At the 150th Diocesan Convention in November 2024, Bishop Hughes announced the formation of a new Commission that would lift up the ministry to people in the first third of life across the diocese, one of the initiatives recommended in the Strategic Vision adopted by Diocesan Council in late 2023.
That particular initiative, “Establish a Commission to cover ministry for the first third of life with sub teams to focus on specific life stages” recommended an expansion of the existing Diocesan Youth Commission to encompass children, family, intergenerational, youth, and young adult formation, as well as college ministry. The Diocesan Youth Commission worked with Katie Ong, the diocesan consultant for strategic visioning, to identify people across the diocese involved in these ministries and invite them to join an expanded commission. As Co-Chairs, we then conferred with the Bishop and Canons on the prospective invitations, and they formally invited several members of the diocese, including all of the former members of the youth commission, to a new First Third of Life Commission. Once the invitees agreed to be a part of this new group, the Bishop asked us to continue in the Co-Chair roles.
At this point, the First Third of Life Commission has three subteams – or age affinity groups – that will focus on specific areas: Children/Family ministry; Youth ministry; and Young Adult/College ministry. The members of the former Diocesan Youth Commission have divided themselves amongst those three subteams to provide leadership as they begin their work.
The Commission met for its first meeting on January 9th and we will gather once a quarter, at least twice in person, to check in and share the efforts of the three subteams. Subteams will meet at least once a month in the two months between the full Commission meetings to build relationships with their fellow ministers in our local congregations and begin to implement the other First Third of Life initiatives in the Strategic Vision.
To begin their work, each subteam has been tasked with introducing themselves to the people across the diocese involved in formation ministry for their particular demographics and inviting them to gather and get to know each other and understand their needs. We encourage all congregations to identify people to participate. Once the dates/locations/times for those three gatherings are confirmed, we will announce them to the diocese.
First Third of Life Commission members
*Indicates member of the former Diocesan Youth Commission.
Children/Family/Intergenerational
Meg Davis – St. George’s Maplewood
*Kathy DeWalt – St. Luke’s, Montclair
Jane Murphy Morris – Church of the Savior, Denville
Annmarie Tarleton – All Saints, Glen Rock
Youth
*Anthony Briggs – Cross Roads Camp & Retreat Center
*Donna Caputo – Grace, Rutherford
*Janelle Grant, Co-Chair – St. Paul’s, Patterson
*Chris Whitaker – Christ Church, Short Hills
College/Young Adult
*The Rev. Carrie Cabush – St. John’s, Montclair
*The Rev. Asa Coulson, Co-Chair – Grace, Nutley
The Rev. Melina Dezhbod – St. Elizabeth’s, Ridgewood
*Helen Payanzo – Cross Roads Camp & Retreat Center
Egan Pemberton – Grace, Newark
