What is Young Adult Ministry?
Ministry to and with young adults is an intentional outreach of the Catholic Church to those aged 18-39. Successful ministry with these men and women achieves four basic goals:
- Connect young adults to God through Jesus Christ
- Connect young adults to the Church and the Christian community
- Connect young adults to the mission of the Church in the world
- Connect young adults to a peer community to further support and nurture their faith
Young Adult Ministry should take a dynamic, multi-faceted, and inclusive approach to its outreach and pastoral care, not a single approach or program – especially since young adults are so diverse and since the Catholic Church has such a vast collection of spiritual and corporal works.
Comprehensive Young Adult Ministry includes the following aspects of ministry:
- Advocacy for young adults and their place in the Catholic Church (including collaboration with other ministries and areas of Church life)
- Integration into and participation with the larger Catholic community of faith
- Evangelization to the inactive, busy, and disconnected
- Catechesis and adult faith formation
- Spiritual direction and pastoral care
- Connection to the sacramental life of the Church, especially the Eucharist
- Vocational discernment and leadership development
- Engagement with worship, prayer, and spiritual formation
- Moral and ethical formation of the Christian conscience
- Active participation in the social mission of the Catholic Church
- Events and activities to connect young adults’ shared life experiences