.- Ste. Marie Parish’s commitment to evangelization is taking them out to local bars.
In an effort to reach out to 20- and 30-somethings who don't go to church, the parish has booked four talks at the Strange Brew Tavern in downtown Manchester, reported the Boston Globe. The idea for their new young adult outreach is borrowed from the Theology on Tap campaign started nearly 25 years ago in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Their first presentation, "Naked & Without Shame," is scheduled for tonight and will deal with sexuality, contraception and sex and marriage. The other talks are scheduled for the following three Thursdays and are entitled "Clothed With Love," "It Ain't Easy Being Catholic Today," and "Put Out Into the Deep." This is the first event like this in the Diocese of Manchester.
Many of the parents of today's younger generation never came to church or gave their children values from that experience, says Fr. Marc Montminy.
Fr. Montminy says he recognizes a “hunger for God” in the younger generation. "So they're looking for something," he said. "And they can't find it, because I know they're looking in all the wrong places."
Parishes have identified young adults as a particularly overlooked demographic in the church. In a 2002 report to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, program administrators claimed the average age of worshippers in the U.S. was between 50 and 65.
