionally address: People’s desire to connect to a community that includes them even as their world is in flux. People’s desire to make a difference by serving others. And people’s desire to have a place to safely learn about and explore their faith.
Our EYA Ministry Team of young adults is addressing these needs by providing opportunities to connect with the congregation and each other through a monthly dinner group, and by hosting the fellowship hour between worship services once a month. The team also coordinates bi-monthly service opportunities for the group with other area nonprofits such as Just Neighbors and the Ronald McDonald House. Resurrection’s study times on Sunday mornings and during the week, called Lifelong Learning Together (3LT) , is shaped by the need to safely learn about and explore faith. EYA is also working to make retreats as well as an adult service trip a regular part of Resurrection’s life, which provide opportunities to connect, serve, and learn.