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Emmanuel Joseph (third from left) is a senior at Taylor University. We are grateful for the efforts of him and so many other young adults who give of themselves to be part of the life of our church. Kara and Jeremie Riggleman host the young adult meals alongside Keith and Edie Doudt. Join us in praying blessings on this year’s graduating class that their lives will continue to bear fruit that endures.

My first time going to Urban Light was as a freshman at Taylor University in 2020 when we had to wear masks and were still social distancing. I was invited by a close friend of mine who was an upperclassman at Taylor and spoke highly about the church, the choir, and was a big fan of Tim’s bass playing. I fell in love with the church and the young adult gatherings that would happen every second Sunday at the Voss family home which was at the time called “Souper Sunday.” From 2020 to fall of 2023, I went to Urban Light inconsistently because the distance from Taylor wasn’t as convenient to me in comparison to the other local churches. But what I did know was that Urban Light was the only church I wanted to go to.

Various things going on in my life and a good friend and Taylor student, Enoch Eicher, prompted a desire for my relationship with going to church as a college student to change. Enoch also wanted to make Urban Light his church home. I believe the Lord had him step into my life to push me towards building right relationship with a church body. So together, we committed to see what the Lord would have for us as we prioritized his day of Sabbath and the Urban Light community outside of our college community. We changed our perspective to view the time, distance, and effort it took to attend as good. We cast off the worries of the day and solely focused on what the Lord had for us during our time spent traveling and being in the Muncie area.

From this point, the young adult gathering came about very unintentionally. Both Enoch and I had experienced having Souper Sunday and it was a very fulfilling feeling being around people our age while breaking bread together. The Lord was providing without us knowing because on the first Sunday after we made our commitment to Urban Light, there was an open invitation to lunch for college students at the Riggleman’s home.

The lunch gathering felt reminiscent of our previous experiences at Souper Sunday. We proposed the idea of a young adult lunch every second Sunday to the Rigglemans. They were gladly willing to host our young adult lunches. From there, myself and Enoch have been inviting other students from Taylor and coordinating carpools to get people to church while connecting with the current college students or young adults that were already going to Urban Light.

We have built a foundation and a motivation to continue this form of community for Urban Light. I personally didn’t plan for all of this to work out the way it has but the Lord had so much in store for us. The goodness of the Lord is visible during these gatherings and it is something that I look forward to every month. The experience of the young adult gatherings has opened my eyes to a different type of joy that stems from seeing the joy of others.