Pilgrim Young Adults
Located in a neighborhood filled with colleges, our church welcomes many vistors, friends, and members in their 20s and 30s. All young adults are welcome as we build community together — church members, non-members, visitors, friends, and newcomers; singles, couples, and couples with little ones! If you would like to connect with other 20- and 30-somethings, outside of worship and other Pilgrim gatherings, the best place to connect with other Pilgrim Young Adults is through our Facebook Group.
20s-30s Gatherings
Pilgrim folks in their (our) 20s and 30s are getting together about once a month. Upcoming events planned by the Pilgrim group will be posted below - please attend if you can! If you do Facebook, you can also join our group here to keep up to date.
Riverside Innovation Hub
Pilgrim is one of sixteen churches partnering with the Riverside Innovation Hub, an initiative sponsored by Augsburg University. The goal of this three year partnership is to increase Pilgrim's capacity to be a church that exists for the sake of their neighbors, especially young adults. To do that, the innovation team has begun practicing the Public Church Framework- which includes Accompaniment, Interpretation, Discernment, and Proclamation. Please click here to learn more.
Pilgrim Offers Stipended Ministry Opportunities for Young Adults
Pilgrim offers a number of stipended ministry opportunities for young adults, including Choral Scholarships, Ministry Internships, and Johnson Leadership & Creativity Fellowships. You can find application information for these opportunities on our Ministry Openings page.
Johnson Leadership & Creativity Fellowships
Leadership & Creativity Fellowships are meaningful four-month (renewable), stipended experiences for young adults that support vocational discernment, strengths- and job-skills development through project leadership. Fellowship projects also strengthen Pilgrim’s commitment to its mission, core values, and ministries. Fellowships are flexible, in terms of the number of hours needed to fulfill the role, and are intended to be compatible with concurrent work/study. Pilgrim Leadership and Creativity Fellowships are made possible by the gifts of Mardell Johnson, in memory of her daughter Karen Johnson, the gifts of other generous Pilgrims, and by a Thrivent Foundation Lutheran Challenge Grant.
Please click here for a more detailed, one-page description of the Johnson Fellowships.
Current and Past Johnson Fellows
Hannah Olson
September 2018 - May 2019
Hannah is working to support, connect, and engage young adults at Pilgrim and in the community. She serves on the Young Adult Innovation team and will coordinate regular young adult gatherings. She will draw on her experience in interfaith conversations as well.
February 2017 - April 2018
Katy and Steve support evening worship ministries as Evening Worship Hosts, and by inviting other lay people to serve in support of evening worship ministries.
June - August 2017
Anthony will work with a small group of Pilgrim youth between grades 6 and 12 to create multi-media profiles about who they are as gifted children of God. These multi-media profiles will be shared with the Pilgrim congregation through a series of weekly church emails. Anthony will also prepare a piece of writing on a theme relevant to the mission of Pilgrim, to satisfy his summer internship goals through Bethel University. This piece will also be shared with the Pilgrim community.
Laura Kvasnicka
September 2016-December 2016
Laura is serving this fall as a Johnson Leadership and Creativity Fellow and Children's Ministry Intern, planning and leading children’s ministry offerings at our Wednesday night M@P gatherings (Midweek at Pilgrim).
Joel Bergeland
May-August 2016
Joel researched current thinking on church membership with a focus on creative alternatives to traditional church membership. Based on the findings, and based on Pilgrim’s unique context, Joel proposed possible strategies for engaging non-members through alternative affiliations.
Carilyn Armstrong
December 2015-April 2016
Cari worked with young adults, providing opportunities for fellowship as well as faith-centered discussion and exploration. She also worked with high school youth, contributing to their faith formation on Sunday mornings as well as their spring retreat.
Jane Ulring
November 2015-March 2016
Jane created a dramatic interpretation of the story of the prodigal son and presented it in worship. The performance drew its inspiration from a series of workshops she led at Pilgrim that explored the complexities of our lives of faith, and especially the difficulties of forgiveness and neighborliness.
Caitlin Frear
September 2015-May 2016
Caitlin served as a Johnson Leadership and Creativity Fellow supporting the children’s ministry offerings at M@P (Midweek at Pilgrim).
Sarah Haugen
September 2015-May 2016
Sarah supported the work of the Chancel Choir and the Pilgrim Arts Outreach Committee. She also explored her skills for graphic design by supporting Pilgrim communications projects, including the development of its new website in the spring of 2016.
Emilie Bouvier
February-May 2015
Emilie's project focused on creation care and environmental justice. Working in collaboration with the Pilgrims Caring for Creation group, she helped us explore futher our relationship with creation through an exhibition of her original art work during the season of Easter.
Allie Devney
January-April 2015
Allie's project focused on writing personal profiles of Pilgrims with a focus on vocation and spiritual growth.
Austin Adesso
September-December 2014
Austin's project focused on telling Pilgrim stories using digital video. You can view the video he completed for his Fellowship here.
Nicholas Schuessler
January-May 2014
Nick helped us pilot the Fellowship program with a project focused on our Facebook presence.