BANGOR – Young adults want their religion the way they require just about everything else in their lives – relaxed, relational and relevant.

That’s why David Dube, head of the young adult ministry at The Rock Church, at Ohio Street and Finson Road, is turning the sanctuary into a cafe on Thursday nights in an effort to reach out to men and women in their 20s and 30s.

“We want to meet them where they are,” he said last week, “by filling their natural and spiritual needs just as Jesus did.”

The church’s Reality 3 program will kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday. The first topic Dube will tackle is sex in a series titled, “Six Weeks of Sex,” that includes topics such as “Sex and it was good … very good,” “Last Virgin Standing,” “Mythbusters,” “Desperate Sex Lies” and “Extreme Makeover.”

Reality 3 stands for real, relevant and revelation, said Dube, 35, of Glenburn, pointing out that a traditional Bible study is not what young adults want. Dube and Kirk Winters, pastor of The Rock Church, found that out over the past six months as they tried out different methods to reach a demographic that typically does not attend church before settling on the cafe format.

“Our main purpose,” Dube said, “is to reach people for Christ and teach them how to live life according to God’s word. There’s nothing wrong with doing it in a fun way, or in an environment where people can relate while sipping coffee sitting at a [nonalcoholic bar] or kicking back on a couch.”

Sex is very real and relevant in the lives of young adults, Dube said, but many aren’t familiar with the revelation that under God’s design sex is good and pleasurable. The six-week series is intended to help them understand and embrace it with a weekly teaching that may include music, drama, video clips and laptops followed by small group discussions.

Reaching young adults, many of whom have little or no religious education but are seeking a spiritual connection, is a big part of Winters’ vision. A native of Brewer, the 39-year-old minister moved two years ago to Bangor from Portland, where he had founded a church in 1998.

Winters’ roots in the area and energetic style spurred rapid growth at The Rock Church. Today, he must hold three services on Sundays to accommodate worshippers in the 170-seat sanctuary.

Although the third service at 11:30 p.m. was born out of necessity, young adults dominate, Dube said, because it fits their lifestyle.

Dube and his wife, Jen, and their children last year moved to Bangor from Portland, where they had attended Winters’ first church. Dube continued to work full time for a Boston computer software firm while he worked part time on the ministry. This summer, he became a full-time church employee.

The cafe, Dube said last week, is the first step in The Rock Church ministry for young adults. He is working with colleges to begin a campus ministry that would be linked to the Thursday night program. The church also will continue to hold free events for the community, he said.

“Our vision is to have services available to them to help them look for a job, to train them on how to interview for a job, to train and help them on how to do a resume, etc.,” Dube said of how he hopes to expand the ministry to young adults. “We want to provide classes so they know how to build a budget and how to be disciplined with finances.

“We will use biblical principles to help them,” he added, “and make it relevant to what they need to do today to survive.”

For more information, visit www.rockmaine.com or call

942-9977.