All You Need to Know About SALEM FIRST YOUNG ADULTS
SalemFYA FAQ
What do you mean by "Young Adult?"
The Young Adult ministry at SFN is for anyone post high school and older (we usually say age
18 to 30 something.) That is a big range!
You may be wondering what a freshly graduated 18 year old has in common with a 27 year old who has a career and a kid. Believe it or not you are connected by one thing: transition. That is the factor that makes the time in life called “young adulthood” different from the rest. You are constantly facing transition after transition. First, it is life out of high school and becoming self-sufficient. Maybe you move to a new city and go through different jobs. Maybe you go to college. Maybe you begin dating, get married, or even have kids. Transition after transition marks this season of our lives.
There is one constant: God’s hand in our life guiding us through this turbulent time. Even though there is a big age and experience gap between young adults, you can still connect with Young Adults for worship nights, hiking trips, and campfires and have a great time. It is important to interact with people who are in the same specific phase of life that you are in. That is why a large part of Young Adults is groups. There are two different types of groups; Growth Groups are focused on a specific topic or series and meets for a set amount of weeks. Life Groups are the people who are in your corner fighting for you and praying for you week after week. By focusing on groups, Young Adults are able to divide up the big age range so that you can have conversations with people that are more relevant to your phase in life.
Where can I learn about upcoming events?
One of our biggest challenges is simply getting the word out about what we have coming up on the Young Adult calendar! We try to use as many avenues as possible, but many people still miss out on some great opportunities to connect! We get dates on the calendar two months in advance, so be on the lookout for when we announce these dates at the following links:
What kind of online resources do you have?
The world is different than it was 10, 5, even 3 years ago. So much of our social lives have moved online. Although this can be a bad thing and lead to isolation and false community, we still try to utilize this big world of online “community” to spread the Gospel and encourage our young adults! This has taken many forms.
- Once a month, our YA pastor Bryant does a live stream OR podcast that is a sort of mini-message about whatever God has put on his heart that week.
- No matter what, these live streams are released in podcast form as well and are available on any podcasting platform. Sometimes extra content gets thrown up on the podcast feed, so make sure to check that.
- Our Instagram isn’t only for announcements! Once a week we post short, encouraging videos in order to keep our minds set on God as we scroll our lives away. These videos are meant to encourage us to engage with our YA community by physically attending events, not just watching our videos, podcasts, or sermons online!
- Finally, we have a Discord! It is still in the early stages, so join in early to see it grow! Here you can play video games with other YA from your community, engage in challenging discussions about the faith, and keep up to date about what is going on in the world! Those who use Discord know that it is a whole thing, if you want to join our discord email us at the link below to get an invite!
Our Young Adult Ministry Vision
"Passionately living out our faith to reach the lost and revive the Church."
As a church, our goal is to help you connect with God, connect with others, and connect with the World. Our Young Adult Ministry is no different. We provide many different opportunities to make these connections, all that you need to do is show up and take part in making these vital connections a reality in your life!
We help you connect with others through outreach events. The goal of these times is just to have fun and get to know each other. There is no expectation here apart from hanging out and being yourself. Whether it is one of our summer hiking trips, monthly sport events, or fun things like trivia nights, we want these to be the events that you invite your friends to so we can grow our community of young adults.
We help you connect with God through groups and worship nights. Join us for a regular monthly young adult gathering on First Mondays or 10:45 on Sunday mornings for our Young Adult service! (Sit with us in the west wing of the auditorium.) We also frequently offer growth groups, groups that meet for a set amount of weeks and cover a specific topic, as a next step into our community and to grow in your connection with God. To find real deep community and discipleship, join a young adult life group! Finally, if you are serious about growing in your relationship with God you will not want to miss our worship nights where we experience awesome moves of the Holy Spirit.
We help you connect with the world through missional focused events. In the next couple of years, we will go on a missions trip to another country to serve and bless people who don't know Christ. Until then, we are focused on growing in our missional mindset by creating an atmosphere for evangelism and helping you share the Gospel with friends and coworkers who do not know Christ. Join us as we partner with local missions organizations to bring Jesus to Salem!
Learn more about our vision and strategy by checking out our ministry Playbook Here: (updated for 2024 ministry year) SFYA Playbook.