Unitarian Universalists know our congregations thrive best when we create multigenerational community. Ministering well to young adults is a crucial and sometimes challenging piece of good multigenerational ministry. When we understand our congregations' contexts and strengths and pay attention to fully including younger adults in our outreach and ministry we can learn and grow together.

Context Matters

Every Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregation is different and there is no one size fits all answer to how to improve young adult ministry. Explore our Young Adult Ministry Self-Assessment to see what stage your congregation is currently in and how you might grow. Read stories of different styles of young adult ministry around the country to see what might work where you are. Don't worry about being cool; instead focus on your strengths and work on providing a warm welcome to younger folks.

Embrace and Include

Welcoming young adults can mean anything from creating a new evening worship service to offering rides to those without cars to making committee meetings more spiritual and less dry. Pay attention to assumptions when chatting with young adults at coffee hour, consider ways to reach out to emerging adults, and keep in mind the particular needs of young adults of color. When the youth in your congregation are ready to bridge into young adulthood, make sure to welcome them into adult life of the congregation, or if they move away you can send care packages.

Ever Changing Landscape

Young adult ministry is an ever shifting landscape informed by the generation that is currently in this age range, technological and social changes, and trends within faith communities. Stay in the loop with the HubLetter. Stay up to date with your communication techniques. Read this blog series on the future of faith. See how Unitarian Universalists are thinking about new ministries and forms of ministry. Learn about America's changing religious landscape. ​Go even deeper with our resource list.