The Ashland Youth Collective (AYC) meets at 5pm on Sundays, and the location is shared between the 4 supporting churches (Presbyterian, UCC, Methodist and Episcopal). A community youth group for middle school and high school youth in, and around, Ashland, Oregon. First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist Church, Trinity Episcopal Church and First Congregational Ashland United Church of Chr
ist have come together to form a community youth group. We believe we can do more and be more together, and so we are embarking on a journey as we formed a brand new youth group, the Ashland Youth Collective. The Ashland Youth Collective (AYC) is modeled after the Bend Youth Collective (Bend, OR) and we are encouraged and hopeful about a progressive, ecumenical, community youth group here in Ashland. The four churches involved in the Ashland Youth Collective are: First Presbyterian Church of Ashland, First United Methodist Church of Ashland, Ashland First Congregational United Church of Christ, and Trinity Episcopal Church. Joining together, we seek to be a place that offers opportunities for worship, spiritual formation, community, service and outreach, creativity, education and leadership.
4 Churches • 1 United Community
4 Traditions • 1 Common Faith
4 Histories • 1 Shared Future
Four Churches • One United Community
Ashland’s Presbyterian, Methodist, United Church of Christ and Episcopal churches banded together in 2012 to form the Ashland Youth Collective. Our community includes the Rogue Valley, with students primarily from Ashland, but also from Talent, Phoenix and Medford. We consider our wider community to be all the Earth, taking social justice, environmental sustainability and compassion as key themes as we move through our days. Four Traditions • One Common Faith
Each of the denominations represented has deep roots. We have different “governing bodies.” We have some minor differences in our theology. But, our four traditions all agree that allowing for exploration and free-thinking provides a stronger base in the faith that is in God and God’s plan for us in our world. Four Histories • One Shared Future
Historically, church denominations have tended to behave like silos – tending to their own and their own chosen causes. The future we seek is one where the best of what each church has is offered in support of the growth of our collective youth into faith-filled followers of God – whatever that looks like in each individual’s lives. In a world where ties to specific denominations are dying, we believe in a robust ecumenism in which we learn from one another and seek to be more interested in following God into the world than getting caught up in denominational loyalty & politics.
