I scheduled an evening Epiphany Eucharist today, just because I thought I should. If we were in a different location, we could do it up right with the burning of the greens and all; but I couldn’t imagine the logistics of a bonfire in the courtyard of a church on Capitol Square. Perhaps someone will come up with an alternative.

When Deacon Carol asked me how many people I expected I replied, maybe no one besides us. But in fact we had a total of 17, including some first-timers. I was thrilled. Sure, 17 is a small number, but we did almost no publicity, and no arm-twisting. It gives me hope that a weekday evening service might prove to be attractive. We will be trying a number of things in the coming months on Wednesday evenings, and I hope that by next year we will have a regular weeknight program.

What surprised me most was the percentage of young people in attendance; certainly more than half of those present tonight were under 40.

I’ve been ruminating on outreach to young adults. We attract our fair share of them without really providing any program targeted at them. I occasionally hear grumbling that young adults aren’t a demographic on which we should spend time and energy. Certainly, if one is interested in attracting people who will be long-time members and have a lot of financial assets they can donate, young adults aren’t worth the effort. But on the other hand, we provide community, fellowship, and a place for them to explore their faith during a difficult period of their lives. And truth be told, many sociological surveys have revealed that involvement in church is temporary even among older demographic cohorts–often five years at the outside.

We have an opportunity to reach to a huge population within just a few blocks of Grace. It seems to me that we ought to think about programs that might speak to people in their twenties and thirties, many of whom are searching for stability and meaning in their lives.