Young Adults Are Looking for Community. Is Your Parish Ready to Welcome Them?

A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted a growing trend: young adults are showing up at church in numbers few would have predicted a decade ago.

The story focused on three thriving Manhattan parishes where young adults are lining up around the block to attend Mass.

We recognized the parishes mentioned in the article immediately. All three use Ministry Scheduler Pro.

There's More to the Story

As we've watched participation grow in parishes across the country, one thing has become clear: this isn't just a big-city story.

The same dynamics exist in the Twin Cities, suburban Denver, rural Iowa, and everywhere in between. And the Wall Street Journal isn't the only source noticing the trend. Recent reporting from The New York Times, Barna, and Gallup all point to the same conclusion: young adult engagement with churches and faith communities is rising, with some measures reaching their highest levels in more than a decade.

The headlines are interesting. The lessons behind them are even more useful.

After years of working alongside churches and volunteer leaders, we've noticed that the parishes attracting and engaging young adults in ministry often share the same best practices.

Here are three of them.

1. Encourage Participation Beyond the Pew

The young adults highlighted in the Wall Street Journal are doing more than attending Mass. They are also volunteering in ministries, organizing events, and becoming active members of parish life.

That's an important distinction. It's not just about attendance.

Most people don't find community by sitting anonymously in a pew. They build it by serving alongside other people.
Lectors learn names.
Greeters become a familiar face.
Hospitality teams make newcomers feel welcome.
Choir members find community during weekly rehearsals.

Participation creates belonging faster than attendance alone.

When people volunteer together, it creates opportunities for connection and community that many young adults are struggling to find elsewhere, and are actively seeking out at church.

Of course, volunteering isn't the only path to community. Small groups, coffee or pizza after Mass, and parish events all play an important role. For many young adults, community begins when they're invited to join in.

2. Show People There's a Place for Them

Many active parishioners can point to a specific moment when someone noticed them and extended an invitation.
"Would you ever consider helping with this ministry?"
"You have a gift for this role."
"This is a great way to meet people—would you be interested?"

Personal invitations remain one of the most effective ways to encourage participation. It sends a message: There's a place for you here.

That's especially true for young adults, many of whom are looking for community… but may not know where they fit—or whether they're needed. When young adults serve in liturgical ministry or volunteer at church events, they become visible members of the parish. Other newcomers see them and begin to imagine themselves participating too.

A personal invitation often accomplishes more than a dozen bulletin announcements because it helps someone move from wondering whether they belong to knowing they do.

3. Adapt to Modern Volunteer Expectations

Many young adults are intentionally making church a priority.

They're also busy. Often they're juggling work, graduate school, family, social events, travel, and other commitments. When they join a faith community, they genuinely want to fit ministry into their calendars. Churches can make the next step easier for them.

The parishes attracting and retaining young adults recognize that participation needs to be flexible enough to fit their modern lives. They don't expect an interested volunteer to call a phone number in the bulletin, leave a voicemail, and wonder whether anyone received it while waiting for a response.

Instead, there is a clear path from interest to participation. That often includes:

• Training opportunities offered at different times, including evenings and weekends
• Ministry schedules that are easy to access from a phone
• Reminders and calendar syncing that help volunteers stay organized
• The ability to update availability as work, school, and family schedules change

Young adults have spent their entire lives in the digital age. Making parish ministry accessible through the tools they already use doesn't replace in-person community—it helps them participate more fully in it.

The Lesson Behind the Headlines

The recent attention around young adult participation has sparked an encouraging conversation.

People are still looking for connection, purpose, and a way to contribute to something larger than themselves.

The parishes best positioned to welcome young adults aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or newest facilities.

They're often the ones that practice hospitality. They're the parishes inviting people to serve, making participation accessible, and creating pathways for meaningful connection.

And while the headlines may focus on young adults, the lesson extends far beyond a single generation.
It's a reminder that people are far more likely to stay connected to a parish when they have a meaningful role to play in its mission.

When people are invited to contribute, they become invested.

When they become invested, they help shape the life of the Church for years to come.