Young Adult Ministry

National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association

You can join NCYAMA and get its e-newsletter at www.ncyama.org.

The Church's Ministry with Young Adults

(quoted from Sons and Daughters of the Light: A Pastoral Plan for Ministry with Young Adults, USCCB, 1997).

"The Catholic Church has always sought to provide ministry to people in their late teens, twenties, and thirties through marriage preparation, campus ministry, Catholic singles groups, military chaplaincies, and participation in various organizations and movements. Young adult ministry itself, as a designated area of pastoral care, has been part of church life in many dioceses for over fifteen years. This plan applauds these efforts and seeks to develop a more intentional ministry based on this foundation.

"In the introduction, we stated that one of our goals is to strengthen the relationship of young adults with the Church. As in any relationship, we need to know each other, therefore we identified the tasks and issues concerning young adults. We also discussed how our faith provides a lens through which we can view life. Now we offer a plan based on the understanding of young adults in Part One and rooted in the vision of faith developed in Part Two. We also build this plan on the foundation of past strategies such as Empowered by the Spirit, the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry, Here I Am, Send Me, and Go and Make Disciples, to name a few. We hope this plan assists you in your ministry to and with young adults" (25).

Goal One: Connecting Young Adults with Jesus Christ

To foster the personal and communal growth and education of young adults toward a relationship with Jesus Christ leading to Christian maturity (Sons and Daughters of the Light 28)

Objectives

1. Spiritual Formation and Direction: To help young adults develop their spiritual life rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as their redeemer and savior.

2. Religious Education/Formation: To help young adults appreciate the teachings and traditions of the Church through catechesis, religious education, and pastoral care.

3. Vocation Discernment: To help young adults understand vocation as primarily a call to holiness and Christian maturity lived through single or married life, the priesthood, the diaconate, or religious life.

Goal Two: Connecting Young Adults with the Church

To make contact with young adults and to invite and welcome them to participate in the life and mission of the Christian community, which proclaims Jesus Christ by preaching the Gospel (Sons and Daughters of the Light 33-34).

Objectives

1. Evangelizing Outreach: To identify places where young adults gather and to connect them personally with the Church by listening to their concerns, hopes, and dreams and by welcoming them into a community of faith.

2. Forming the Faith Community: To invite, empower, and enable young adults to participate in the life of the Church through worship, community life, small faith communities, and evangelizing efforts, and on committees, in ministries, and in Catholic movements and organizations.

3. Pastoral Care: To provide activities, visitations, and counseling opportunities that respond to the spiritual and developmental needs of young adults.

Goal Three: Connecting Young Adults with the Mission of the Church in the World

To invite young adults, through healthy relationships, work, and studies, to embrace the mission of Christ to promote the building of the kingdom of God in the world today, thereby bringing about the transformation of society (Sons and Daughters of the Light 36).

Objectives

1. Forming a Christian Conscience: To help young adults form their conscience based on the Gospel and on the Church's moral and social teachings.

2. Educating and Working for Justice: To provide educational and service opportunities for young adults to practice the gospel values of justice and peace and to care for the less fortunate in the workplace, at home, and in the local community.

3. Developing Leaders for the Present and the Future: To invite, train, support, and mentor young adults to be leaders in society and church life.

Goal Four: Connecting Young Adults with a Peer Community

To help young adults develop relationships with peers who share similar values and beliefs which nurture and strengthen their faith, thereby creating communities of support (Sons and Daughters of the Light 37-38).

Objectives

1. Forming Faith Communities of Peers: To provide opportunities for young adults to find among their peers the necessary support and encouragement as they journey through life and fulfill their mission to the world.

2. Developing Peer Leadership: To help young adults become leaders, not only among their peers but also within the larger community.

3. Identifying a Young Adult Team: To urge each parish, movement, organization, and campus to identify a team to advocate and respond to the needs of young adults.

To celebrate these goals and objectives, the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois has begun reaching out to young adults more intentionally. Below are some strategies already in place for Young Adult Ministry.