Building community among young adults in our Synod
Young Adult Gathering (YAG) is a gathering of a few young people in the Canberra region for a meal and talking about where they are worshipping, talking about life, their experiences and about how they might live out faith in the face of university, work, friendships, and relationships.
Throughout our Synod, we all worship, serve in different ways, and gather in congregations close and far from each other. For some of us, we can do this with a team and community of people, but for many young adults, it is possible to feel like they are doing this on their own, or with very small pockets of peers. Since I joined the Pulse team I have been gathering stories and ideas, that show resilience, perseverance, and strength from Young Adults in our Synod. There is also at times an undertone of burnout and loneliness. For some of our young adults, they might be the ‘only one’ or ‘only a few’ in each place.
This is part of the reason that we are gathering like-minded individuals in different spaces. We are doing this through Young Adult Gatherings (YAGs) and through Cohorts. A great example of this looks like a few young people in the Canberra region, gathering around a meal and talking about where they are worshipping, talking about life, their experiences and about how they might live out faith in the face of university, work, friendships, and relationships.
The process of ‘creating’ a gathering, has been simple, in that gathering around a meal, (usually potluck) and sharing is the easy bit… the most complex is usually trying to pick a date and then working towards that in communicating and informing that that is coming up. The same could be said with Cohorts, in that it’s easy to book a Zoom room, come together as people with similar passions and gifts we bring to the church, learn from each other, and build communities of practice.
My hope in resourcing gatherings all around the Synod is that you can share your own situation, context, and stories. That we might learn from each other about what it is to serve in our patch. Maybe we could gather a bank of resources and make life that little less tricky in the week-to-week nature of our roles. But we also might be friends, celebrate our communities and genuinely just have a good chin wag.
In addition to the upcoming YAG in Canberra, Sydney-siders keep your eye out for YAG's coming your way soon. Also, we would love to see YAGs popping up all over the Synod and are happy to help you resource one in your local area. If you would like to start a YAGs or a ministry Cohort where you are, and you have a few people in mind but need help kicking it off, get in touch with me. You can find my details on the Pulse Page and in my author bio below. If you are a young adult, or you are in lay ministry, it is also likely we may get in touch with you over the coming months to collaborate together in ministry with your community.
My hope in resourcing gatherings all around the Synod is that you can share your own situation, context, and stories.
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