Undefined: What is a young adult?
I have probably spent too much time finding ways to explain to people who are new to young adult ministry what exactly defines a young adult. As someone inching toward the far edge of young adulthood myself, I am happy to share that, by the Church’s definition, I still qualify.
The truth is, young adults are hard to define because we are full of contradictions. We want freedom, but we also want guidance. We want a fresh start, but we also want some stability. We resist labels, but are constantly searching for identity. Young adults are tough to pin down because they do not fit into neat categories. We are very much a work in progress.
Back in 1996, the USCCB defined young adulthood as ages 18 to 39. Honestly, that is a pretty bold range for back then. But this is so relevant now, when marriage, children, and many other major life milestones tend to happen later than they used to. There is something deeply honest in that wide age span. The bishops made room for someone to say, at age 38, I am still becoming an adult. In today’s ministry landscape, that space is needed. But if you place an 18 year old and a 38 year old side by side and say that both are young adults, what makes that true?
I think, in the end, it comes down to change. If we look at people in their twenties and thirties as a whole, this is the season of life with the greatest amount of expected change. It’s a time of constant transition, moving to new cities, changing jobs, dating, discerning marriage, and more. Pastors often comment on how frequently young adults come and go, and it is true. A young adult can change jobs, end a relationship, and move to a new apartment all in the same week.
That is why young adult ministry matters so much. This season of life is marked by transition, growth, and big decisions that do not wait around. An 18 year old and a 38 year old may look very different on paper, but both can be living through major choices and constant change. In that way, both are living in the middle of an unfinished story. Both are in motion. Both are becoming.
And honestly, that is not a bad thing. It’s actually one of the clearest signs of our pilgrim nature. During the young adult years, it becomes obvious that life is not something we have mastered. We are on the way.
For ministry leaders, this creates a real opportunity. In the middle of all this change and all these choices, these are years when people are asking serious questions with open minds. Young adults are asking the big questions of life with less baggage and a real desire to get things right. In the midst of all this change, they are in what you might call a wet cement moment. They are receptive. They are available. They are teachable.
Put more simply, if we believe Truth is found in the Catholic Church, and there is a vast group of people searching for truth, then what remains is the work. The Church is uniquely able to speak order into the young adult years. Our faith has never been afraid of paradox. When we minister to young adults well, we respond to many of their deepest questions with one answer. Identity, balance, and growth are all found in the life of discipleship.
If we do not reach out to them, if we do not do the work, then we leave them to be carried about by the storm. They will still ask the questions, but they will be left to stumble their way toward the answers. We can either actively welcome young adults into the life of faith, or we can passively let them wander.
The Carthusians offer a beautiful motto that resonates with these young adult years: Stat crux dum volvitur orbis. The Cross stands firm while the world turns.
In a life full of motion, Christ remains steady. In a world that keeps spinning, He is the fixed point. And in the middle of all the confusion, noise, change, and second guessing that marks young adulthood, that is very good news. We, as leaders in ministry, just have to do our part and head into the vineyard.
