Diocese of Lansing | Young Adult Ministry

Welcome to Young Adult Ministry

“In light of these insights, our ministry with young adults, who make up approximately 30 percent of the total U.S. population, must be intensified. We need to be a Church that is interested in the lives of these men and women and is willing to invite them into our community. We need to be a Church imbued with a missionary zeal for the Gospel. When young adults accept our invitation, we must welcome them, acknowledge their participation, and make room for them in all aspects of church life. This outreach is especially important to the alienated. The words of Pope Paul VI speak of the importance of this ministry: "Existing circumstances suggest to us that we should devote our attention in particular to young people. . . . It is essential that young people themselves . . . should be ever more zealous in their apostolate to their contemporaries. The Church relies greatly on such help from young people, and we ourselves have repeatedly expressed our full confidence in them." (Sons & Daughters of Light,pp.4)

Mission: We are Christ centered. We strive to provide a vision and services for the development of young adult ministry in the Diocese of Lansing, in its parishes and on its campuses, in order that young adults can experience community within the church and a call to a personal relationship with Christ. We are Catholic Christians (18-30's) who are called, active participation in the life and mission of the Church and good works.

Purpose: The Diocesan Office of Young Adult Ministry, in collaboration with parishes, seeks to fulfill the four goals of young adult ministry as identified in the USCCB document Sons and Daughters of Light :

Goals:
1. Connecting young adults with Jesus Christ
2. Connecting young adults with the Church
3. Connecting young adults with the mission of the Church
4. Connecting young adults with a peer community

Function:
1. Advocating for the importance of ministry with young adults in all ministry settings.
2. Resourcing parishes and campuses and regional settings who wish to start or enhance their young adult ministry.
3. Providing training for parish and campus young adult leaders/ministers, volunteer and paid.
4. Sponsoring diocesan level young adult programming.

Diocesan Young Adult Council meets four times a year to advise the Director of Young Adult Ministry and to assist in planning and carrying out diocesan ministries with young adults.

Staff Directory

Join with Catholic Young Adults to reflect on One God, One Church, One Mission. You will be joining Bishop Boyea from Lansing, Bishop Cepeda from the Archdiocese of Detroit, our keynote, Fr. James Conlon and over a hundred young adults for a time of fellowship and a challenge to discipleship.

Click here for more details and a link to online registration

Please consider International Samaritan if planning an international service trip for your college students or young adult groups. I have met with Oscar Dussan and was very pleased with their faith perspective and the charity in which they serve. St. Francis Assisi, Ann arbor has worked with them in the past. Peace! Love in Jesus,
Pat Rinker

Pastoral Response to Pornography

The young adult section of the Pastoral Response to Pornography begins:

" Whether through a stumble on the Internet, a dorm mate’s magazine, or a film from a friend, young adults are frequently exposed to pornographic material. Most will ignore it, some may glance in curiosity, others will begin an unfortunate journey towards addiction. The challenges of a positive, healthy, and hopeful response to pornography become compounded by the challenges of ministering to and with young adults as a whole."

Classic ministry options of gathered meetings in the parish hall are infrequently effective. New technologies lead to formation of community and even church in forms quite foreign to many attempting to minister to young adults. Thus, it is important to not only address the issues of pornography, but to do so in a manner that will appeal and be relevant to young adults. Download this file for the full young adult section filled with strategies and resources for ministry with young adults.

Young Adult Ministry Handbook

Our Young Adult Ministry Handbook is the result of a nine month collaborative process involving the work of our Diocesan Young Adult Advisory committee and readers from parish and diocesan ministries. This handbook serves to provide a vision for young adult ministry based on documents of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and the lived experience of those in ministry with young adults. It unfolds for you services and programs offered by our diocesan offices to assist you in developing ministry with young adults in parish, cluster and regional settings. For assistance in developing young adult ministry please contact our office.

Download Young Adult Ministry Handbook

Siena Heights University
Program in Theological Studies
at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing -
Ministry Formation Program

Winter, 2012 Registration Form

Please send completed form to Ministry Formation Program, 228 North Walnut Street, Lansing, MI, 48933.

Because of the new diocesan requirements for course payment, when your form is received by the office, you will receive the new payment instructions.

Please note that the Diocesan Scholarship is still in place - members of the diocese will receive ¼ scholarship remittance of the total tuition, with the approval of their pastor. ($202.50)

Just a reminder that Siena Heights University because of its commitment to support ministry in the Church has already discounted the course tuition from what one would pay if attending courses on the Adrian Campus.

Programs

Theology on Tap

Links

Veritas - A weekend to celebrate our Catholic Faith and Tradition

Faithful Citizenship - Campus and Young Adult Ministers

LANYARD, Lansing Young Adult Recreation and Devotion (young adult group for South Lansing)

Faithful Citizenship - Ideas for Ministry to Young Adults

National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association (NCYAMA)

To See Jesus.com

My Catholic Voice

Generation Christ, St. Thomas the Apostle, Ann Arbor

IHM/St Casimir Young Adult Group, LANYARD

Flint Newman Center

St. Francis of Assisi, Ann Arbor Young Adult Ministry

Busted Halo.Com