Photo: Young adult conversation at Salford Mennonite Church, Harleysville, Pennsylvania. Photo provided. 

Salford Mennonite Church, Harleysville, Pennsylvania, is one of 12 churches to receive a $20,000 grant to launch a young adult initiative as part of The Zoe Project based at Princeton (New Jersey) Theological Seminary and sponsored by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Each congregation also will be asked to name five “Zoe Fellows” to guide their congregation’s involvement in the project.

In addition to Salford, the following churches, all located within a 100-mile radius of Princeton Seminary, were selected out of a pool of 111 applicants:

• Graceway Presbyterian Church, Skillman, New Jersey
• First Corinthian Baptist Church, New York, New York
• First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, New York
• First United Methodist Church of Toms River, New Jersey
• Iglesia Presbiteriana Nuevas Fronteras, Plainfield, New Jersey
• St. Marks United Methodist Church, Montclair, New Jersey
• Paoli (Pennsylvania) Presbyterian Church
• Redemption Church of Bristol, Pennsylvania
• Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia
• Union Baptist Church, Trenton, New Jersey
• Upper Dublin Lutheran Church, Ambler, Pennsylvania

“It’s an honor to be selected as one of the 12 churches, and we look forward to working alongside the other Zoe congregations to imagine, create and launch young adult initiatives,” says Joe Hackman, lead pastor of Salford.

The goal of the three-year project is to help the congregations support young adults, build relationships with 23–29 year olds, and nourish and support young adult spiritual and theological formation.

Salford has experienced an influx of Millennial participation in the past 5 years.

“It’s exciting to see a 300 year old congregation like ours welcome Millennials and for the Zoe Project to provide an opportunity to learn more about how we might engage this generation,” says Maria Hosler Byler, Salford’s associate pastor of youth and family faith formation.

“Religious leaders are searching for new ways to engage young adults and enrich the spiritual lives of this emerging generation. It is among their highest priorities,” said Christopher Coble, the Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “A significant part of this work will focus on helping congregational leaders understand young adulthood today and the changing contexts that shape what young adults value and expect.”

The Zoe Project is part of a $19.4 million young adult initiative by Lilly Endowment Inc. aimed at developing congregations’ capacities to learn from and support young adults. For more information, visit zoeproject.ptsem.edu.