Growing Young
Growing our intergenerational connections
As one of the 20 INUMC churches selected for a Growing Young Bridge-Building grant for 2025, our St. Mark’s Growing Young team has been actively engaged in training and coaching to cultivate stronger multigenerational connections in our congregation. We know many of you share our desire for St. Mark’s to be a vibrant, relevant, and thriving spiritual home for generations to come—and our deep belief in the strength and richness that comes from intergenerational relationships.
Growing Young Events
Christmas Eve Living Room Lounge: Welcome Home for the Holidays
Drop-in December 24, 6:00-11:00 PM | Room N
We know that Christmas is a busy time, especially when your loved one is back in town and wants to reconnect with friends and family on a tight schedule! Let St. Mark’s help you have the space to see friends and loved ones by visiting our Christmas Eve Living Room Lounge in between worship services on December 24, 6:00pm-11:00pm, in Room N.
Any young adults who are home for the holidays (and those who love and miss them!) are especially invited to stop by The Living Room (Room N) between Christmas services to reconnect with each other and with your church family. This is your casual space to relax, warm up before or after worship, grab a snack, and catch up with those you haven’t seen in months or years. You can also simply take a few moments of quiet reflection at one of the quiet tables. Think of it as your campus coffee shop right here at St. Mark’s!
This drop-in space will be available all evening. If you see a familiar face smiling over the candlelight and singing “Silent Night,” and you want more time to say hello, drop by The Living Room for some hot beverages, cookies, and conversation.
Community Conversation, Part 2: Shaping the Future of Middle School Afterschool Opportunities in East Carmel
January 26, 2026 | 6:30-8:00PM | St. Mark’s UMC Sanctuary
Our Growing Young team is celebrating that 45 people attended the initial Community Conversation on November 10. Save the date for January 26, 2026, for our follow-up conversation, and spread the word to your friends and loved ones who might be part of our local middle school community or the feeder elementary schools in East Carmel. We especially need to hear from parents and students about what support they need after school so that students have accessible alternatives to hanging out at Needler’s, Starbucks, or other local stores.
More details are available for the initial event, the follow-up conversation, and a survey for local parents and students to determine more about their needs. Find the registration link for January 26 at stmarkscarmel.org/workshops as well.
Updating Young Adult Contact Information
So that we can improve our support for the young adults in our congregation, office staff and volunteers will be reaching out to parents and young adults to make sure we have updated contact information.
We recognize that emerging adulthood, especially the time after high school, through our 20s and 30s, is a time of many transitions. Whether your young adult is in a gap year; moving back in with parents to work multiple jobs; going to college, technical training, or the military; or moving away as a young professional in an unfamiliar city—we’ve had several caring congregation members come forward to ask about sending care to college students, birthday greetings, supporting reunion gatherings for young adults returning home (e.g., our upcoming Christmas Eve lounge in The Living Room), or otherwise showing care and connection.
Update your young adults’ information at stmarkscarmel.org/youngadults.
Information Update Form Coming in Early December
Growing Young Survey
Thanks to more than 120 people who completed the first churchwide Growing Young assessment in August-September 2025. The assessment was based on the Fuller Youth Institute’s research presented in Growing Young: 6 essential strategies to help young people discover and love your church, this assessment will help our team evaluate our church’s culture and intergenerational & community outreach efforts. Stay tuned for more results about our specific assessment results about these 6 core commitments:
Growing Young Core Commitments
Unlock keychain leadership: Instead of centralizing authority, empower others—especially young people.
Empathize with today’s young people: Instead of judging or criticizing, step into the shoes of this generation.
Take Jesus’ message seriously: Instead of asserting formulaic gospel claims, welcome young people into a Jesus-centered way of life.
Fuel a warm community: Instead of focusing on cool worship or programs, aim for warm peer and intergenerational friendships.
Prioritize young people (and families) everywhere: Instead of giving lip service to how much young people matter, look for creative ways to tangibly support, resource, and involve them in all facets of your congregation.
Be the best neighbors: Instead of condemning the world outside your walls, enable young people to neighbor well locally and globally.
These key concepts were highlighted with Pastor Karla and Pastor Nathan’s sermons August 10-31. These are the six essential strategies of Growing Young churches that the Fuller Youth Institute uncovered in their research (text courtesy of https://fulleryouthinstitute.org/growingyoung).
Growing Young Team
Growing Young Team Update
We are celebrating that 2025 was a year of building intergenerational connections within our St. Mark’s community. Whether you took part in a Sunday evening dinner with our youth, met new young families in the Living Room or at the Dinner and a Movie Night, served with one of our young adults at VBS or MIA Day, or simply said hello to someone new on a Sunday morning, we hope you are starting to feel the sense of vitality and connection that comes from embracing the six research-based principles of Growing Young.
If you have any questions about the survey or our Growing Young training, feel free to ask our team members email Jennifer C-B at grow@stmarkscarmel.org. Pictured (L-R from the top): Linda Schenk, Jennifer Cloud-Buckner, Robin Spyker, Pastor Karla Elliott, Scott Melvin, Terry Lewis, Lori Roberts, Caitlin Ptak. Not pictured: Pastor Nathan Whybrew, Annessa Miller, Jackie Rowell, and Jake Lawrence.