Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Talks. My name is Kyla and I'm really excited
to be joined by three of the young adults here
at Trinity who also all happen to be... heading
up our young adults ministry here. And we're
going to chat a little bit more about what that
looks like and what it is like to be a young
adult in the church today. So thank you so much
for joining me, folks. Thank you. Thanks for
inviting us. So maybe we'll just start by you
can introduce yourself a little bit, sort of
say your name, whatever you'd like to sort of
say about yourself. And then what sort of really
got you interested in helping to coordinate this
young adults ministry? Maybe we will start right
here. Sure. My name is Zion. And I used to be
the youth leader here. So some of you may know
me. But I recently stepped down from that position
because I just graduated from school. I was looking
for a different job. And so part of what led
me to want to volunteer when Rob asked me was
because I was kind of missing my church involvement.
So being able to step in and fill in. for this
role with the experience that I already had of
you know how to communicate with some of the
people around in the Trinity community and kind
of how that whole process works kind of just
made sense and it's something that I enjoy doing
I love hanging out with the young adults and
in my church community so yeah okay cool thank
you yeah what about for you hey I'm Eileen I
only went to Trinity Probably since summer 2025.
So that's so recent. The reason why I want to
be involved in this ministry is that I just love
organizations and like hanging out with people
my age. And I've always been involved in like
ministry since I was a baby practically back
home too. So I thought it would be cool to like
sort of like find my own place here and like
to know people and get. deeply involved in the
church. So that's why I said yes when Sally and
Rob asked me to coordinate this. And what about
for you? Hi, I'm Chris. I'm actually, I think,
one of the youngest young adults. So coming out
of the high school age and going into the young
adult age and getting into university, I think
it's a big change for all of us. And Sally actually
talked to me about this, and she said this was
one of the main reasons that she asked me to
be a part of leading the young adults ministry,
just because it can be scary going from one group
to a different group. And it's really important
for all of us to have a community, especially
a solid, fixed one where we meet regularly and
we become familiar with each other really well
and comfortable enough to share and talk about.
anything that may be going on in our lives. So
I think that was a big reason. Also, just like
Eileen and Zion, I've been a part of ministries
my whole life. So I think this is a great way
to get into a new one, which will, you know,
bring us all closer together in our age group.
Yeah, no, that's awesome. Yeah, I think it's
neat. Like you all have sort of come to Trinity
like at different times, but you're all coming
like with this wealth of experience and with,
yeah, a desire to just like. Get to know each
other, which I think is awesome. Yeah. So what
does the Young Adults Ministry at Trinity look
like? What are some of the types of things that
you folks do? Yeah. So far we've been doing a
social once a month. Okay. Since I think it was
June. Okay. June or July. It was in the summer.
End of summer. Yeah. Oh. Maybe. Anyways, not
important. We've been doing socials once a month.
We have an Instagram page just for the young
adults where we post polls about different activities
that we could do for that month, and then they
vote on it, and then they also get four to five
dates that they can choose from, and then whatever
works for the most people, we arrange that and
communicate that through our Instagram, and we
have a massive group chat with everyone also.
And then recently we started doing... small group
also which we focus more on like um actual bible
stuff and talking about the sermons whereas these
once a month socials are just just social just
like just find out yeah and get to know everyone
yeah okay cool yeah so what are some of the things
that you folks have done like as part of the
different social events that you're doing it's
like very connected to the season okay like during
the summer we did like a pool party yeah a pool
party and then what else like oh the bonfire
night okay that was fun yeah it's like so random
but i feel like this is the beauty of like being
in a young adults ministry that because we are
just like super busy with our schedules and everyone
goes to different school in different cities
and um it's just the trend changes every season
every year so i think we try to follow with that
like to see like what's fun nowadays and what
the people are doing so we sort of like try to
hear from the people. Again, we have a big group
chat where we sort of ask for people's opinions
on what to do next. So I think that's pretty
cool. That's pretty laid back at the same time.
