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 Go and Make Disciples, Were Not Our Hearts Burning and Sons & Daughters of the Light (see a summary outline here). 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 under-appreciated 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 such as The Basic Guide to Young Adult Ministry by Fr. John Cusick and Kate Devries, Googling God: The Religious Landscape of Men & Women in their 20s and 30s by Mike Hayes, and Connecting Young Adults to Catholic Parishes by the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth.
Starting Young Adult Ministry can seem like an enormous and difficult task, but when we break it down to its core principles. 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.
