These Essentials will give you a broad overview, help you understand the important elements of Young Adult Ministry, and show you the first steps to help you and your community get started.
From the time of Christ to the present day, the Church has had a heart for ministering to those in transitions – yet, it is still a challenge today. Young Adult Ministry is a great opportunity to tap into Catholicism’s best traditions and reach out to a demographic on the move and distant from the faith, just as Jesus did in his day. This tool will help you with everything you need to know before you get started in young adult ministry. We will look at the key elements that make up a successful and holistic ministry.
Principles of Good Young Adult Ministry
Dream big and imagine a church where young adults are essential elements of the community. Imagine a church where there is equal representation from all demographics and generations. Imagine a church that’s young, vibrant, and renewed. Those dreams all have their core in a solid Young Adult Ministry.
From coast to coast, a variety of things have been tried and tested when developing Young Adult Ministry. The most successful ministries have three important elements in common:
Good Young Adult Ministry has all three of these happening side-by-side. While it’s a slow process to build up to these goals, it’s very important – when you’re starting out – to keep all three in mind as you plan, invite, and build.
While we want to share the Good News, sometimes that can actually be a counterproductive starting point when reaching out to young adults. A better starting point is found in the synodal method as laid out by the Vatican from the Synod on Synodality. Our first step in ministry and helping others in their faith journeys is to listen. In listening, we encounter others and hear from their hearts: we hear their joys and struggles and what they are seeking in life. With only 19% of young adults actively identifying as Catholic and 42% identifying as “None” or no religious affiliation, there is certainly much work that needs to be done. But there is hope as Young Active Catholics make up 22 percent of adult Catholics. In the lives of those who are “nones,” there are often stories and reasons that have led them to that space. In listening, we can better accompany them into something new.
Find creative ways to reach out beyond the “typical” young adults who show up each week and invite them to connect with you, the community, and to church.
After encountering and listening to young adults as individuals and as a community, the next step is to engage in teaching. Now, this kind of teaching isn’t always about imparting your knowledge on them and making them pupils, but rather, helping facilitate exploration. This phase of teaching can certainly be aided by your knowledge and the knowledge of others in the community, but it is also a space for the young adults to learn together and explore their questions. This helps to build up community and to foster a greater sense of being the protagonist in their life stories. Following in the tradition set forth in Matthew 28:19: “Go and make disciples of all peoples,” we support, nurture, form, and build community for the young adults who are developing and intensifying their connection with faith.
This aspect of Young Adult Ministry may involve programs and activities, but the main focus should be on the growth of young adults as persons of faith.
It’s also good to have a balance of offerings – so that young adults are well-rounded disciples with investment in
(or at least an invitation to) all the rich traditions the Church has to offer. See Strategies for Parishes for more.
Not every young adult ministry event needs to bring young adults together. There are ministry opportunities in social media, other technology, or for individuals. Consider how your young adult ministry goals can be accomplished with gathered or non-gathered ministry opportunities.
As noted in this Essentials and in Strategies for Parishes it’s important that young adults are incorporated into the larger Church community. When considering what you’d like to offer, be sure to think about what is already offered in your community that might just need a few adjustments to be young adult friendly. Also, determine if it is a topic that is best explored in an age-specific gathering or in the context of the larger community.
Catholic Young Adult Ministry can’t exist in a bubble or just at the parish walls. The most successful young adult efforts integrate those in their 20s and 30s into the intergenerational and intercultural reality of the Catholic parish, diocese, and world. We need to advocate for and empower young adults in their role in the larger community. We need to make space for young adults to speak and be heard. We need to connect them to adult faith formation efforts already in place and to mentors in the parish. We need to inspire young adults to take leadership roles beyond the ministry – so that they are the ones leading all of us into the future.
This requires sending – that is, helping equip young adults to be missionary disciples in their lives. In helping them see beyond just the parish and the local young adult community, they better understand that they have something wonderful to share with others. They too can encounter and listen to other young adults throughout their lives. This leads them to a life of evangelization and more deeply integrating their faith into their everyday lives.
Too often, Young Adult Ministry is isolated either by choice or design from the rest of the activity of a parish – and as the saying goes, “out of sight, out of mind.” If the rest of the church doesn’t see the young adults, the whole outreach effort may be forgotten and cancelled.
When we integrate young adults into the fabric of church life, parishioners will often get excited and hopeful that their parish is young and vibrant again. When we connect with young adults to other ministries beyond Young Adult Ministry these other ministries may also be renewed. When we have young adults in visible liturgical roles, it can show newcomers that this is a community where all generations have value and purpose.
Here are a few things to keep in mind – so that you don’t limit yourself before you begin:
With such a large demographic and such a diversity of sub-groups, Young Adult Ministry can seem daunting and overwhelming. Even though the boundaries of Young Adult Ministry are vast, we can be more specific in how we carry it out. For example, you can target college students, young couples, or Latino/Hispanic young adults – to make things more focused. The decision on who to reach out to needs to be based on your community’s needs and in discussion with your community. When we try to reach out to everyone, almost no one gets our true attention.
