Frequently Asked Questions

The Saint Meinrad Young Adult Initiative (YAI) announced a call for parish applications in September 2017, and 96 applications were received by the application deadline in October. The Saint Meinrad YAI project team reviewed the applications that fall and visited 27 finalists in December 2017 and January 2018. In February 2018, the YAI partner parishes were announced for Phase 1.

In Phase 2, five of the original partner parishes were chosen to continue the process of innovation and ministry. In addition, each returning parish chose a new parish in their Diocese to join Phase 2. They will be a mentor to their sister parish as they begin the work of the Young Adult Initiative in their own community.

The Saint Meinrad Young Adult Initiative is funded by a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc.

We believe this initiative will advance the mission of Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in that it is a focused outreach to the laity, which makes up the majority of our faith tradition’s members. In an age when parishes are being linked and merged and the number of clergy is limited, we must find new ways to strengthen the Church by calling all of its members to more active participation in ministry and evangelization.

By focusing on young adults, we will help them to raise up a new generation of children who are influenced by their parents’ strong affiliation to the parish congregation that springs from their daily life in the domestic church, a domestic church that is committed to living out discipleship to Christ in the Roman Catholic tradition.

We are no longer accepting applications for partner parishes. However, we encourage you to subscribe to our newsletter and welcome you to visit our website, where we will post our latest findings.

We invite anyone wanting to know more about our work or looking to find resources for ministering to and with young adults to follow our project on this website as well as on Facebook and Twitter.