By Rita McInerney

One of David Adcock’s chief goals in his new job as youth ministry coordinator for the Archdiocese of Atlanta is to help young people create an identity for themselves in their faith.

“Many of our youth feel pressured in the Southern Baptist environment to defend their faith. I see it as our mission to help them develop a Catholic identity and understanding of other religious faiths. If they understand and feel comfortable about explaining what they believe in, they will develop better understanding of all faiths.”

A total youth ministry is “one of missions” he practices. This, he says, “is a ministry of, by, to and for youth where youth would share in leadership and minister to one another as peers.”

There are several programs to pursue this goal already in place. It is Adcock’s responsibility to serve as a resource person for the parishes. One approach is the Christian Leadership Institute (CLI) which offers a week-long leadership formation program at Forest Hills conference center in Dahlongea. Here, teens from each parish in the archdiocese who have exhibited leadership capabilities meet with a team of trained directors in workshops and other situations designed to enhance their skills. The second annual CLI will be held from Aug. 4-10 this year.

There are four SEARCH retreats scheduled for the 1985 academic year. Two of these weekends for senior high school students will be held in the metro Atlanta and one each in the rural north and south of the archdiocese.

The big event sponsored by his office is the annual Youth Rally which attracts hundreds of teens each year to Marist High School in Atlanta. The rally brings together young people to share in the experience of being Catholic and to raise their awareness of the experiences and struggles they share. Speakers are brought in from around the country and workshops held on topics ranging from prayer to drug addictions. The rally drew 650 this year but Adcock is hoping that the 1986 rally will attract a record 1,000 youth. He attributed the drop in attendance this year to too many conflicting dates for proms and other events of the season.

“I also coordinate the archdiocesan Youth Advisory Board. Twenty young adults and teens represent parishes, in particular the youth. We have a network set up and each board member has responsibility for two or three parishes. They keep me informed as to the needs of the parishes for the youth. As a board we often provide programs, breaking into teams of three to five persons and travel to parishes to help them develop retreat models, leadership formation programs, lock-ins, how to form youth groups, parent-teen dialogues, models of peer ministry.”

“My other responsibility, naturally, is to the youth ministers. I will be meeting with them on the deanery level to share information about the programs and provide support structure to assess the needs of their parishes for youth.”

Adcock, 23, views the Catholic faith in the archdiocese as “very much multi-cultural. I see it as our goal to bring together youth of all backgrounds and races and to respond to the dynamics of each other’s cultures and be able to work together.”

The coordinator is in his last quarter at Georgia State where he is majoring in computer information systems. He began working in the youth ministry at his parish, Sts. Peter and Paul in Decatur about six years ago. He was one of the original members of the youth advisory board of the archdiocese for several years and gained experience on both levels.

He filled the coordinator’s position on a temporary basis from last October through March and then was asked to stay on in a permanent capacity. Over the next year he expects to assess needs and evaluate the programs in an effort to decide the future course of the youth ministry office.

Adcock is now a member of Christ Our Hope parish in Lithonia.