Essentials > Assessing the Situation

Summary

This Essential will move you from general young adult ministry to your specific setting. It will help you consider the young adults in your area, and your own parish’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to establishing a ministry to and with young adults...

Who Are YOUR Young Adults?

“Who Are Young Adults” explained who young adults are in general, but who are your young adults? The ones who are already connected in some way and the ones you have the potential to reach. When you think about starting ministry with young adults, who do you have in mind? Do you have a group of youth ministry “alumni” who are still hanging around? Are there several college-age singles who regularly show up at 6 p.m. Mass? Is your area a hotbed for young professionals? Perhaps you rarely see young adults around, but there’s a wedding or baptism scheduled nearly every weekend. Maybe you don’t have a specific group of young adults in mind...

The Process

There are a number of different ways you can take stock of where you are and figure out where you want to be. We will lead you through one now called SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).  It’s a good idea to gather a group of young adults,  and work through this process together. You may want to include members of the parish staff or parish council in this process to broaden the view...

SWOT Worksheet

As you assess your situation consider the following areas and place them in the proper categories -- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.Arenas of parish life:

• Hospitality -- Including Sunday mornings, receptivity of the staff, and what happens when someone calls the office with a question or request.
• Mass -- Does our liturgy meet the needs and speak to the hearts of young adults? Consider especially music and preaching, these two elements are most frequently cited by young adults as what attracts them to (or repels them from) a parish...