Cool. Yeah. We also did like pumpkin carving
in October. And gingerbread in December. And
in January, our most recent one, we did a worship
night. Okay. So that was fun too because we were
getting some feedback that yes, the social nights
are great because we all want community and connection.
But we're also kind of maybe missing out a little
bit on like the God aspect and, and that whole
side of things. So that's why we also started
our life group, um, which none of us are technically
like leading, but we, we go to, um, so yeah,
that was nice to incorporate. And our, our next
event, not official. First time. Air riders.
Yeah. We're going to air riders. Oh, fun. Hopefully
that'll be exciting. Nice. So do you have like
a favorite memory or a favorite like event that
you've done so far? Something that like stands
out to you? Sounds like there's been lots of
different things. Yeah. Yeah. Chris? I think
our gingerbread night. Okay. It was really good.
Yeah. And it was like, it was fun because it
was kind of, it was a competition. Okay. So we
had like different groups, but then we also like
got together. Right. And, you know. Mm -hmm.
We just collaborated the entire time. Oh, and
we had a great game night afterwards. So that
was fun. So we all got in a big group afterwards
and just played games, cards, and stuff. Describe
for me the winning gingerbread house. What did
this gingerbread house look like? I think that
was Aileen's, right? That was me. That was me
and Mia and Alex, if I remember correctly. We
finished so quick. I think we finished our gingerbread
house the quickest like we did in 30 minutes.
The best one with the least effort. Right? Yeah.
Sometimes you just don't have to think about
it. Yeah. But I think everyone had lovely gingerbread
houses. I think Crystal did like a very detailed
and like intrinsic. um design okay she was like
super passionate about it with her team too yeah
rylan got into it right yeah maya got into it
and zion on the other hand ours didn't go so
well our icing was like broken like we couldn't
get it out properly but we still got second place
it was totally rigged okay right well you know
it was fun right yeah Cool. Cool. Yeah. What
about for you folks? What are some like favorite
memories or things that you've enjoyed? My favorite
like social gathering was probably the pool party.
Okay. But most recently I've really been enjoying
the life group too, because it's just more consistent
and it's kind of like a mix between getting time
to like review the sermon questions and have
some Bible study time, but still also being silly
and. seeing all my friends and stuff. Sure. Yeah.
Sharing lunch together. Right. Three birds with
one stone. There you go. So food, friends, and
Jesus. Yes. That's all you need. Love that. Okay.
Yeah. What about for you, Eileen? Any favorite
memories? I agree with that. And I actually really
like the new life group because I think with
the life group, we have the chance to talk. with
each other like every single person we get to
know each person more deeply than just like having
a big social night so i really like that for
us and we also get to know like each other's
personality because we go in circles and like
ask questions um also um we get to um talk about
like more casual daily life because we meet every
week so i think that's like a great way to connect
and sort of like build connection a real connection
with everyone and like a more deeper basis sure
yeah yeah oh that's awesome are there things
like from those conversations together like is
there any like learnings or things that have
like really stood out to you or been really impactful
i know you've only been meeting for a few weeks
now right but yeah what's what's that been like
i feel like yes but i forgot what they were Moderately
impactful. Obviously hearing about different
people's perspectives, especially since some
of the people in our group are like international
students. So we get to hear like different perspectives
that I never even thought of because I was born
in Streetsville. Right. I've been here my whole
life. Yeah. So just like hearing like stories
and being able to like, like Eileen said, like
get actually personal with each other. I think
like more than any like specific teachings or
anything. Sure. Like. feeling the actual connection
and like the friendship and like being able to
share with each other and openly like express
our feelings and even if it's good or bad anything
I think that's the most impactful for me at least
because yeah the sense of community is I really
feel it already even though it's been like two
or three weeks yeah yeah no that's awesome like
just yeah that need to like go deeper with each
other and like yeah I get to figure out all of
life and and faith and all the hard things you
just get to like throw it there together definitely
yeah for sure and i think i'd like to sorry i'd
like to add to that from my perspective because
i'm an international student so this is only
my third year in canada so i'm like freshly very
fall be fresh of the boat um so for me for me
this is like my first true real canadian experience
where i am finally really immersed in my society
like my surroundings so i get to know how is
it like living life here and how people that
like grew up here interact with their family
and their friends and how like the education
is in here and how like they perceive their social
community beside them surrounding them so I feel
like that's really cool. Also like to practice
like my, you know, sometimes there are just like
some certain lingo or like some social context,
like communal context that you just don't really
get until you are in full for the people. So
for me, actually, it's like a very big opportunity
for me to practice. I wouldn't say practice,
but like to actually get to know the Canadian
culture. Sure. And how. Yeah, and how people
my age especially live here. So that's been really
interesting. So I literally have friends who
are from here now. Right. So that's pretty new
for me. Because in school, everybody is also
international, so it's very hard to get a good
grasp of what the city is. But I think in the
heart of Streetsville, I finally know how people
live here. Right. Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty cool.