While forming small faith networks are a good component to this ministry, sometimes they can become an exclusive club. And when we get friendly or comfortable with the same group of people, we can forget about evangelizing and ignore the newcomers. It’s best to avoid calling your program a “young adult group.” Instead, call it a “Young Adult Ministry” and remember the three components: evangelization, discipleship, and integration.
You might have a great passion around a certain activity or aspect of the faith, but if you make that singular experience the foundation of the entire Young Adult Ministry, it will be very limited. While you can’t do everything, it’s best to try to include more than one thing. It can be catechetical, but not just catechetical. It can be social, but not just social. The most successful ministries are bigger than one program or aspect of the faith.
It’s important to remember and understand the different stages of life that young adults face. From leaving their parents’ houses, attending college, moving to a new city, getting married, and having children, young adults face many exciting opportunities and challenges. It’s important to ask how a young adult ministry can serve these constituents individually and collectively, while still knowing what is realistic for your community to do.
Don’t get us wrong. Events and programs will certainly be helpful in getting Young Adult Ministry off the ground. But it’s always good to keep in mind that when your Theology-on-Tap or service project is over for the day, the most important thing you can do is follow up. Young Adult Ministry is relational, and because of that, events and programs should support bigger, more long-range goals: namely to bring people together and respond with love to their needs and hopes, to inspire conversion of hearts, to develop strong disciples, and to integrate them into a community of faith.
If you’re reading this, you already get that. But part of your job now is to advocate to others that this is not an “excess ministry” – and that you’re serious about making it work.
Because of the proximity of ages between adolescents (those in their teenage years) and young adults (those in their late teens, 20s, and 30s), youth and young adult ministry are sometimes confused or fused together. They have some similarities – both groups experience times of transition and are proficient in technology – but they are radically different populations with different needs. These two ministries should be distinct and separate, yet still collaborative in the pathway from one to the next.
Young adult ministry is not spoon-feeding or heaping ministry upon young adults. Rather, it needs to be ministry with young adults; it needs to actively involve them in the conversations and decisions from the beginning. Young adults do not want another part of their life “advertised” at them.
Young adult ministry is about making a space where those active get to be “the main character” or protagonist. Healthy young adult ministry allows the young adults to take charge and ownership in their stories and journeys. It’s not about telling them how to live and move and have their being, but rather, walking alongside them as they figure out what it means to be an adult and Catholic.
Gen z (1996-2012), Gen Alpha (2013-2025), and Gen Beta (2026)
Developmental Issues: dating, puberty, sexual identity, peer pressure, bullying, parent/teen relationships, social skills
Longing to move away from parents’ home
Sacramental Moments: Confirmation (and awareness of Eucharist/Reconciliation)
Experiential Faith: integration of religion and teen life; transformative-focused retreats; social faith-based activities
Cultural/Life Issues: sex/relationships, friendships, education, college choice, parents, teen pop culture, teen suicide, adolescence, new car, sports and activities
Bringing Teens to the Church
Going Deeper: Charity and mission work
Younger Millennials (1980-1995) AND Gen Z (1996-2012)
Sometimes moving back to parents’ home, or even never having the opportunity to leave.
Sacramental Moments: Marriage, Baptism, OCIA, reconciliation, and Creating “Moments of Return”
Understanding Faith: integration of religion and spirituality; adult faith formation; experiential focus of sacraments; evangelization/outreach
Cultural/Life Issues: cohabitation, career, economy, commuting, voting, taxes/bills, single life, reproductive issues, children, domestic life, young adult popular culture, mental health, church relevancy, time, ecological concerns
Having Church listen to Young Adults
Going Deeper: Social justice integration
When starting a Young Adult Ministry initiative, the best first step is to take a good look at the population you’re trying to reach. Read Who Are Young Adults and Assessing the Situation to help you decide what your next steps will be.
Consult the Church’s documents on evangelization, formation, and young adults, specifically Christus Vivit (Christ is Alive) from Pope Francis, and Listen, Teach, Send: A National Pastoral Framework for Ministries with Youth and Young Adults. These will give you a firm foundation on our mandate to reach out, teach, and build relationships with young adults today.
Read and reflect on the Scriptures – especially in regards to how Jesus evangelized the young, disaffected, overwhelmed, and underappreciated people of his era. See Biblical Reflections for Young Adult Ministry Leaders for suggestions.
Start reading the essential resources in beginning or growing a Young Adult Ministry or that help you better understand Young Adults in their own words, such as 20s/30s Ministry: A Guide for Parishes by Rev. Nicholas Lombardo, OP, Young Adult American Catholics ed. by Maureen K. Day, or Faith and Spiritual Life of Young Adult Catholics in a Rising Hispanic Church ed. By Thomas Gaunt, SJ.
