It’s Friday night. The doors are open. The sound of joyful, high-decibel music pours onto the streets of Monrovia. This is church. This is Crosswords.

On April 9 and 10, more than 200 young adults came to worship at Crosswords, a series of two-day Christian conventions designed by young adults, for young adults. They played music, wrote and performed dramatic skits and produced short movies to display God’s character. And they did it all in a way that spoke directly to their generation.

Crosswords came about thanks to the leadership of L.A. Metro Region Director Gerard Kiemeney. “This is not just a program,” Kiemeney said. “We want to give them ownership in the church.”

Young people from several churches were involved in all stages of Crosswords. Josh Martinez, the 23-year-old director of Pie in the Sky Ministries, produced several plays and videos portraying the love of God. “We were waiting for this day to come,” Martinez said. “I’m excited that we did it and that it all came together.”

Yet it couldn’t have come together without the hard work of several region pastors; in particular, Elizabeth Talbot and Cary Fisher.

Talbot, pastor of Truth + Spirit Ministries at the Vallejo Drive church, provided the name, Crosswords. As one of the speakers, she also helped develop the convention’s mission: to reveal the depth and meaning of Jesus’ last words on the cross. Fisher also spoke, and the Norwalk church associate pastor was moved by the response he saw from the young people. “I went home as excited about what we’re doing as about anything I’ve ever done. I believe it’s life changing for some people, so I know this is something positive.”

It was indeed life changing for some, with 18 young people requesting Bible studies after the event. More than 200 young adults attending during the weekend handed in survey cards indicating that they wanted to respond in some way to the spiritual message and program.

Richard Randy heard about Crosswords and drove to Monrovia from Loma Linda. “I’ve been waiting for this kind of thing to happen, not just in one church, but in a lot of churches so that I can tell some of my friends about this.”

Fellow attendee Jennifer Arismendy came from the Temple City church. "I’ve long felt like there should be something for young adults, so I’m very happy this is going on.”

Crosswords doesn’t stop with the Monrovia event: two additional two-day conventions were scheduled, one in May in Torrance; the other at the Glendale Adventist Academy, June 17-18. In addition, each of the three zones in the L.A. Metro Region will have ongoing young adult services, held in a different church each week. For details, visit www.crosswordsweb.org.

“We talk about the lack of growth in our North American church,” Kiemeney said. “If we’d do a better job of targeting the young adult generation, we’d realize the growth we should be having.”

Growth—that’s just what Martinez is hoping for. “I hope it blows up. I really hope it blows up.”