Young adults discuss religion, faith and culture at Theology Pub, part of The Project F-M in the Fargo, N.D.- Moorhead, Minn., area.
‘Social media rocks’
By Adam J. Copeland L
That’s just one lesson learned from alternative young adult ministry
ike other young seminarians, I was often asked: “So, do you want to be a youth pastor?” Many well-meaning people assume that pastors in their 20s hope to work with youth. I did not. But for various serendipitous rea- sons, I found myself leading a ministry I had never considered. “The Project F-M” (“F-M” for neighboring Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn.) focuses on emerging adults not currently connected to any faith com- munity. Though I thrived in my call as mission developer in this ministry for folks in their 20s and 30s, I also found the learning curve enormous. We faced dozens of issues I hadn’t seriously considered in seminary or in my previous call as pastor of a rural congregation. We wondered: how do we build a governing structure from scratch; how do we nurture community while not owning or renting a building; how do we fundraise without any members? And those were the easy questions. After several tough months of fits and starts, we eventually found our stride and could claim more successes than failures. When I accepted a new call, I knew the ministry was in a good place for a smooth transition. It will take me years to reflect on my time with the young adults, but here are 10 lessons fresh from the mission field. • Authenticity. It’s almost cliché these days, but it’s true nevertheless: young adults can spot a poser quicker than it takes to download a song from iTunes.
Copeland serves as faculty director for Faith and Leadership at Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn. 32 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
For successful ministry with young adults one must, simply, be oneself. Don’t pretend to be anyone else. My efforts in leadership always went the furthest when I embraced who God made me to be: inquisitive, personable and slightly awkward. • Conversation is authority, not dogma. I heard it first from emer- gent church author Brian McLaren, but it was true before I had words to claim it. In our ministry, twenty- to thirtysomethings were searching for a place for conversation, a place to try out their truth claims and dis- cover others through dialogue. If they wanted to know what Lutherans officially believed, they were capable of Googling ELCA policy. If they sought a dogmatic community, they could easily find a congregation that would list what they should believe. The Project F-M (
www.theprojectfm.org) provides young adults a space for conversa- tion, a community in which to dia- logue, debate and, eventually, to join. • Belonging before believing. I had heard church leaders explain that belonging to a faith community today precedes holding its beliefs. As a mission developer I saw this in practice every week. Our events drew people from a range of back- grounds including Lutheran, Pente- costal and Roman Catholic—not to mention atheists. Generally speak- ing these folks didn’t know what they believed in full, but they sensed these people and this community would join them in their search. • Place matters. Not owning a building brings benefits and chal- lenges. We gained credibility in the community for being willing to host events in bars, coffee shops and parks. In these places it was easy to
HOLLY JOHNSON
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