It's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. So... um like why do
you think it's important for young adults to
have a space to gather like in a church context
as opposed to you know just like at school or
wherever else in the world like what makes it
special about like being part of this here um
yeah i mean every day there's like awful things
released on the news yeah and it's so depressing
and it's really hard to talk about especially
like just like with your your friends you know
that you have in school everything everyone's
already stressed out from school sure and then
there's just there's lots of there's lots of
negativity right now going around in the world
and so I find that at least for me my friends
like out of church don't really like talking
about that kind of stuff that's happening in
the world, just because they're like, you know
what, we need to just chill out and watch a movie,
a funny movie or something like that. But I think
the community that we have here and the fact
that we're so comfortable with each other in
church and, you know, obviously church is all
about addressing the uncomfortable topics and,
you know, overcoming them with the people around
you and the community around you. I think it's
been a lot easier for us, for me to open up.
to my church friends about that and i think i
think that's why it's so important that we have
this group because otherwise without without
talking to you guys about this who else am i
going to talk to in about and i'm going to get
even more overwhelmed and just build and build
sure it's so nice to be able to share with people
like -minded people here yeah yeah just like
grounded in the same values and yeah yeah just
that willingness to talk about the hard things
definitely yeah for sure yeah and also it gives
me like a reason to go to church because for
me i don't have any family here so if i go to
church it would just like me getting up by myself
and going to church sure so sometimes it could
get a little lonely or like i would say like
quote -unquote like pointless if i just like
go to church and like go home and like know what
right now that we have a community we have a
sense of like um belonging and we have friends
that we actually know and we talk with after
church it gives like a little more um reason
to just like wake up in the morning and go to
church because church isn't just like about the
doctrine or just like um listening to the sermons
and like taking notes but it's more to like how
we apply it to like everyday life and people
so we get to practice the gospel there and yeah
it's always good to have like a sense of belonging
and community and like a place where um especially
nowadays not a lot of young adults are known
for being in church so that's really like tricky
because like not a lot of young adults are in
church unfortunately so i think with having people
my age that i can relate to that so um we can
still talk about the gospel but also at the same
time have the same contextual um contextual feeling
like we have the same humor for example we have
the same conversations that we talk about like
school and work so I feel like those really help
us to stay in church so that's really important
yeah for sure for sure community is yeah it's
just such an important part of like what we do
here and so to be able to like find your people
right is super important and it's nice we started
sitting together in the same room that's so funny
yeah the small group right after the second service,
we're kind of all pushed to come to the same
service at the same time. We end up sitting together
and just going down together. So that's been
nice. Yeah, our own row in the back. Especially
because young adults are always late and we're
slowly coming in. Yeah, we're just right in the
back. So the back row is pretty much the key
for that. But back to your original question,
I also like the fact that we meet. at the church
and know that we have this like safe space that
we can come to. And like some of you said already,
like we, and Kyla mentioned, we have like the
same values and we're able to be supported by
people who have a faith background, which I think
is really important because you don't always
get that with some of your other friends and
you can have different types of conversations
and support and grow in that part of your life
as well. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So when you think
about like, you know, Being a young adult trying
to follow Jesus today, what are some of the challenging
parts of that? What are some of the things that
make that frustrating or hard at different points?
