On 9 December last year, five young adults and three leaders gathered at the Uniting Church Campsite in Busselton for the very first Deep End Camp. The overnight camp was for young adults between the ages of 16–25 years old, and provided the opportunity for people to explore and get closer to their faith, and to dive deeper into their religion and relationship with God.
Together, we enjoyed some great food, great company, and great unique ways to look at our faith and how our lives connect with kingdom and covenant.
Across the weekend we had three Bible study sessions, some time at the beach, Sunday morning worship with Busselton Uniting Church and a lot of frisbee and card games.
The camp was co-ordinated by Janine McDonald, Uniting Generations Officer, who, like all of us, was very excited for this camp to kick-off the brand new Uniting Generations ministry.
“Many thanks to the fabulous group of young adults who participated and to Julie Ridden, Carramar Uniting Church and Dave Gardner, Star St Uniting Church for their inspired and faithful involvement in the weekend,” Janine said.
I would also like to say a massive thank you to Janine for all the hard work she put into this camp, and for her belief in the young adults and that this could be a great thing for us – because it truly was. Not only did the Deep End Camp provide us with the opportunity to meet new people, but it has also helped to create a bright future for the young adults of the Uniting Church WA. We had the chance to sit down with the whole group of young adults and leaders and talk about the future, not just of the Deep End Camp, but also of the direction the young adults can take in Uniting Generations Ministry.
The five young adults at the camp – Adele Williams, Alexandra Hutchinson, Sophie Haslam, Tijaan Atkinson-Phillips, and myself – loved being able to connect with other people of the same age in the Uniting Church. We came up with the idea to create a group that would do the same thing for others that this camp had done for us – let us meet new people that are just like us. And so, the Deep End Group was born.
The aim of the Deep End Group is to create a community of young adults, between the ages of 18–25. Individual churches have youth groups, some may also have young adult groups, but the Deep End Group aims to be a group open to young adults from all churches, a place to meet new people, to communicate with others, and also a safe place to dive into the deep end of our faith.
Our new Deep End family will hopefully continue to expand as time goes on and as the Deep End Group grows. We sincerely hope that the young adults of the Uniting Church WA can come together in the near future and become a strong and vibrant community and dive into the deep end, together.
To view a video with more responses from the Deep End Camp 2017, click here.
Kelly Crothers