Seeking the next step
From left, Zach Fuhrmann, Matthew Fuhrmann and Manny Alvarez at the St. Philip the Apostle Parish young adult Prayer Night Potluck on May 30 in Corinth. (Photo by Kevin Bartram)
Catholic adults in their 20s and 30s are in a unique season of life. Many face major transitions such as finding a job, a place to live, and a new parish while learning to navigate independent living. To deepen their faith alongside other like-minded adults in their age group, good resources and community opportunities exist for the young adult seeking more.
Where work meets faith
With 40-plus chapters nationwide, Young Catholic Professionals is designed to be a “next step” for working adults — those who have completed high school or college — who want to connect with one another.
Andrew Lamis, director of membership for YCP’s Fort Worth chapter, has observed finding a young working adult community with similar values is not easy. “It’s your choice to pursue God and find that community, but it’s harder to find and takes more of your own effort,” he said. “Not every parish has the resources for people in our age group.”
YCP strives to address the challenges young adults face when trying to live out their Catholic faith in a secular workplace. Networking opportunities, speaker’s series, social gatherings, and spiritual retreats encourage and support its members.
Lamis emphasized that growing in faith, as well as one’s profession, is a choice. “You can’t just have a foundation and let it sit; you have to keep building upon it,” he said.
At the parish level
Biviana Esparza was involved with a vibrant Catholic campus ministry during her years at the University of North Texas. Upon returning to her home parish, St. Peter the Apostle in White Settlement, she looked in vain for a similar community.
St. Peter’s previous pastor, Father Pedro Martinez, invited her to establish a young adult group, where she served as volunteer coordinator for three years. I knew it wasn’t just about my spiritual growth,” she said. “I wanted other people to meet Jesus like I met Jesus in college and have an encounter with the Lord that I had.
The group participates in a variety of events, planned to attract both Hispanic and non-Hispanic Catholics. “It’s a big challenge — how to serve all young adults at the same time, both their spiritual and social needs,” she said. “We don’t want people to feel excluded.
Esparza sees young adult ministry as an important support system within a parish, offering accountability and friendship as individuals consider their vocation.
Looking for community
Father Brett Metzler, diocesan director of vocations and Nolan Catholic High School chaplain, believes young adults struggle with isolation, especially after they leave an engaging Catholic college experience.
“They go back home and wonder where their community is,” said Fr. Metzler. “It makes all other challenges a lot harder because it feels like they are doing life alone.”
What best prepares young adults for their next steps is taking spiritual and sacramental life seriously by studying, knowing, and living the faith, Fr. Metzler said. “If young adults want community and a more joyful and fulfilled life, they have to find the courage to be intentional about seeking it,” he said. “You can’t just float and expect to go upstream, you have to swim hard. We are trying to provide opportunities to do that,” such as the semiannual diocesan Young Adult Mass.
Intentional efforts at the parish level are just as necessary. “A parish group that’s run by people who know what young adults go through is great,” Fr. Metzler said.
Homegrown formation
Sissel Anderson started working at St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Flower Mound as the lead young adult coordinator in April 2024 after voluntarily co-leading the group for three years.
These years are critical for nurturing a daily prayer habit and spiritual enrichment, she said. “There is a lot of discernment happening in these young adult years — relationships, jobs, family, life. If we don’t have an established relationship with God, we’re not going to be guided by the Holy Spirit about the decisions we need to make. Discernment becomes that much harder.”
In addition to two spiritual formation events each month, young adults at St. Philip look for ways to serve the parish.
“We always try to integrate more into parish life,” explained Anderson. “There’s a temptation for young adults to be separated from parish life, but we try to partner with what the parish is doing — attend, volunteer, and help more. Be open and inspired to work with your parish and help it grow.”
Anderson and Esparza agree that the success of young adult ministries in the diocese relies on assistance, promotion, and budgetary support from individual parishes and their leadership. Anderson said, “This is a ministry that is valid; it is the up-and-coming Church.”
Take the lead
Anderson said many resources in young adult ministry are focused on marriage and dating. However, for young adults discerning religious vocations, annual diocesan opportunities are designed to help.
For young men, Father Maurice Moon, director of Collegian Seminarian Formation at St. Joseph Seminary College in Louisiana, recommends the Vocation Awareness Weekend at the University of Dallas held each summer, as well as the fall and spring “Come and See” weekends at his seminary. Young women, he said, are invited to a “Come and See” usually held in December at a convent.
These events can be life-changing for young adults, Fr. Moon asserted. “We have a skewed perspective of religious life until you see for yourself what it’s like, what they do, the ministries they are involved with, and how their life is being inspired by grace,” he said.
Whether a young adult’s future is marriage, religious life, or single life, Fr. Moon emphasized that a strong prayer and sacramental life, coupled with parish involvement, is the key for young adults who want to see God’s providence and discern His will for their future.
“God will put people in your life, and He will open doors and show you where to go,” he said. “You will have the ability to say yes to these things when you have that foundation in your relationship with God.”