Welcome Young Adult Core Teams!
If you are visiting this page, it is likely because God has called you to form a Young Adult Ministry (YAM) within your parish. The Diocese of Orlando, through the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, is here to support you in that mission.
On this page you will find resources that will be helpful as you form a new Core Team of leaders or as you continue to form the leaders you currently have. One this is certain, good leaders are important in developing a thriving, parish based, YAM.
Vision for Young Adult Ministry: The US Bishops have given us a wonderful vision for YAM in the document Sons and Daughters of the Light which you can find outlined here. All of our training is prepared with this document in mind.
Principles for Ministry with Young Adults: Every parish has YAM, although some aren’t aware of it! If your parish offers Marriage or Baptismal prep, you are ministering to young adults. If your parish has anyone attending Mass between the ages of 18-39, you are ministering to young adults. Many of the parents of those participating in faith formation programs are young adults. How is your parish ministering to them? In Sons and Daughters of the Light, the US Bishops have outlined some basic principles for YAM within the parish that can be found here.
Job Description for YAM: Ideally, every parish would have a person on staff whose is responsible for YAM. If your parish is able to offer this, a sample of a YAM job description can be found here. Most parishes, however, are not able to have a full time YAM Coordinator on staff. Instead, DREs and Youth Ministers are asked to manage this ministry along with their many others. This is where a well-formed Core Team comes in!
Core Team Discernment: If you are just beginning, pray as you discern who in your parish might be called to be a part of a YA Core Team. It is helpful to invite young adults who are already active in the parish in other ways, and you will want to include people who are a variety of ages/stages in life. For example, you wouldn’t want a Core Team of all singles or all couples. Having a diverse group will help to ensure that you have a diverse ministry, serving the greatest number of YAs.
Core Team Guidelines: As you develop this leadership team, you will want to be clear about the responsibilities and expectations of those in this leadership position. This will help alleviate problems down the road! You can find a sample of Core Group Guidelines here. I recommend that you show these to those you invite to serve in YA leadership, and allow them time to discern if they are able to make such a commitment.
Parish Ministry Vision: Once the Core Team is formed, it is important to be sure all members of leadership share a vision for the ministry. To that end, it is recommended that a YAM Vision Statement be developed. A sample Vision Statement can be found here.
Here in the Diocese of Orlando, we are blessed to have a Bishop who is conscious of the value of YAM. Bishop Noonan shares the vision of the USCCB, and is anxious to serve the YAs in our diocese. He has enlisted the help of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry in this endeavor, and we are excited to be a part of this mission.
If after looking over these documents you have additional questions or would like someone from our office to come to your parish to work with your Core Team, please contact Amanda Livermore at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Other Helpful Documents:
Event Marketing Checklist Sample
Core Team Training - Forming a Parish Young Adult Ministry Core Team
In this section, you will find handouts to assist you in forming a parish core team for young adult ministry. If you need additional assistance in forming a young adult ministry, please contact the Office and Young Adult ministry at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Core Team Training - Taking Young Adult Deeper
Here you will find a PDF of a PowerPoint presentation (click here to download) designed to assist your core team in designing events/ministries that will take the young adults you serve deeper into their faith.
Please visit the following websites for additional information.
Center for Ministry Development - Publications for Young Adults (link to: http://secure.cmdnet.org/index.cfm )
NCYAMA - National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association (link to: http://www.ncyama.org/ )
USCCB - United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (link to: http://www.usccb.org/ )
