Desire for community, justice top young adults’ list

     For many young adults, finding a place in the Catholic Church can be a difficult task primarily because of the lack of young adult ministries. Parishes need to reach out and welcome young adults through these ministries, Rachel Longest, archdiocesan coordinator of young adult ministry, said in her presentation, “Young Adults and the Church: What’s the Reality? What Can You Do?”

     Longest provided resources on parish assessment, how to begin a young adult ministry and the goals of young adult ministry to those in attendance. The presentation aimed to help parishes become more convivial to young adults and provide steps for improvement at the parish level.

     “She did a good job of laying out the challenges that young adults and those who work with young adults face,” Jesuit scholastic Sylvester Tan said. “It really helps me to know the landscapes.”

     To present the mindset of many young adults, Longest provided a video from Fordham University’s conference, “LOST? Twenty-Somethings in the Church,” highlighting young adults as they focused on the challenges they face with church ministry and what they would like to find in the church. The resounding echoes among all young adults were their desire for community, social justice and equality.

     “I think the church has failed our youth,” said Sister of Mount Carmel Denis Rodrigue in her response to the video. “There’s very little for them once they branch outside of their CYOs.”

Catholic confusion

     One of the challenges facing young adult ministry that came across clearly in the video is the confusion over what it means to be a practicing Catholic.

     “It’s more than just throwing a title on yourself,” Longest said. “You have to do Catholic things to be called a Catholic. You have to go to Mass, receive the sacraments, live a Catholic lifestyle. … More so than before, church is a choice for young adults.”

     Another challenge to young adult ministry is what Longest refers to as “church shopping.”

     “They try to find the church that fits them best, that they like the most,” Longest said.

     Marguerite Frent affirmed herself as a church shopper, clarifying that she “can easily drive to St. Catherine of Siena because it’s like going home, it’s where I grew up, but I can also go somewhere near my house because it’s closer. … I don’t feel like any of those are home to me though. I’m missing that sense of community.”

     The sense of community lacking in Frent’s church experience is what most young adults want, including a laundry list of other essentials that they feel are lacking in their church experience: engaging liturgy, spiritual growth, catechesis and service opportunities, just to name a few.

     “Young adults ask: where am I in this? They’re asking for things that everybody wants in their church experience,” Longest said.

Opportunities for ministry

     In response to the challenges and in an attempt to provide young adults with what they want, Longest offered ways for parishes to reach out to the young adult population. Opportunities present themselves wherever young adults are bound to gather, particularly marriage preparation, weddings, baptisms and funerals.

     “For some Catholics, marriage preparation is when they come back to the church,” Longest said. “Then, and when their first child is baptized. Priests should catechize and welcome them.”

     Another large opportunity for welcoming young adults arises during the liturgical seasons and celebrations.

     “You will have folks that will not come at other times of the year but some element of ‘home’ tells them to go at Ash Wednesday, go at Christmas, go at Easter. That’s what they did with their family growing up in the Catholic Church.”

     Ultimately, the best way to reach young adults is to have a course of action and create a comprehensive young adult ministry. Because young adult ministry is a peer ministry, it must have young adults as the driving force.

     “The best way for us to be of service to young adults is to ask what they want,” Longest said. “We have to encourage young adults to take part in the community. They have a great desire to give back, so have them be involved in their parish.”

     The presentation will be done several times throughout the archdiocese. Upcoming presentations will be held July 26, 6:30 p.m. at Sacred Heart, Lacombe; July 28, 10 a.m. at Holy Name of Jesus in the parish center; July 29, 10 a.m. at St. Margaret Mary, Slidell in the Evangelization Center; August 2, 6:30 p.m. at St. Maria Goretti; August 4, 6:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker in the cafeteria.

     Those interested in creating young adult ministries in their parishes can contact Rachel Longest for guidance at [email protected].

     Heather Bozant can be reached at [email protected].