HAVING A BALL!

There was a moment of quiet on the field, then a loud whap! 

Lauren Numrich, youth and young adult minister at St. Pius X Parish in Loudonville, sends a kickball soaring into the outfield of the church’s side yard. She rounds first base as her team cheers her on from behind home plate. 

People slap high-fives and root for their team members. Some players grab water from the collection of beach towels and chairs the group set up for lunch before the game. It’s a mixture of screams, laughter and Bruno Mars music playing over a loudspeaker in the background. All in all, it was a break that everybody needed. 

It was also one of the parish’s first young adult events held since COVID-19 shut down in-person gatherings. It might not be what comes to mind when you think of young adult ministry in a Catholic church, but that’s also the point. On top of offering prayerful and spiritual outings, young adult ministries want to give Catholics in their 20s and 30s a space to just hang out and meet new people. 

“After a year and half of heaviness and trials, it’s nice to just sit and be,” Numrich said. 

More than just evangelization, these age-specific gatherings are filling a need in the local community. A recent poll from YouGov.com found that 30 percent of millennials feel lonely and many 30-somethings noted it gets harder to make new friends as they age. Coupled with a year of social isolation from a global pandemic, many young adults are chomping at the bit for meeting up with new or familiar friends. 

Many youth ministries, like St. Pius X, offered Zoom gatherings for young adults during the quarantine, and other online gatherings like the diocesan-sponsored Pints with Priests: “The need for community didn’t stop just because of the pandemic,” Numrich said. 

Still, the gatherings are as much spiritual as they are social. Before the game on May 15, the group gathered together for a quick prayer. During a water break, the team down by seven points sent a prayer up for some assistance before going back to bat. 

Numrich added that there’s something special about the virtue of play and being able to get out in the world with people you like and just do something fun. 

“We’re starving for that,” Numrich said, “so let’s just play.”