I wanted to share what God has been doing with the Rooted Young Adult ministries at First United Methodist Church of Hurst. But before we get to that, I thought it is worth talking about how it all started. Not long ago after I got appointed as one of the associate pastors at FUMC Hurst, I saw a young man in the pews when I was at the pulpit serving at worship. And I was like, “Wait, what? There’s a young adult at this church?” I mean, one of my ministries at my former church in the Philippines was with young adults. So, with the passion and experience that I have, you can just imagine how excited I was to see that young adult man! Right after the service, I reached out to him and asked him if we could have coffee sometime and maybe invite other young people too. And he said yes! I guess I needed that affirmation to start moving.
The following day, I asked Rev. Donna McKee and Rev. Sarah Garza if FUMC Hurst has something ongoing for our young adults. And they told me about what Rev. Holly Dittrich started and had been continued by Sarah, as well as Donna’s group of young adult women meeting online. Also, I did not know that one of our church members, Cynthia Rodriguez, a young adult herself, had her internship at FUMC Hurst last summer (when I was still serving at a different church), and she had a proposal to have a young adult ministry. It seemed like the timing was just perfect!
I prayed about it and asked Donna, “Can I help rebuild our Young Adult ministries?” To cut the long story short, our senior pastor, Rev. Yvonne Coon approved of it and assigned me to help with the rebirth of the Young Adult ministries.
Rooted Young Adults in 2022
And so, I started having coffee individually with the young adults I met at church to see if they would be interested to be part of a group of young people. And they all said yes!
For our very first small gathering, we watched a free outdoor concert in Fort Worth in October and planned for what could be a possible next event for our group.
And after a few days, we formed a small group of young men who then met weekly.
Madalyn and Cynthia Rodriguez welcomed us to their home for our Friendsgiving potluck. It was truly a night of fun, food, and fellowship!
Donna opened her lovely home to us for our Christmas Sweater Party. It was another potluck, and each one of us went home with gifts donated by a few church members.
Rooted Young Adults Now
We, Rooted Young Adults, strive for interconnection, belonging, and growth. We believe that it is important to grow not just in numbers, but also in our faith in Jesus both individually and as a group. We aim to provide a safe and open space for young men and women to feel welcomed by being inclusive and diverse through the following small groups:
Rooted Young Adults Sunday Morning Group
9-10 AM in Wesley 103 (across the Connect Desk)
Rooted Young Adult Women’s Small Group
Thursdays at 6:45 PM at Starbucks
at 1234 W. Pipeline Road in Hurst
Rooted Young Adult Men’s Small Group
Wednesdays at 6:45 PM at Starbucks
at 1498 Precinct Line in Hurst
The Future of Rooted Young Adults
We are planning for more events and gatherings including partnership with other United Methodist Churches and hopefully with various church and civic organizations as well.
Meet our newly formed Rooted Young Adult Core Leadership Team (L-R: Yours truly, Joanna Jolley, Dillon Cannon, Brian Farrell, Madalyn Rodriguez, Cynthia Rodriguez, and Hannah Barlow) including Jorden Martz and Vince Rodriguez (not in photo).
We know that the Holy Spirit has been guiding our every step. An affirmation of that is the support we are receiving not just from the clergy and staff of FUMC Hurst, but also from the congregation and our neighbors.
And so, on behalf of Rooted Young Adults, thank you so much! We are grateful for y’all’s (being a true Texan now) support and partnership with us!
As we stay committed to our core values—discipleship, neighboring, and leadership, we are excited to witness what God has in store for us as we continue to connect with people, connect with purpose, and connect with God!
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