Young Adult Ministry Part 3 Sean Allen, MDiv
Evangeliza8on & Discipleship Inten/onal Evangeliza8on Discipleship Missionary
Evangeliza8on Trust à Curiosity à Openness à Seeking à ID Build genuine friendships with pre- disciples Personally walk with them on their journey Host evangeliza/on events for those in passive stages: Trust, Curious, Open to Change Host discipleship events for those in ac/ve stages: Seekers & Inten/onal Disciples Sherry Weddell, Forming Inten,onal Disciple (Hun/ngton, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2012)
Discipleship Forma8on Community Prayer Study Service
Discipleship Model Everyone needs a: Paul Mentor/Spiritual Director Barnabas Community of Disciples Timothy Someone you Mentor
Mentor/Spiritual Director Mentor Role Guide to growth as a disciple Regular mee/ngs addressing the 4 areas/wheel Assistance and accountability Spiritual Director Focuses on whatever you bring to the sessions May not address all 4 areas/wheel
Community of Disciples Discipleship Community A disciple needs the support of fellow disciples Place of mutual growth vs. mentoring Companions walking the journey of discipleship Founda/on for Evangeliza/on Grounded in a discipleship community, one can bezer reach out to evangelize new people
Someone to Mentor Mentoring a Pre- Disciple Evangelize someone to become a disciple of Christ Focus on the thresholds of conversion Meet/talk only as o[en as applicable to their stage Mentoring a Disciple Guide someone to grow in discipleship Regular mee/ngs addressing the 4 areas/wheel
Ques8ons?
Young Adult Ministry Discipleship Form YA discipleship groups for mutual support Connect YA disciples with mentors for guidance Hold community- wide ac/vi/es for disciple growth Evangeliza/on Equip and empower YA disciples to evangelize Hold community- wide ac/vi/es to evangelize YAs
Steps for Beginning YAM 1. Meet and get to know young adults 2. Iden/fy poten/al leaders 3. Form a core community/leadership team 4. Define a plan for the ministry 5. Reach out to more young adults
1) Meet Young Adults Who do you already know at your parish? Who does the pastor and parish staff know? Any YAs already involved as parish leaders? Start with people known personally Start with healthy people Network: who do those young adults know?
Get to Know Young Adults Ask to get together at the church a[er Mass or meet up for coffee somewhere Get to know them and their spiritual journey Assess what threshold they are probably at Keep a running log and pray for them Do they know more young adults?
We don t have any young adults at our parish. ~30% of U.S. popula/on are young adults How are you defining the term young adult? If true, shows a great need for evangeliza/on! YAM is for more than weekly church- goers Are there young adults present at your parish? Are there local YAs that do not go to Mass?
2) Iden8fy Poten8al Leaders Out of the YAs that you know or have met, which ones are disciples? Disciples are needed to make disciples Parishioners are more likely to take leader roles If not enough disciples in your parish, work at the regional or diocesan level un/l there are Leverage evangeliza/on efforts by other YA groups Leverage evangeliza/on efforts by your parish
3) Form a Core Community Personally invite poten/al leaders to gather together at a specific /me and date Looking for a cri/cal mass of 5-8 people At this point, you have met them all, but they do not know each other yet The goals of the ini/al gathering are to meet each other, get to know each other, and agree to grow in discipleship together
Leadership Team The core community is the seed that will grow over /me into a larger community Do ac/vi/es together that the majority of the core community are excited about Spend ample /me bonding before focusing on reaching out to more people Core gradually forms into a leadership team
4) Define a Plan for Outreach What age range do you target first? What states in life do you target first? What thresholds do you target first How will you reach out to them? What will the first outreach ac/vity be? How will you stay in contact with par/cipants? Develop a strategy and an ac/on plan
5) Reach more young adults Execute the plan established in step #4 Already established a solid founda/on of a discipleship community in the leadership team Already gathering & gozen to know each other Already formed a community to welcome others Now start evangelizing
Beginning Young Adult Ministry What stands out to you the most about the steps outlined for beginning YAM? Has your community followed a different path to begin? If so, how has it worked? Are there any issues that you might have avoided by following this plan?
Final Ques8ons?