Young Adult Network--United Methodist young adults now have a place in cyberspace!

NASHVILLE, Tenn., AUGUST 29, 2006 /GBOD/ -- The General Board of Discipleship’s Young People’s Ministries division has launched a Web sited specifically targeting young adults in the United Methodist Church worldwide.

Billed as the Young Adult Network (www.gbod.org/youngpeople/yanet), the Web site was created in response to the call from General Conference 2004 to help the church place more emphasis on young people.

The Young Adult Network seeks to connect young adults to each other, the United Methodist Church, and local entities such as a congregation, campus ministry, or small group, by providing spiritual formation and community resources. To visit the Web site go to: www.gbod.org/youngpeople/yanet.

Julie O’Neal hopes that the Young Adult Network “becomes a safe place for young adults to just be.” A manager with the division on ministries with young people, she manages faith formation, leadership development and resource coordination.

O’Neal sees the network as a place “where young adults will not be judged; where they can vent their frustrations and celebrate their joys; where they can engage in dialogue about life, faith, school, family, sexuality, politics, work, and music,” she says.

Many of the components of the network were guided by the creative ideas of young adults throughout the UMC connection.

As an online community, the YANetwork will morph and change based on the needs of young adults, which will result in a very different look and feel consistent with how this demographic is always changing and transitioning.

Major features include a section for contributors to share whatever topics they choose, along with discussion questions that correspond to the topic of the contributor's weekly article. These discussion forums will allow young adults to engage in dialogue with one another in a place where their voices can be heard.

The Young Adult Network is important to the church because it provides space for young adults to come together and connect with other young people. It provides a way for them to maintain a connection to the ministries of The United Methodist Church.

“It offers a way for the Church to respond to young adults that's active, engaging and relevant. The UMC struggles in the ways it reaches out to those in this age category because of the myriad of their life stages. This is one way that the church can respond,” says O’Neal.

Other features of the Young Adult Network include:

Prayers and meditations that are relevant to young adults;
Information about internships and other service or vocation opportunities;
Links to other young adults networks;
Real-world Young Adult Ministry examples from across the UMC connection;
College related information; and
Information about generational studies on young adults.

The future expansion of the network will include a section on UM young adult blogs, a "Name the Network" contest, book/movie/CD reviews, opinion polls and more.

The Young Adult Network was launched in June of this year. For more information about the Young Adult Network, please contact YANetwork@gbod.org. To visit the Web site go to: www.gbod.org/youngpeople/yanet.

The General Board of Discipleship’s mission is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping disciples to transformation of the world. An agency of the United Methodist Church, The General Board of Discipleship is located at 1908 Grand Avenue in Nashville, Tennessee.