Starting a Young Adult Ministry can seem like an enormous and difficult task, but when we break it down to its core principles, it becomes much more realistic and achievable. There is a relief in knowing that we don’t need to do everything – but a welcome challenge in knowing that we all need to do something. And it all begins with the first step. Welcome to this exciting journey!
It’s important to take breaks and rest, no ministry can be built in a day. The leaders, be that the pastor or volunteers, can help model healthy boundaries and resting and trusting in Christ as part of the process of growth.
Jesus didn’t do all of his ministry alone, and neither do you. Look to Christ as an example of directly inviting others to join in to the ministry of the community.
Young adults encompasses not only a wide range of ages, but a wide range of experiences, world views, and even generations. Young adult ministry is not making a one-size-fits-all square that all must go through, but encountering and inviting young adults into the vineyard to share their authentic selves.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) 2024 document on young adult ministry “Listen, Teach, Send” (LTS) follows the model of Christ meeting the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) to create a framework of walking together in ministry. In this, they break it down into three simple steps: listen, teach, and send.
The first step of “Listen” is rooted in the words of Christ on the road to Emmaus: “What are you discussing as you walk along?” (Luke 24:17). Christ’s first words are not to reveal Himself or impart His wisdom, but to listen to what the disciples are discussing, to hear where they are in their journeys of faith. In this, Christ creates a space of encounter and models for us what we should be doing with young adults. We should be listening to them and asking them about their experiences of faith and life. “This posture, then, involves a meaningful encounter with, a steadfast presence among, and an authentic desire to know and understand youth and young adults in the realities of their lives.” (LTS pg. 15).
In this posture, we also are called to remain with young adults, even when it seems they are going the “wrong way.” Jesus walked along with the disciples away from Jerusalem, away from the place of the resurrection well before He got them to turn around. Accompaniment is tantamount in young adult ministry, and in doing this, better enables us to be a part of the healing process, to be part of the “field hospital” as Pope Francis put it. By doing this, we move to a space of dialogue and mutual listening. Here “older generations can truly listen to the young and where the young can truly listen to God speaking to them in the Word and the wisdom of the Church.” (LTS pg. 25).
Goal: Create spaces of encountering and listening with and to young adults.
After listening to the disciples, Christ “interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.” (Luke 24:27). Jesus not only shared wisdom and knowledge, but tailored it to his audience – the two disciples. After listening and developing a relationship of trust with young adults, then we are able to share the kerygma. In “the very heart of the Gospel is life in community and engagement with others.” (LTS pg. 28). This teaching is not done in isolation but within and for the community of young adults. In teaching, we help form young adults to be leaders to their peers.
In this course of teaching and learning, disagreements with what the Church holds as true may come up within young adults, individually or as a community. This is not a time to chastise or cast out but rather to create “a place for listening, healing, and communicating the truth of the Gospel to all young people.” (LTS pg. 32). We are called to be like Christ, seeking out the disciples along the road, and to create a space of loving support in wrestling with the questions of life.
It is also in this space of teaching that Christ “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them” (Luke 24:30) with the disciples. That is, he shared with them the sacramental meal to feed them and aid them in their journeys. Young adult ministry brings about “opportunities to invite young people into liturgical and sacramental celebrations” (LTS pg. 34). The grace of the sacraments brings us together into the family of Christ, heals us, and helps us to seek the salvation of others. In helping young adults to go deeper in participation in the sacraments, they are better equipped to see and respond to God’s grace in their lives.
Goal: Connect young adults with each other, the church community, and the church tradition.
Finally, Jesus sends the disciples back to Jerusalem to share what they have experienced with the other disciples. “In much the same way, one of the goals of the Church’s accompaniment of youth and young adults is to guide them toward their mission to transform the world toward the Kingdom of God.” (LTS pg. 37). A critical part of young adult ministry is helping the young adults see how they are the protagonists of their journey. In helping young adults to choose to live life fully, we help them to leave their mark on the world. Young adults are not bystanders or mere witnesses of the world passing by, but rather, are the protagonists of their lives.
The “evangelizing witness is the starting point for all Christian mission.” (LTS pg. 38). The goal of young adult ministry cannot remain insular or focused solely on the community within the parish. While there is much that can and should be done with that community, it is also critical to help the young adult members to see the way they are called to be missionary disciples in all aspects of their lives. This is done in acts of charity and justice, in the work place, and in their personal lives. Young adult ministry helps members to see the way they fully integrate Christ in their lives, live out the values of the Church, and proclaim the love that they have first experienced to others. In this, they too are able to encounter others in listening, walk with them in teaching, and help them to be the protagonists of their journeys in sending.
Goal: Help young adults to know and live out their call to be missionary disciples.
