Essentials > Strategies for Parishes

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...

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.

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...