A Model for Mentoring the Millennials of the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church to Perform Relevant Urban Ministry in Harlem

According to one scholar, the millennial generation shares the same core values as the older generational cohorts within the Christian church. Though both groups share these values, the point of contention that arises is the way that ministry is performed. All these generations possess an ideal concerning the right way to execute the tasks associated with performing ministry but fail to realize that all generations have something valid to contribute to the conversation on the praxis of ministry. This is the attitude reflected at the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church in Harlem, which is located in the Manhattan section of New York City. Therefore, this project proposes a model to create meaningful interaction between the members of the millennial generation and older generational cohorts to produce relevant responses to address issues affecting the community where the church is located. Therein, mentoring group members will be able to converse, address points of contention, and collaborate toward constructing solutions based on evidence acquired from a community needs assessment that each group will perform. As a result, this study brought to light that the concept of “relevance” is not determined by the members of the church, but by the people who are being ministered to in the church’s community. Secondly, it brought to the surface the possibility that meaningful relationships can be established between the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church and the community through the services that are provided by the church. Finally, that millennials can work through their differences with the members of older generational cohorts to perform relevant urban ministry when the focus is shifted from one’s preference to the data acquired in the assessment