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Catholic 20-Somethings Ministry Timeline

Written by Elridge D'Mello

Wednesday, 20 June 2007

2005

May
Jen Jones meets with St. Theresa Catholic Church business administrator about starting a young adult group for the parish

June
Invitation letters are mailed out to all young adults in their 20s registered at St. Theresa’s

August
First official 20-Somethings event: Happy Hour at El Arroyo Restaurant

Group starts meeting for the Sunday 5 p.m. Mass and going out for dinner afterward

Jen Jones meets with Diocese of Austin’s Office of Campus and Young Adult Ministry about receiving diocesan support

Monthly forums featuring speakers talking about topics relevant to young Catholic adults begin

September
Group begins playing weekly indoor volleyball with the St. Theresa Catholic Singles

^¹Membership opens up diocesan-wide, receiving members from Pflugerville to central Austin to Buda

December
Ski trip to Breckenridge, Colo.

2006

January
Official Web site (www.Catholic20Somethings.com) and e-mail list ( ) launches

March
Group participates in Catholic Charities Adopt-A-Family program for Hurricane Katrina victims

June
^²First Leadership Team forms (Jen Jones, Matt Bogner, Chauncy Howell, Melissa Kanzelberger, Melissa Vogel and Katie Weber)

Service project of the month and monthly new member happy hours instated

Indoor volleyball moves to sand volleyball at St. Thomas More Catholic Church (Catholic Singles no longer play with the group)

July
Ministry co-founds with Before the Throne, a Catholic praise and worship band, the Christ Unites Young Adult Music Festival (an interdenominational music festival for young adults held at City Hall Plaza)

August
^³First official 20-Somethings retreat

September
^⁴Small groups begin (two coed groups and two single sex groups)

November
Prayer e-mail list created ( )

All girls small group disbanded

Monthly forums discontinued

2007

January
^⁵Leadership Team resolves that 20-somethings who turn 30-something have a grace period to remain in the ministry until they are able to find another ministry to fit in with

February
Spiritual activity of the month instated

March
Second round of small groups (four coed topically-based groups and one coed book-based group)

April
Prayer Team begins meeting monthly

May
First Leadership Team day retreat

1 Opening up membership from just St. Theresa parishioners to include any Catholic young adults from Austin expanded the group’s members and increased participation, allowing those young adults who attend churches without a young adult ministry an avenue to grow in their faith and meet other Catholic young adults.

2 Forming a Leadership Team changed the direction of the ministry in that it allowed a group of people from different backgrounds and levels of spirituality to focus on the different goals of the ministry.

3 The first retreat, which led into small groups, changed the direction of the ministry, reaffirming the group’s focus on being not only a social group, but more importantly, a spiritual group.

4 Small groups, being a weekly commitment, provided the most spiritual growth for the ministry. It allowed open faith discussions among a small number of people (10-15) and was thus able to provide spiritual nourishment for the various spirituality levels in the ministry.

5 With the spiritual direction of a priest, this issue was resolved by the Leadership Team upon reaffirming the ministry’s mission statement to strictly minister to those young adults between the ages of 20 to 30.