- St. Joseph Catholic Church

Thursday, August 2, 2018, 7:00 PM

Location: Rectory

AN INVITATION TO YOUNG ADULTS

A couple of months ago, I extended an invitation to young adults in the parish (or in the area) to stop by for an open-ended conversation about your relationship with the Church. This invitation was the result of a discussion among members of our Parish Pastoral Council as well as a discussion with a couple of young adults I see on a regular basis on weekends. The invitation occurred in May which, as a mother pointed out to me later, was probably not the ideal time since her college-age son and most others were not yet home for the summer. That might be at least one reason why no one showed up on the two days I offered to be available.

So, before the summer is over, I’d like to extend that invitation one more time—on Thursday, August 2^nd, at 7:00p.m. here at the rectory. We have a nice, comfortable living room that is hardly ever used, and it would provide a relaxed environment for a casual conversation about the role of the Church in the lives of young Catholics. The questions I’d like to ask you are:

Why do you go/not go to Church? What inspires you or turns you off?
What would you like to see the Church do to make young adults (20 and 30-somethings) feel more welcome?
What opportunities could the parish provide to help you feel more connected?
How would you suggest we reach out to young adults in our community?
What other questions/concerns/suggestions would you have?

Those are my questions, but I’d actually be more interested in any questions you might have for me and especially your suggestions for reaching out more effectively to your demographic.

So if you’re in that age group (even pushing 40!), whether you’re in college, single or married (with or without children), it would be tremendously helpful to hear about your experiences of Church and faith in this busy, crazy world. If you have any questions ahead of that date or would be able to let me know that you plan to stop by, feel free to call me at 708-798-0622, ext. 2, or e-mail me at rkyfes@posjhomewood.org. It would also be nice to know who and how many might show up on August 2 ^nd, but that’s not absolutely necessary. And one more thing: this will be a completely non-judgmental conversation. I just want to know what you’re thinking and feeling about the role of the Church in a 21 ^st century world and in your own lives.

Fr. Bob