Ministering to young adults may seem daunting. After all, young adults can range from 18-30 years old, which makes things challenging when you are trying to find popular young adult ministry ideas and activities for everyone to participate in. But young adults can also be some of the most enthusiastic and engaging demographic of your church.
To that end, here are 21 popular young adult ministry ideas and activities you can do with your church community.
1. Young Adults Services
Let’s get the obvious out of the way: does your church offer young adult services? These are a great way to pull everyone together for a night to build community. Determine the frequency based on your church culture and local community needs. Remember, having a consistent young adult service helps with spiritual growth.
2. Special Worship Nights
Worship nights bring a different dynamic than your typical service. Encourage your group to gather together to worship and pray for a specific group of people, like your local community or the country.
Some churches are well equipped for this by having a strong worship team. If your church doesn’t have this, you can keep things simple by having an acoustic worship and prayer night. The form doesn’t matter as much as the why. This will help your young adults learn how to get closer to God through intentional moments of prayer and worship.
3. Go on a Missions Trip
Organizing a mission trip requires a lot of planning and work. But the reward is great when you can teach your young adults the value of serving. A mission trip will also open their eyes to different cultures and how their actions can positively impact people. There are many different churches and organizations around the world that would love to partner with a young adult ministry, both domestically and internationally.
4. Serve Your Local Community
You don’t have to travel around the country or world to have an impact. Your young adult ministry can have a direct impact on the very community they live in. Organize your young adult ministry to clean up at a local school or volunteer at a local food bank. Whatever you decide to do, service projects can help bring your young adults together to make your community better, which is a win for everyone.
5. Attend a Conference
Conferences are a great place to hear from world-class speakers and worship artists and spend a lot of time hanging out and building relationships with one another. There are great conferences that happen all over the country all year long, so take your pick, plan it, and go!
6. Host a Conference
Hosting a conference is a lot of work, but it can really pull your young adult ministry together. You can invite guest speakers, and guest music artists, and host fun after parties. This helps young adults grow spiritually and can also increase your church’s influence in your community among other churches.
7. Board Game Night
Board game nights are an easy way to have a great time, share some laughs, and get to know one another. There are endless amounts of games to play, and a game night is a great thing for large groups and smaller groups.
8. Video Game Night
Like board game nights, video game nights are an easy way to gather people for a night of fun. There are many types of game consoles and games that can be played by anyone regardless of their experience level.
9. Catch a Movie at The Local Theatre
Catching the latest blockbuster at the local theater with your young adult ministry is easy to organize and a lot of fun. Everyone can hang out after and share their thoughts and opinions on the movie. It’s amazing what you can learn about someone just by listening to their take on a movie!
10. Host a Movie Night
Going to the movies is great, but hosting a movie night can be even better! Find someone with a big house or host it at your church building. Movie nights are more conducive for late hangouts and great conversations. Grab the candy, pop that corn, and have a good time!
11. Go Out To Eat
This is another easy event to organize that could have a good payoff. You could crash the local Chick-fil-A or make a reservation at a larger restaurant. Sitting down, having a meal, and being face-to-face with a group of young adults will lead to good conversations. This is a great way for your young adult small groups to grow closer together, too.
12. House Party
House parties can be a lot of fun but will require some planning. You’ll want to host it in a space that is large enough to accommodate your group size. If you have good snacks, great music, and fun activities, your young adult house party will be a hit!
13. Host a Fundraiser
One young adult ministry idea you might not have thought of is to host a fundraiser. Coming together for a good cause can really galvanize a group. You can raise money for a mission effort the church partners with or find a local charity you can help.
14. Morning Devotionals
Having a daily or weekly morning devotional meet-up can really help your young adult ministry grow deeper in their faith. You can meet in person or virtually. The key is to pick a time and a place and to be consistent. A good place to meet is your local coffee shop, which can have a great impact on your community and an even greater impact on the individual young adults who get together to read their Bibles and learn together.
15. Weekend Retreat
You can make a lot of progress in a short amount of time by hosting a weekend retreat. Have a plan in place and focus on prayer, worship, teaching, discussion, and lots of fun hangouts. Pick a place far enough that requires some travel, but not so far that it breaks the bank.
16. Book Study
Find an interesting book on faith that will challenge your young adult thinking and foster meaningful discussion. Not everyone has to agree on the content. The goal is to get people thinking and talking. Make sure to have a consistent meeting time and place.
17. Weekend Trips
Weekend trips have one goal: build community. Traveling to a different city for a night or two really brings a group closer. Not everyone can afford this, so make sure it’s casual but be intentional about where you travel to and the type of activities you engage in.
18. Day Trips
Day trips are simple and affordable ways to build community. Take advantage of where you live. Are you near the mountains? Go hiking. Are you close to a beach? Take a trip to the beach. Are you close to museums, historical districts, or amusement parks? Go there and do that! You can’t get wrong as long as it’s fun.
19. Physical Activity
This may not apply to everyone, but a lot of people enjoy physical activity or playing sports. You can all do a workout at a park, play a game of volleyball, go bowling, or play soccer. People may come and not participate and just hang out, and that’s ok! As long as people are connecting, then the hangout will be a success (and if there’s a winner!).
20. Minute-to-Win-It Night
These games are short but a lot of fun. You’re guaranteed to get a lot of laughing and smiling, along with some good healthy competition. Look up minute-to-win-it games on YouTube or Google and pick your favorite games. Supplies are cheap and can be bought anywhere online or in a store.
21. Host a Creative Worship Workshop
Organize one or a series of creative workshops that offer young adults the opportunity to explore and express their creativity in worship while connecting with others. Incorporate faith-based themes and encourage participants to reflect on their spiritual journey or how they can use their talents to serve the community.
These workshops could cover ways to worship God through things like
- painting
- photography
- creative writing
- crafting
For something like this, you may need to find a less traditional worship space. But worship workshops can provide a fun and enriching outlet for personal expression of faith while also fostering deeper relationships within the group.
Keep Your Ministry Goals In Mind
There are many different young adult ministry ideas, events, and activities you can do with your young adult ministry. Determine what you’re trying to accomplish and plan events around those goals. If you want to go deeper spiritually, choose those types of ideas and events. If the goal is to have fun and build community, then your young adult ministry ideas should reflect that. Pick some of the ideas and activities mentioned above and watch your young adult ministry thrive!