Oh, I think it's like very undeniable that Christianity
has unfortunately been used to justify a lot
of bad things in the past. Sure. So I think that's
sort of why like the younger generation, we sort
of think like, oh, you know, Christianity is
evil. And so it's like really uncool that you're
super traditional, the quote unquote, and like
you are still like abiding to the thing that
people used to like hurt others. So that could
be a little bit tricky because. it could get
complicated. Like we can just like sit down,
sit someone down and say like, look, Christianity
isn't always bad. So it's like always very like
tricky for us. So a lot of young adults nowadays,
they just like shove it down and like, oh, like
I'm a Christian, but like, yeah, let's not talk
about it. So it could be deemed as like uncool
if you're still like. practicing christian nowadays
so those are definitely very challenging so we
tend to like hide our identity as a christian
but i totally get it like i'm not saying like
christianity is like a hundred percent like pure
and like like like we're always like up to something
good but like unfortunately some people are um
people are people and people and people so um
yeah um yeah like I totally get it, like, both
sides of this coin. But, so that's the tricky
part, I think. Yeah, for sure. What do you guys
think? Yeah. I think it's hard sometimes, just
to be honest, to, like, make it to all the events.
Sure, that too. Because we have young adults,
our social is usually on, like, a weekend. Yeah.
And then we have... School. School and work.
And then we have our, like, pretty much Sunday
is, like, until Sunday, like... The better part
of Sunday is also taken out because now we have
our young adults group, which is, it's fine.
These are all great things. We all like coming
out. It's just that it's like. It's just like
another thing. Sometimes it's not viable enough.
Especially if you have exams coming up. Yeah.
Stressful. Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure. For sure.
Yeah. There's a lot going on. Definitely. Right.
Yeah. Yeah. Those were kind of the two things
that I was thinking, too. Like, to add to what
Eileen was saying about, like, Christians don't
always have the best rep right now. Yep. Like,
I went to a young adult's conference, like, worship
night or something. This was, like, a year ago
now or something like that. Maybe even two. Like,
it was in March at some point. Okay. So, March.
But, yeah, I was with, like, a group of friends.
One friend was like, oh, I can finally find a
nice Christian man. And I was like, oh, yeah,
that's true. I was like, wait a minute. How are
you going to do that? We're surrounded by Christians,
which is so sad. And it's heartbreaking because,
yeah, you want to find someone who has the same
beliefs and values as you. But there's so many
different types of Christians. And, yeah, they
don't have a good rep. And even it's affecting
me. Even I don't have a good view of Christians
now, too. Right. And I am one, so... No, I feel
that. Conflict of interest. Yes. Yeah, it's unfortunate
that sometimes... the loudest people are like
not the most helpful people like especially in
terms of like a christian reputation sometimes
we're like yeah i'm a christian but like not
that kind of christian right yeah no i'm a good
one i'm a good one but every all christians think
they are the good ones yeah right yeah so yeah
i definitely feel that like trying to like navigate
and figure out like how do i faithfully follow
jesus right in a world where people think that
they know what that means right but they maybe
don't know what it means like to me right but
it's like so complicated at the same time but
and also it's very hard because like we have
a bad rep it's hard to like actually make friends
with people within the christian community sure
because we also i mean i kind of like think that
oh maybe this is like not the good christians
so it can get really tricky especially with the
like conflicting events and like we can't really
get um get together in the church so with that
in mind and also like the bed rep that's why
like young adults don't really like have a big
interest in the gospel anymore sure so that's
really side to hear. Yeah, for sure. I think
our group is great for that because since we,
we can talk about stuff like this openly and
we kind of have been, and I guess it's nice because
we're, it seems like we all have the same idea
of like separating like our faith from like,
like the worldview of like Christianity. And
like, we're not trying to follow like Christianity,
but we're trying to follow Jesus. Right. And
I think that's like a main thing. And not a lot
of, you can't really say that, like, and have
people understand you always. Sure. But I think
within our group, at least, we kind of have the
same, like, view of, like, yeah. Yeah, you're
able to, like, say stuff like that and, like,
people resonate with it. They get it, yeah. Ah,
yeah, no. Not that crazy of a take. Me too, right?
