Young Adult: Rooted Disciples Who Disciple Others

There is a vibrant world of Young Adult groups in churches that live on faith, friendship – and most importantly, the word of God. They are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, and use ages in terms of -ish, because they don’t want to exclude anyone from any decade.

They work together to dig into the Bible, to learn about life, to love, and to find time to break bread. They bring in their individual passions, introduce their families, and share both burdens and joyous occasions. These groups are centered around conversation, as they pray for each other, seek guidance, and as they welcome all.

It is a journey that is filled with spiritual growth, and also with laughter, support, mentorship, and understanding.

Meet Young Adult groups at Gathered by Grace, Frazer Church, The Church at Eastern Oaks, and Journey Church as they share their vision, and how you can connect with them.

Gathered by Grace
Rev. Tiffany Chaney, Pastor

What is the name and age range of your Young Adult ministry? Gathered by Grace was established as a ministry with young adults aged 18-40ish. We say “ish” because we never turn anyone away because they may not fit this age group. But, we intentionally center around people 18-40.

What is the vision behind the Young Adult ministry at your church? Gathered by Grace is a community of young adults, gathered by Christ, growing spiritually, going out to serve our community, getting to know our neighbor, welcoming all, and sharing the Good News of Jesus. We engage in holistic ministry that strives to engage every aspect of life. For example, in addition to our Online Bible Study and Dinner and Dialogue, we also have financial workshops, vision board parties, book discussions, body & soul ministry, and more. Our ministry is three-fold in nature: GATHER + GROW + GO

• GATHER around word in fellowship with other Christians, reaching to the margins to include all.
• GROW spiritually as we engage our world through a theological lens as people of faith, exploring how God is speaking and active in our world today.
• GO into the world to share the Good News of Jesus, as we strive to live the love of Christ in our words and actions, loving and serving our neighbor.

How do you feel those in your Young Adult ministry support each other? Our in-person and virtual experiences are centered around conversation, which creates space for participants to discern their faith and walk alongside each other through life. We have people who text or call each other to check in. We take prayer requests at the end of our Sunday night sessions, so people know how to pray for each other throughout the week. Our participants support each other professionally as resources when one person can help someone else.

What do you hope the young adults gain from the ministry week after week? I hope our participants leave each week knowing God loves them, being better versed in our conversation topics for the week, equipped with better biblical understanding and tips on living as a person of faith, knowing we hold a safe space to talk about tough things, and feeling a part of an authentic community of faith where they are genuinely welcomed. Visit www.gbgministry.org or text or call 334-544-0472.

Frazer Church
Kelly Slover,
Minister of Groups

What is the name and age range of your Young Adult ministry? Frazer Young Adult (FYA). Our overall age range is 18-45, broken down into smaller, more targeted age-ranges.

What is the vision behind the Young Adult ministry at your church? The Frazer Young Adult Ministry exists to deepen Scriptural understanding through discussion and study, build authentic Christian community, and serve the needs of our community alongside other believers.

How do you feel those in your Young Adult ministry support each other? FYA is comprised of six Bible study groups that meet weekly to delve into Scripture together and share in each other’s joys and burdens. Praying for each other and checking on one another throughout the week gives members an opportunity to support others and receive support when needed. Our groups see members praying through college and career decisions, celebrating proposals and weddings, welcoming new babies, and tackling the ins-and-outs of marriage and parenting.

What do you hope young adults gain from the ministry week after week? My hope is that our young adults gain a feeling of truly being known and cared for and that they feel encourged, equipped, and spurred on in their walk with the Lord. Email: groups@frazer.church for more information.

The Church at Eastern Oaks
Jayden Carlos,
Pastor of Students

What is the name and age range of your Young Adult ministry? Rooted Young Adults aged from 18-29.

What is the vision behind the Young Adult ministry at your church? The vision is to make faithful disciples of Christ who disciple others.

How do you feel those in your Young Adult ministry support each other? We gather regularly breaking bread, praising God, studying His Word, and praying for each other. We try to model the early church seen in Acts 2 in every part of the church, even our young adult ministry. (Acts 2:42-47)

Everything we do as a church is based in Scripture, this excerpt among others, and our individual ministries are no exception.

On breaking bread: In this passage, it refers to the Lord’s Supper, but we don’t take the Lord’s Supper every week. Rather, we gather over a meal and fellowship, praying for one another. We also follow the rest of this passage to the best of our ability. Young Christians are not second-rate Christians but have been truly saved, justified, redeemed, and gifted to serve and participate in the local congregation.

What do you hope the young adults gain from the ministry week after week? I hope young adults gain theological insights about God and the Bible that have immense practical effects on their walk with Christ daily. Currently, we are working through theological terms, e.g. Holiness, Transcendence, Regeneration, Justification, Perseverance, etc., and defining them biblically. From there we look at what a practical outflow of this biblical theology looks like in personal life day-to-day. The young adults who are coming to faith and being radically saved are, oftentimes, biblically illiterate and do not understand church lingo. We hope to culminate all these things together as we make faithful, rooted disciples who begin discipling others. Visit online at easternoaks.org or email jayden@easternoaks.org.

Journey Church
Bill Benson,
Young Adult Pastor

What is the name and age range of your Young Adult ministry? Journey Young Adults. We work with ages 18 – 25 and sometimes a few years older.

What is the vision behind the Young Adult ministry at your church? Journey Church exists to reach people who are disconnected from God and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Through our Young Adult ministry, we want to help build community for college, career, and young married couples in their 20s that will strengthen their journey with God.

How do you feel those in your Young Adult ministry support each other? Our young adults support one another through large and small life group meetings each month. Life groups are where our life in Christ grows and flourishes. As a bridge between our life in the world and our life in Christ, these groups provide a place where young adults can build Christian friendships, learn from each other, and enjoy the community God designed.

What do you hope the young adults gain from the ministry week after week? We want our young adults to gain connection to each other and ownership over their relationship with Christ.
Visit myjourneychruch.com or Instagram @journeyyacommunity.

Kym Klass is a contributing writer and Communications Director of the Media Ministry at Frazer Church in Montgomery.