Five Pillars of Mission to Young Adults

This is a blog-page created by Mark Cowling, Young Adult Missioner working in Manchester Diocese.  For more information about Mark's YAM role visit www.mark1830.blogspot.com

Our situation

As a YAM covering Bolton and Salford Archdeaconries with approximately 130 Anglican churches and over 11,000 church members I have been able to see some amazing Christians involved in some really great ministries.

However, I have come across some concerning numbers regarding the future of the Anglican church in Manchester. 

1) There's been a 70% reduction in YAs over the last 20 years attending church 

2) 1% University students go to church in 2015 vs 5% UK pop.

3) There are 11,000 Anglicans across the two archdeaconries in a population of 844,000 (1.3%)

4) Our Young Adults in church are smaller in ratio than in the communities we are based in:

•Young Adults No Kids (YANKS)  3% CofE vs 9% pop.

•Young Adults With Kids (YAWKS) 9% CofE vs 22% pop.

Five Pillars of Mission to Young Adults  (pictured above)Looking around at churches that were reaching young adults, it seemed  like there were 5 key things to focus on in the local church.
1) Having a Young Adult Champion contact in the local church
2) Having a Discipleship Year Trainee
3) Running Messy Church for parents with young children
4) Using football to reach young men
5) Engaging with a Mission Action Plan with a specific focus on YAs

Click the page links above to find out more about each of the pillars.