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Mike Hayes

Mike co-founded BustedHalo.com in December 2001. In addition to his work at Busted Halo, Mike is the director of campus ministry at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. A frequent speaker on ministering to young adults, Mike is the author of two books Googling God: The Religious Landscape of People in their 20s and 30s with Paulist Press and Loving Work: A Spiritual Guide to Finding the Work We Love and Bringing Love to the Work We Do with Orbis Press. In 2002, Mike received a Catholic Press Association Award for his article “Transformation and the 20′s and 30′s Crowd” that appeared in Share the Word magazine. Before working in ministry, Mike produced radio talk shows at WFAN and WOR in New York and also covered major league baseball for NPR and WOR. Mike and his wife, Marion, are residents of Amherst, New York, where they live with their dog, Haze.
Christmas tree lit in the woods
Christmas Poetry Gathering
A Christmas gathering for young adults to share their favorite Christmas story and discuss why it’s their favorite.
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Finding God in Nature
Spend an afternoon experiencing nature in your local area and then reflecting on that experience in the light of faith.
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Take a Hike! (For the Rest of Your Life)
Young adults head to the great outdoors for meaningful reflection in nature on this one-day retreat, which combines individual discernment with paired and group discussion.
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Considering the Possibilities

Preparing the Parish To Begin Young Adult Ministry

Young adults have many gifts and talents that can fit right in with what your parish is already doing. Gathering the heads of the committees and ministries that already exist and asking them to take inventory of those ministries to see how many people under the age of 40 are presently involved is a great way to begin. Talk about a desire to reach out to people in their 20s and 30s in the parish announcements and even in homilies...
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Principles of Young Adult Friendly Parishes
We’re hardly unfriendly to young adults most of the time. The typical experience is that we’re just friendly enough to keep our distance. Young adults don’t necessarily have an ax to grind against the church but often there’s a lack of engagement and commitment. There’s much we can do to bridge that gap of polite distance and welcome the young adults who come our way into vibrant engagement with our community.
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Becoming a Young Adult Friendly Parish

Summary

This Essential will help you consider the elements beyond programs and events for young adults and help you become conscious of all the ways we welcome (or fail to welcome) young adults to our communities...
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