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Church agencies create picture of young people's programs

Oct. 6, 2005

NOTE: Photographs and audio are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Kathy L. Gilbert*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - More than 30 adults from seven agencies of the
United Methodist Church colored, pasted and decorated puzzle pieces,
then crawled around on the floor to put together a complete picture of
the work the church is doing for and with young people.

"Each of us has a piece of the puzzle," said the Rev. Lillian Smith,
director of the Division on Ministries with Young People, "but it is not
a complete picture without all of us."

Staff members across the church who work with young people gathered Oct.
4-5 for an inter-agency consultation to work on ways agencies can
collaborate and partner with one another and share the work each is
doing as it relates to young people. To illustrate the work each agency
does, participants were asked to select and decorate puzzle pieces.

One of the most significant outcomes of the meeting was "the
articulation of a shared mission and vision related to ministries with
youth and young adults and identification of opportunities for
collaborative ministry," Smith said.

"It is important to know that although the Division on Ministries with
Young People exists, we are not the only site among general agencies
where ministry with young people takes place," she said. "Each of the
program boards has ongoing ministry with youth and young adults - they
have had it for a long time. The difference is the division has more of
a laser focus related to ministries of youth and young adults and those
who work with ministries with youth and young adults."

The Division on Ministries with Young People was approved by the 2004
General Conference. Before the division's creation, the Shared Mission
Focus on Young People dreamed about a comprehensive, coordinated
approach to enhancing ministries with young people.

"The dream now has legs," Smith said. "I have been on staff for a year,
and it has been a year of bringing on staff and building a team."

An important objective of the division is to collaborate with all the
agencies of the church, she said.

"When you sit in a room and you hear so many different voices, and to
see the connection living, it is a powerful model that you want to hold
and honor," said Susan Burton, staff member with the Board of Church and
Society.

"I grew up many generations United Methodist but was not involved with
the connectional church," she said. "We are connected with so many
people in so many ways and they overlap, so it is helpful to know the
ways in which other people are engaging as well."

Smith said the inter-agency gathering, while the first since the
beginning of the division, builds on the groundwork laid by the Shared
Mission Focus on Young People.

"For eight years, staff colleagues from all the boards and agencies
worked together, met together, talked about ministry opportunities and
possibilities for collaboration," she said.

One of the outcomes of the meeting will be the creation of a "resource
hub" providing a complete picture of all the resources, seminars, Web
sites and work that the church's agencies do related to young people.

"The idea is that any United Methodist anywhere in the world will be
able to use this (hub) to find resources to use in ministry with young
people," said Michelle McCorkle, staff member of the Division on
Ministries with Young People. "The dream is that eventually we will have
sections in different languages," she added.

The resource hub will be a printed catalog in addition to being
available on the Web. Agency staff members will send a list of the work
their board does with young people to McCorkle by Dec. 1, and the plan
is to have the resource well under way by the next inter-agency meeting
in November 2006.

Agencies represented at the meeting were the Board of Discipleship,
which houses the young people's division, the Board of Higher Education
and Ministry, the Board of Global Ministries, the Board of Church and
Society, United Methodist Communications, United Methodist Men and the
United Methodist Publishing House.

Jenny Youngman, staff member with the United Methodist Publishing House,
said one of the most significant benefits of the new division is the
opportunity for all the agencies in the church to come together and
"vision for the future of young people."

"I think there are opportunities for youth to connect and know they are
in the church," she said, "and there are people working on their behalf
to call out leadership in them and provide places for them to serve and
lead in all levels of the church."

*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in
Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470
or newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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