Keeping young adults in the Church
by Rachael Tvrdy
According to the Springtide Research Institute, almost 50% of young Catholics between the ages of 13 and 25 have expressed a lack of trust in the Catholic Church. Additionally, many young adult Catholics have reported feeling disconnected from the Church due to frequent relocations and short-lasting friendships, resulting in them leaving the Church at the median age of 23. Lastly, an alarming statistic from the same study reported that only 17% of young Catholics attend Sunday Mass and are in full communion with the Church. Keep in mind: all of these statistics are pre-pandemic, so imagine what they are now. What is going on? And what do we do about this?
I inherited youth and young adult ministry under our office structure when I started my new position with the Diocese of Lincoln as the Director of Family Life & Discipleship. Amy Reisen, our new youth coordinator, Deacon Matt Hecker, our chaplain, and myself, walked alongside a passionate group of young adult leaders who renamed and revamped the pre-existing Frassati Young Adult Ministry to “Salt + Light Young Adult Apostolate.”
Dropping the term “ministry” and re-branding ourselves an apostolate was an important distinction. Ministry is particular to those with Holy Orders, and is an official function of the Church related to the administration of sacraments and liturgy. Apostolate is specific to the laity and is ordered toward the apostolic spreading of the Kingdom, which is unique to each individual based on their charisms. (Which is the supernatural gifts given to each person at Baptism to build up the Kingdom. Think of it as a spiritual superpower that is uniquely yours.) With the stats revealed above, our team had our work cut out for us. However, not only our small diocesan office, but the entire Church bears the weight of this task. If we are all endowed with the Great Commission that Jesus Himself gave every baptized person – “to go and make disciples” – well, why aren’t we doing it? Why is the median age of a young Catholic leaving the Church at 23 years old? (Right after college).
One of the things I’ve noticed consistently across the country is that young adult movements typically are structured around events, with little follow-up beyond that. Events are necessary and fruitful – but if there is no ongoing support, things quickly lose momentum. Making a lasting impact involves a continual building up of relationships. FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, which has experienced explosive growth in the last 25 years, knows the formula, “Win. Build. Send.”
First, you must win others over, build them up to be disciples, and send them forth to be apostles. We never did it alone: always in pairs and in community. We called it “sharing life together.” But look at our culture: how much sharing do you see beyond the sharing of posts on social media? You can’t share life if you’re spread too thin, which is the complaint I hear from every other young adult. In a city like Lincoln, which has the highest capita of former FOCUS missionary alums in the country (thank you, Curtis Martin), where do you see the sharing of life and building of the Kingdom post-FOCUS? I feel bold to say so, but as a former FOCUS missionary myself, I can only speak from my lived experience. It is like pulling teeth to bring us together. I don’t want to blame my generation or say we’re not living up to the missionary call set before us. Not at all – in fact, I as well as any know the current culture does not support us in any way to live in community and form disciples. It actively opposes and distracts us from it. We all are too busy, overstretched, and disconnected.
It may be a hot take, but living out “missionary life” on campus was much easier because our lives were oriented in common. We had similar availability and proximity, and we even had a central physical space that was “ours,” Newman Centers. Having a space to claim as yours, where you feel a sense of belonging, is why our parishes are so necessary. They provide a brick-and-mortar spiritual home that we all need to identify with. But what if our parishes are not retaining young adults? What if only 17 % of young Catholics are showing up?
Then we notice them and welcome them. We look around at our parishes and we stop and talk to the lone young adult in the back. We invite them to our next signature event, or even our homes. We have coffee to build up a relationship. We create the “proverbial home” – a living movement of young adults who are hungry for belonging – and offer them a chance to reclaim space in the Church. And this is where Salt + Light fills a very big gap that is missing. And, never alone: because saints always run in packs.
If you want to learn more about Salt + Light events, visit our webpage, www.saltandlightlnk.com, or take our survey to get involved as a leader: Get Connected.