Yeah. And it's not like we all agree on everything.
Sure. But we're able to have these helpful, respectful
conversations that... kind of sometimes just
lead to more questions. But I think that's good
because it's just, it's healthy dialogue to like
help fuel our faith. Like I know since we started
doing that, I've just had more questions and
more interest to like find out what, because
I have, I know what I believe, but I'm kind of
now like, well, why do I believe that? What makes
me believe that? So it's been. kind of pushing
me to want to read the Bible more and actually
like find out the answers. I mean, not that I
will be able to find all the answers, but, but
then going back to what Chris said about not
having enough time, like I'm so busy doing everything,
but it's hard to always go and find time to read
the Bible, which again is why it's so nice to
be able to come and meet at the church where
I'm going to be anyway. Right. And have this
nice group of friends to talk to. Yeah. Yeah.
That's awesome. Um, so is there something, Because
we have lots of different folks who are listening
to our podcast. Some would be young adults, some
are not. Are there things that you wish that
more people understood about your generation
and about how young adults are interacting with
the world today? That you're like, ah, if I could
tell them one thing or two things, what might
that be? I mean, stop polluting. Yes. We have
to live in this world. I mean, I don't really
know. To be honest, as a young adult, and this
is not true for all young adults, but I'm a chill
and laid -back person, so I don't really have
anything to... You just need people to know that
you're chill and laid -back, I guess. Sure, yeah.
Elaine, you got it. Yeah, you got that. I'm still
thinking about it. I want people to know about
the adults. I don't know. I feel like people
have been young at some point in their life once,
so they know how it's like. Well, yeah. You'd
hope, yeah. But do you think being young in 2026
is different than being young in 2000? Because
now we have social media. Yeah. And is that,
how's that working out? You know, I love social
media. I spend all day on it. Yeah, super busy,
hey? I have no time to read the Bible because
I'm scrolling for too long. Which is actually
true. So if you're older, just know that our
attention span is now too small. probably everyone
is insecure because we're all comparing ourselves
to other people online. And it's hard to, it's
also hard to be open to different things, I think,
because sometimes when you're on social media,
like you're the algorithm will just continue
to give you things that you probably already
believe. So that's maybe why, um, like there's
so there's different extremes now for Christianity,
right? Like we were talking about, everyone thinks
that they're the right Christian because whenever
you're scrolling, You're just going to be constantly
flooded with more things that you agree with.
And it's just constantly reinforcing your beliefs.
Yeah. Fair. Yeah. It's a tough cycle. I mean,
that was just one random thing about social media.
Fair. This is what social media means. It shocks
it easily. Yeah. Again, with the social media
thing, it's kind of. it's become harder for us
to like socialize and like i feel like there's
like a like i don't know it's just harder for
groups to like our age to like interact and like
so it's yeah i think back in the days like people
had nowhere to go like if you want to like connect
with others you have to actually come to a place
and like gather yeah so they have a lot of more
a lot more motivation for them to like actually
get together with like their community so maybe
that's why like this is just like my hypothesis
like my assumption is that that's why like the
church sort of um are more active in the past
because that's where that's the one place where
people can like gather sure but now because we
have a lot of responsibilities we have a lot
of it like activities at a lot of groups and
most of them happen online yeah is that what
you mean yeah exactly it's harder to connect
yeah like we just have like we tend to have really
bad social skill like in person yeah and also
i feel like a lot of misconception that people
make about the younger generation is that we
do not care enough or like we are like less informed
but I feel like the case with us is that because
of the interconnected space that we are in right
now like the digital cyberspace we have a lot
of information coming in and we have a lot of
things that we could decipher in our own mind
so that's why like we tend to get like overwhelmed
so that's why we tend not to very we're not we
tend to not be very proactive about a certain
topic because we know that oh not a lot of people
like agree with us like we know the pro and cons
of that so we are more scared to talk about it
because we like the world was not supposed to
be as interconnected as it is today so i think
that's why like the older generation they are
they tend to be more focal about their opinions
because that's what they believe in and that's
what their family believes in and that's um how
like their friends think about that topic but
for us we know like a broader view sure a more
like global sure it's like information overload
yes yes so we tend to like oh i don't know about
it like i don't know i don't want to talk about
it because not because we don't know about it
but we know that it could get very complicated
and political and it's very multifaceted. So
that's why we're afraid to make a very concrete
point on it. So I think that issue can be further
connected to why we are not as involved in the
church or involved in the Christian community
because we know that it tends to have a very
bad rep and it tends to have a very... political
misunderstandings. So that's why we kind of step
back and be not very vocal about it. Sure. Because
of that. So I think that's why the older generations...
