Hope pastoral will welcome young adults to Church

Staff Writer

Thirty-year-old Mickie Baldwin thought it would be easy to register at the parish she grew up in.

While on maternity leave after having her second child, she stopped by the parish office to register before picking up her preschooler enrolled in the parish school's pre-kindergarten program. She was received by a parish employee, who was put out by her request.

"I was told I needed to schedule an appointment, that I needed to have an interview, that this isn't the way it's done," Mrs. Baldwin explained. "I told her that I could fill out the form and leave it with her if it would be easier. The employee got even more flustered. I then told her that I'd been coming to the church for 20 years. She wanted to know why I hadn't registered before - in an unpleasant tone."

Getting mad

Mrs. Baldwin, a room mother, the Catholic School Network contact at the parish school and a graduate of the school, was upset at the way she was "welcomed" into the parish after moving back to Schenectady.

"I was mad," she told The Evangelist. "I had a time deadline. The whole thing could have been done on the phone. It didn't need to be difficult. It's easier to get a library card. My previous parish was much friendlier to young families."

Mrs. Baldwin is not alone in her frustration with parish life. The diocesan Task Force on Young Adulthood listened to similar stories from adults ages 18 to 35 as it studied the needs of this age group.

National response

On a national level, the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Laity recognized the needs of young adults and began a two-year effort to develop a pastoral plan for young adulthood.

At their fall meeting, the bishops approved the result: a pastoral plan for young adult ministry. Titled "Sons and Daughters of the Light," the plan is designed to help the Church meet the needs of this age group.

The pastoral plan describes the lifestyle and needs of this age group, firmly states that young adults deserve the attention of the Church, and offers a comprehensive plan for ministering to them. The four goals of this ministry are to connect young adults with the Church, Jesus Christ, the mission of the Church in the world, and a community of their peers.

The plan is written to encourage people in leadership positions in Church life to recognize, support and motivate ministry to people in this age group.

Local reaction

For Carrie Mazzrillo, chairperson of the diocesan Young Adult Commission, a board that was an outgrowth of the Task Force which completed its work in 1995, the pastoral plan presents many opportunities.

"I'm very excited," Mrs. Mazzrillo said. "They did a great job, and we're looking forward to implementing it."

While the Commission is still planning ways to assist parishes in implementing the plan, members of the commission are available to speak to parish leadership.

"We have an outreach committee which can give talks to parishes or sit down with them to educate them on the needs of young adults," she said.

Already in place

While the plan suggests specific ways to reach out to this age group -- like utilizing the Internet to inform young adults of parish events or going to health clubs or the workplace to be present to them -- ministry to young adults doesn't mean that new parish programs must be developed, she said.

Mrs. Mazzrillo explained that ministry to young adults can mean simply making sure the time of an activity, like a prayer meeting, is convenient for young adults, or offering babysitting services on site.

The bishops agreed. In the plan, they state: "This plan suggests a more dynamic and inclusive approach by involving young adults in the life of the local faith community and by developing specific initiatives within the young adult community."

The plan offers suggestions on how to use existing parish programs to attract this age group. For example, adult religious education and formation programs can be particularly attractive to this age group that has many questions and misconceptions about Church teaching. The plan suggests topics like relationships, intimacy, family life, workplace ethics, and dealing with life's pain as topics for this age group. The plan also suggests utilizing video tapes, CD-ROMs and the Internet for adult catechesis.

Single adults

Key moments can also serve to invite young adults to fuller participation in the Church. Those include marriage and baptismal preparation. The document lists ways the parish can make such events positive, inviting experiences.

But the young adult age group is made up of more than just engaged couples and new families. Often, the most forgotten group in Church life are single young adults.

"Today, a sizable number of men and women remain single during their late teens, twenties and thirties," the plan states. "It is important for the Church to have an appropriate ministry with single Catholics. Many single people speak of feeling left out of parish life when the focus is solely on families."

Wide application

Mrs. Mazzrillo acknowledged that many of the things young adults are looking for from the Church apply to other age groups as well. "It applies to all adults," she said. "But in the past, young adults haven't been recognized. They've been lost in the cracks."

While the pastoral plan was designed for this age group, she said much of the information could be used when working with other age groups as well. "It' a universal document," she said.

Until ministry to this age group is common, the pastoral plan serves to acknowledge the experiences of this age group. In the preface to the pastoral plan, the bishops write: "We acknowledge the pain many of you speak of in feeling unwelcome and alone. For this lack of hospitality, we apologize and promise anew greater efforts to welcome you into Church life. No one should ever enter a Catholic church for Mass, or at any other time, and feel unwelcome."

(For more information on "Sons and Daughters of the Light" or the Young Adult Commission, contact the Family Life Office at 453-6677.)

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