Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry

Why We're Here

The world is simply not the same as it was just a few years ago.  The days of CYO dances and making crafts with popsicle sticks and yarn are over...thank God!

Youth and Young Adult Ministers need support, opportunities to collaborate, and access to resources that address the real challenges and joys of working with today's young Church.  The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Evansville exists for these reasons:  We are the ministers to the ministers of youth and young adults.

Not the "Future" of the Church, but the Church Today

Youth and young adults are no more the "future" of the Church than older Catholics are the "past" of the Church.  Youth and young adults are changing the world, and they need ministers to walk beside, to guide, to support, and to point them toward Jesus Christ.

How We Can Help

The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry assists, supports and provides direct and indirect services for all who minister to the young Church.  Whether a full-time Youth Minister, Campus Minister, or a parish volunteer, we exist to provide the tools and support necessary to cultivate a life-long relationship between the youth to whom you minister and Jesus Christ.

Parish Consultative Services

The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, commissioned by the Bishop, is focused on serving parishes through consultative services.
The office offers a wide variety of parish services including, but not limited to the following:
  • Resources for Parish Pastoral Councils
  • Organizational basics for parish Family Life or Youth Commissions
  • Offerings in adult volunteer management
  • Formation Programs for adults who serve youth (in conjunction with the Offices of Adult Formation and Liturgy & Worship)
  • Consultations on effective strategies for incorporating youth into the mission and ministry of the parish
  • Resources for Family Life (with adolescents)
  • Resources for Young Adult Ministry

OYAYA Mission

The Mission of the Office for Youth and Young Adult Ministry is to support, provide collaborative opportunities to, and  access to resources for those who minister to the young Church.  We exist to be ministers to the ministers of today’s youth and young adults:  Without our ministers, we have no ministry.

Events

For more details about the programs, pilgrimages, and other events related to the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, click on any of the links below. For a calendar listing of OYAYA events, click here.​

Catholic Campus Ministry

The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry represents the Diocese of Evansville to the colleges and universities located within the diocese.  Through campus Newman Centers and Newman Clubs, we seek to evangelize and catechize the academic community by means of a broad ministry which forms the faith community, appropriates the faith, forms Christian conscience, educates for justice, facilitates personal development, and develops leaders for the future.

Catholic Campus Ministry provides a vital and vibrant connection between the Church and Higher Education. Following the principles outlined in Empowered by the Spirit: Campus Ministry Faces the Future, the pastoral letter on campus ministry issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Campus Ministry in the Diocese of Evansville is designed to address each of these areas.

"We see the Church entering into the very heart of the academic community, challenging faculty, staff, students and institutions with the claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  In this vision, campus ministry is both a ministry of evangelization and a ministry of catechesis."
-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Empowered By The Spirit: Campus Ministry Faces the Future (Washington, D.C.: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Inc., 1985).

Campuses Served

Click on images below to Newman Center/Club websites.