WASHINGTON, DC – More than 150 young adult leaders from the 10 annual conferences of the Northeastern Jurisdiction will be in Washington, D.C., this week for Oasis, a three-day gathering that focuses on the young adult ministry of The United Methodist Church.
Brought together by Restoration Generation, a new initiative intended to “restore a sense of community and a movement of service and witness among young people,” the young adults—ranging in age from 18 to 35—will be in meeting Aug. 15 to 18 at Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Wesley Theological Seminary urban campus.
According to the Restoration Generation Manager, the Rev. Hannah Adair Bonner, “Restoration Generation began as a conversation among young adult leaders in the Northeast United States to discern how they could better support, strengthen and empower one another in ministry.”
Under the theme, “Come Thirsty. Leave Ready,” the Oasis gathering brings together a generation of leaders spread throughout the cornfields, city corners, small town diners and suburban centers of the Northeast. “We are the students and teachers, the partners and parents, the baristas and lawyers, the artists and engineers that you see all around you. We are here. We do care. And we are called to be community,” said Bonner, referring to the Oasis website offer.
“The Oasis is about creating safe and sacred space where young people gain strength to go forth and serve in the name of Jesus Christ,” Bonner said. “This gathering is intended to give (young adults) the opportunity … to build community and develop relationships and dialogue in order to strengthen ministry in our region by strengthening those who carry it out.”
Among the keynote speakers at the Oasis gathering will be New York Area Resident Bishop Martin D. McLee, Texas homeless ministry advocate, the Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith, Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community Pastor, the Rev. Jim Walker, and Peninsula–Delaware Annual Conference Lay Leader Demetrio Beach.
Bishop McLee, a Brooklyn native, was elected to the episcopacy at the 2012 NEJ Conference. Andrade Smith, a United Methodist Elder, gave away all that she owned in 2011 and began a ministry of living on the streets of San Antonio, Texas. Walker also works with the Western Pennsylvania Conference as the director of Congregational Development and is author of Dirty Word – The Vulgar, Offensive Language of the Kingdom of God. And at age 25, Beach is the youngest conference lay leader in The United Methodist Church in the United States.
