Youth & Young Adults

Youth and Young Adults

Covenant for Church Youth Ministries (PDF)

The Department of Church and Education of the Eastern Ohio Association was challenged to address the issue of the importance of taking care of and respecting our local church youth workers. An existing document was revised by department members to make a covenant for our churches to use in addressing the importance of youth ministry and our youth workers.

The revised covenant was presented it to EOA’s Council, where it was approved. A small task group then began the process of writing it as a resolution to take to General Synod. That process is finished, and above is the link to that Covenant. If any others are interested in signing on with EOA (WRA is studying it), please contact Sharon Nelson or Margaret Mills.

CSEOA Annual 678 Youth Event for youth in grades 6, 7, 8.

February 10 - 11, 2012 • Grace UCC, Lancaster

Registration will begin at 7:00 pm Friday, and the event will conclude by 1:30 pm on Saturday. Theme: Extravagant Welcome!!

Junior High/Mid High Retreat - "LET JUSTICE ROLL" — March 3 - 4

Pilgrim Hills, 10:00 a.m. Saturday through 11:30 a.m. Sunday

Our youth know how to do charity really well — helping with food pantries, work camps and mission trips — but do we help with the justice part of our mission? This event will focus on justice through the music and leadership of Andra Moran and Stephen Daniel King. Small groups will focus on questions to challenge our youth to think about justice Biblically. And of course there will be free time, games, and workshops. Save the dates and watch for registration information.

National Youth Event - July 10-13, 2012 at Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana

7:00 p.m. July 10 through 8:30 p.m. July 13. Eastern Ohio Association/Western Reserve Association will be providing transportation and a group experience. Contact Margaret Mills at mmills@wraucc.org for information.

Registration is now open! Start here.

Step-by-Step NYE Registration Guide

Registration FAQs

UCC Christian Education Resources

UCC Youth Page

UCC Young Adult Page

Youth/Young Adult Activities in the Ohio Conference and Beyond - August 2011 update

Youth/Young Adult Activities in the Ohio Conference

Margaret Mills

Minister for Stewardship, Christian Education, and Youth Ministry

Eastern Ohio and Western Reserve Associations

Updated August 2011

At the Ohio Conference Annual Gathering, I was asked to present some information on youth and young adults for the pastors new to the Ohio Conference. This is what they heard.

The Ohio Conference does not have a staff person designated for youth and young adult ministries. In EOA and WRA, I serve in that role, and often it spills over into the Conference setting. Here’s what we are about in EOA and WRA and thus the Ohio Conference.

Regional and National Events

Great Lakes Regional Youth Event - June 2012

National Youth Event - July 10-14, 2012 at Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana — open to youth in 6^th through 12^th grades.

Youth@Synod — 2013

Great Lakes Regional Youth Event — summer 2014 in Wisconsin

That’s the rotation. It would be fantastic if all our churches would plan local church mission trips on the Synod years and leave the RYE and NYE years open for youth to attend those life changing events with other UCC youth from around the country and region.

Events Planned by EOA/WRA — Open to All Ohio Conference Churches

Kentucky Work Camp — Summer 2012. An experience combining work/mission and an immersion in the culture of the Appalachian/Southland Mountains. We take groups wanting to learn about work camping and to build relationships. Youth and adults (youth groups) from local congregations join us for the week. Leaders: Frannie Millward, Margaret Mills

It’s Your Turn: Youth Leaders Lock-In — January 27–28, 2012. Cleveland. Details coming.

Junior High Events

Each association provides events for junior high youth. In NWOA, there are youth events taking place in the regions. EOA/WRA held a junior/senior high event at Paradise UCC, Louisville and will probably do so again next spring. Watch electronic newsletters (Netweaver in WRA, Epistle in EOA, Snippets in SONKA, The Vine in NWOA, and CSEMail in CSEOA) for information on ALL events!

Ohio Conference Senior High Fall Youth Event

November 18 – 20, 2011. For youth in senior high. A young adult component is being planned. Youth are to be accompanied by adults from their congregation. Theme—Let Justice Roll. Registrations are available online. Contact Margaret for more information.

So, why are these wider church events important? From a recent article in the electronic church vitality newsletter, “While the United Church of Christ continues to lose both members and congregations, the decline may be slowing. Denominational leaders are eyeing these numbers while staying focused on vitality and considering ways to connect with an up-and-coming generation for whom the traditional model of church membership may be obsolete.” We need the experiences of a wide variety of events to bring a spiritual dimension to our youth and young adults that they may or may not find in their traditional churches.

“Young adults don’t have strong denominational loyalties. Those who claim any religious involvement are likely to connect with a number of different faith groups and organizations for service, mission, study and worship.” The events above, and others through Outdoor Ministries, provide those opportunities.

And finally, the Rev. Geoffrey Black, General Minister and President of the UCC, says the challenge of connecting with youth and young adults often comes up in his conversations with local churches, conferences and associations. Consequently there will be a denomination-wide strategy for young and young adult engagement. It is felt that this strategy must go beyond trying to figure out how to get 18 to 30 year olds into the church. It is determined that we need to figure out how we get the church to youth and young adults. This could require a rethinking of what it means to be church.

Hopefully we can engage in that rethinking with the Ohio Conference, our associations, and churches!