likes to say like oh the younger generations
are not as active we're not as social right now
because now that we know a lot of things so it's
like the the curve right like the more you know
like the more you're you know that you don't
know a lot of sure things so so i think yeah
yeah yeah i don't know that's what i meant to
say when i said chill and laid back yeah yeah
because yeah because you're confused right yeah
it's not you don't you don't know it's like you
know enough to be confused about it and be scared
about it. So maybe. What did I just say? I don't
know. No, I think that's totally fair. I second
that. There's just like all of this. information
right so like overload yeah so like processing
to figure out in the midst of really busy lives
exactly and in the midst of being told right
now you need to figure out who you're gonna be
exactly like how you want to live your life and
like all of these things right like there's a
lot of pressure yeah a lot of things are in our
place so we're just like yeah yeah no for sure
and i also think that people think that our generation
is really lazy but Because, you know, we're always
on social media or whatever. But we actually
work really hard. It's just the cost of living
is too high. So high. Inflation. We can't afford
to do anything. We can't get a job because we
need five years of experience to get a job. But
we have no experience because we just graduated
school or we just started school. Started school.
Yeah. Because the hustle culture is very real.
Sure. Right. Because our, like. um rivals have
been like very successful like if you're like
scrolling linkedin or even on instagram like
people are like announcing their oh i just got
this i just got an internship i just got this
and that and you're like oh i'm so behind in
life so that's really hard so because again we're
we as humans we're not supposed to see this many
comparisons in our life before before like social
media and now because like we are very connected
and we can see whatever people are doing on the
other side of the globe even. So we are, like,
stuffed with a lot of, like, comparisons and
a lot of things that people do and achieve in
life. So I think that's why we tend to, like,
get very self -conscious about ourselves. Yeah,
for sure. For sure. Yeah, I think it's interesting,
like, hearing all of these different reflections
and, like, all these different challenges and
things that you guys are facing. And, like, in
the midst of it all, you have sort of come together
and said, like, We're going to like figure it
out together. Right. Like we are all in the same
boat. And so like, we're going to come together
and like have some fun and like talk about Jesus
and like talk about how crazy life is and how
we don't have time for things. And the internet
is a depressing place. Talk about all of these
things, but like do it in joy and community together.
Definitely. Yeah. And like. I don't know, even
just like this conversation, I think has been
full of lots of joy. Oh yeah. Even as, even as
you've been like, these things are stressful,
but like there's, there's joy in, in that, in
coming together and figuring it all out. So yeah.
Yeah. Thank you so much folks. This has been
a really fun conversation. Um, and I think really
helpful on two fronts. One, just to like give
us a better insight into like what life is like
for, 20 somethings today and like how, how all
of that fits together. Yeah. And then to just,
again, as an encouragement for those who are,
you know, trying to figure out life right now
that they don't have to do that alone. Totally.
Come to young adults. Yeah. Cut that part out.
Got clipped. I knew it was going to be. These
things happen. Too often. Too often. And thank
you for tuning in to this week's episode of Trinity
Talks. Whether you are yourself a young adult
looking for a place of encouragement and comfort
in the midst of the challenge of this world.
or whether you are just someone who knows and
cares about young adults. I hope that you've
been able to find some encouragement, some challenge
to build your own spaces of community and to
care for one another well in the midst of this
really crazy world. And we will see you again
next week.