The purpose of this initial meeting, which was a year in the making, was to gather information through surveys and discussions from the young adults on what they are looking for from the Church today and how they can become involved.

     Jeff Fricker, Youth Minister at St. Michael the Archangel, attended the meeting he helped plan. He said the evening was about “surveying the age group of go-getters from the individual parishes to see ‘what does a young adult group look like?’”

     In the survey, the young adults responded that some of the most important things they are looking for in the Church are spiritual growth and enrichment as well as an understanding of their faith. The young adults were also interested in the various community services in the Church and showed an interest in extended retreats and social gatherings.

     Cindee Case, the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Youngstown, was the guest speaker for the event. Her presentation on Time, Talent and Treasure focused on getting the young adults to use their talents and skills creatively in the Church. She also brought up topic ideas to get the young adults thinking about their personal spiritual journeys: where they currently are, where they’d like to be and how do they manage getting there.

     Elise Francis, a recent graduate from Walsh University and the new Youth Ministry Coordinator at St. Paul’s North Canton, felt the event was very well organized. She said for her, the night was about becoming “involved within the church and to use the gifts we are given and apply those within the Church or within the community and to help out in the capacity that we could.” She said that becoming involved means “taking that step to say ‘I’m willing to help out.’”

     After the presentation and discussions, the young adults stuck around for a pleasant social atmosphere of card games, billiards and snacks.