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Jessica Coblentz

Jessica most recently served as the pastoral minister for young adult ministry at the Paulist Center in downtown Boston. Previously, she was an intern for the young adult ministry at the Office of Religious Education in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles where she developed extensive training materials and workshops for young adult ministers. In 2010, Jessica participated in L.A.’s annual Religious Education Congress as a panelist speaker on the young adult Catholic experience. Her popular writing on Catholicism and young adult life has been featured online and in print, including the collection, From the Pews in the Back: Young Women and Catholicism (Liturgical Press, 2009) and NCCL’s Catechetical Leader magazine. Jessica holds degrees from Santa Clara University and Harvard Divinity School and she is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in theology at Boston College.
Outreach Resources
YouTube These YouTube videos will walk you through some potential promotional tools for your ministry outreach:
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Promotion and Outreach Worksheet

Answer these questions to help guide your young adult ministry.

Assess what’s going on:
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Technology Q&A
Q: The Pope has warned that social media for “the one-sidedness of the interaction, the tendency to communicate only some parts of one's interior world, the risk of constructing a false image of oneself, which can become a form of self-indulgence.” Am I endorsing these negative uses of technology by utilizing social media in my ministry?  A: Benedict XVI is right to acknowledge the limitations of technology and social media...
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Principles for Promotion and Outreach

Map Your Ministry -- Divide and Prioritize

Promoting your young adult ministry will be less overwhelming if you recognize the sub-groups within the larger demographic. Consider in-reach, outreach, and age range. In-reach concerns the young adults who already belong to your parish community, out-reach concerns the young adults in the surrounding community. For both groups think about age as well as ethnicity, language, socio-economic status, relationship status, etc. Once you divide the young adults into sub-groups in your parish and wider community, prioritize which demographics you strive to reach. Perhaps you’ll begin with outreach to the 25-30 year old single professionals within your parish, and then plan to reach out to the 18-25 year olds in the college town nearby once your ministry is off the ground.
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Introduction

Summary

This Essential will help you develop an effective plan to market events and programs that will reach young adults.  

Introduction

Promotion and outreach are important for any organization but what we’re selling is not just a product like any other. Young Adult Ministry is not about numbers and profits; it is about the Gospel and the living Body of Christ. Consequently, marketing for young adult ministry should be approached differently. Guided by the right principles and strategies, promotion and outreach to young adults can become a ministry in itself...

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