Young Adult Initiative

A number of studies have looked at why so many young adults are not active in their parishes or involved in organized religion. Rather than continue to ask ourselves why young people leave, Saint Meinrad hopes to focus on giving them a reason to remain active in the Catholic Church and to invite their friends to join them in parish life as well.

We believe the key to strengthening parishes lies in the renewal of Catholic identity among our young adults. We believe our efforts will enable parishes to identify ways in which they can build upon the strengths of their faith communities and reimagine opportunities that will meet the needs of young people. We believe we can strengthen parishes by guiding them through a process of self-discovery, educating them about the marks of young adulthood, and then enabling them to reach out through dynamic events, worship experiences, liturgies and fellowship opportunities aimed specifically at the young adult audience.

The key aim of the Saint Meinrad Young Adult Initiative is to accompany and challenge select Catholic parishes to innovatively engage young adults, ages 23-29, both within and outside their congregations. In time, we hope those best practices will spread to other parishes in the United States.