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Nashville Denominational Mission Experience Allows Youth to Learn, Serve

(NASHVILLE, Tenn., August 29, 2009/GBOD) — More than 500 young people are expected to converge on urban Nashville next summer to perform mission work, connect, learn leadership skills and, in the process, discover more about what it means to be United Methodists.

That pretty well describes the goals of the seven-week Denominational Mission Experience, a partnership linking YouthWorks, the Minneapolis-based, non-profit youth-mission-planning organization and Young People's Ministries, a division of the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD), an agency of The United Methodist Church.

Hank Hilliard

"They've never had a site in Nashville before," says Hilliard of YouthWorks, which has 74 other sites -- from Atlanta to the Yakama Reservation in Washington -- available to mission groups next summer. "Nashville offers a lot of opportunities for mission projects."

The youth and their leaders will come to Nashville throughout the summer. Camp sessions will last from Sunday evening to Friday; and in addition to performing mission tasks established by YouthWorks, participants will spend time with denominational staff, touring church facilities and worshiping together at the Upper Room.

"I think it will be a great opportunity. One of the things we want this camp to accomplish is to have the groups have a sense that they are United Methodists; and they are a part of a movement that's a lot bigger than themselves," says Hilliard.

He explains that YouthWorks already has set the pattern for this experience by holding a summer-long youth program in conjunction with the Louisville-based Presbyterian Church (USA) that explored mission opportunities, mixed with denominational education, in that city.

If all goes as planned, between 70 and 80 UMC youth will gather in Nashville weekly to be involved in projects throughout the Metro area.

That means a substantial number of churches will be involved, since Hilliard estimates most youth groups participating will bring 8-15 young people to Nashville.

While the exact housing site or sites have yet to be determined, the young people will be staying together in the same church facility during their week in the city.

That offers them opportunities not only to mingle while on the job, but also to befriend other young United Methodists in group and recreational opportunities offered during their stays.

There will be plenty of time available for the individual church groups to interact among themselves, sharing their experiences and insights from the day's work.

During the daytime, though, teamwork as United Methodists will be stressed, as the young people will be put into a pool and "the group leaders form teams, so youth will be working with other youth who are not in their (individual church) groups," Hilliard says.

The actual mission experiences in Nashville have yet to be solidified by YouthWorks. "We're in the process of lining that up now," says Hilliard. "We are partnering with places that are already doing ministry and offering the opportunity for us to help strengthen what they are doing.

"We are making the contacts to see what their needs might be next summer."

If it's successful, this partnership between the Division on Ministries with Young People and YouthWorks could set the stage for a long-running summer missions program in Nashville. And if the result in Louisville is any indication, that could well be the case.

Louise Ward, YouthWorks vice president of marketing, says that in its three years of existence, the Louisville gathering has met "a great reception" among Presbyterians.

Nashville's gathering is the "second of its kind in dedicating a specific mission site to a specific denomination for a number of weeks," she says.

"We are excited for this opportunity to really be an extension of what the United Methodist Church is striving to do, to get back to its roots, in serving itself and serving among its community."

Early indications are that the Nashville event will flourish.

"My biggest concern was that when we put this together no one would come," Hilliard says of the event that costs each participant $238.

"We opened registration (Aug. 20), and we had two (youth groups) register on the first day, which is great.

"Since then, I've had at least a dozen folks e-mail me or call me and ask questions about it. I'm pretty encouraged by that."

The General Board of Discipleship's mission is to support annual conference and local church leaders for their task of equipping world-changing disciples. An agency of The United Methodist Church, GBOD (www.gbod.org) is located at 1908 Grand Ave. in Nashville, Tenn. For more information, call the Media Relations Office toll free at 877-899-2780, ext. 7017.

News Media Contact: Steve Horswill-Johnston, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 340-1726 or shorswill-johnston@gbod.org.