Michal Horace of Portland, OR, has joined the staff of Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, St. Meinrad, IN. Michal is the director of a new program called the Young Adult Initiative.
In December, Saint Meinrad was awarded a $1.38 million grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. to begin an initiative intended to improve parish outreach to young adults and better engage them with the Catholic Church. The Lilly Endowment is based in Indianapolis and awarded this grant as part of a $19 million ecumenical project involving 12 Christian organizations.
During the initial phase of the five-year project, a group of parishes will be selected to collaborate with and to identify and engage young adults (ages 23-29) in parish life.
Most recently, Horace served as director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Portland. From 1997 until 2001, he served as associate director, and then director, of the Office of Youth Ministry at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville, IL. He also worked for Assumption Catholic Church in St. Louis as coordinator of youth ministry.
Other experience in youth ministry includes serving as chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ World Youth Day-Krakow Advisory Committee, as a member of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry Board of Directors, and as a board member of Catholic Youth Foundation-USA.
Horace received a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from the University of Portland. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Saint Louis University.