If you want a taste of the world’s best barbecue hot off the grill, you go to Kansas City, Mo.

These days you might also head that way if you’d like to meet young-adult Catholics who are on fire for the faith. If you go, take notes — what they’re doing in the city known as the “Heart of America” can be emulated, if not duplicated, anywhere young Catholics congregate.

“I could not have asked for a better young-adult Catholic community,” says Kasia Szymanek, a second-year medical student at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine. “I am constantly amazed by all of the Catholic activities going on.”

Szymanek helps organize a number of monthly events that complement, or are part of, the City on a Hill young-adult ministry of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Regularly held gatherings in the area include Theology on Tap, Tuesdays@The Boulevard — a monthly young-adult Mass on Tuesday evenings, followed by dinner at a local restaurant, which typically draws a crowd of 200 — and Soul Food, a group that gathers to study the Bible and share the faith.

Sports leagues, known collectively as Catholic Challenge, and monthly mission outreach and social outings are also offered. Plus retreat planning is underway.

Ministering to this demographic is essential, according to Carrie Kafka, director of young adult and campus ministry for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph. “Within the Church, there are many young adults who feel they don’t belong in any particular group,” she says. “They are no longer high-school students, so they cannot necessarily get involved in youth groups. And most have completed college, where they may have found their niche at the Newman Center.”

“If they don’t get married and begin having children soon after they are done with school, it can be difficult for them to feel as if they have a place,” adds Kafka. “This is why it is crucial for the Church to invest in young-adult ministry.”

Stephanie Wood, coordinator of NextWave Faithful, an online outreach to young Catholic adults, and host of “NextWave Live” on EWTN radio, knows the value of young-adult ministry. “Young adults are looking for their purpose,” she says. “They want to find God’s will for their lives. It’s extremely important to offer them an opportunity to see the Church as a home.”

Specialized, targeted ministries offer young adults a way to meet like-minded young Catholics while helping them grow in holiness.

“They want to meet people with the same convictions,” Kafka says. “Essentially we want to foster virtuous relationships and opportunities to grow in holiness for young adults in the Church.”

Hope ’Lanta

Nor is Kansas City the only young-adult city on the proverbial hill.

Down South, Dorothy Polchinski, director of young-adult ministry for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, is also well aware that young adults want to be involved. “They have a desire to be connected,” she says. “They are hungering for something more in life.”

The Archdiocese of Atlanta has been committed to providing young adults with a solid ministry for the past decade. It offers activities like Thank God It’s First Friday (a monthly Mass and social), Theology on Tap and Holy Grounds, a Lenten coffeehouse speaker series. The ministry office is currently developing a small-group initiative called Breathe. Other offerings: To Encounter Christ retreat program, Atlanta Catholic Sports, and Spirit and Truth, a Eucharistic adoration group, as well as mission trips and pilgrimages. Plans are being made to attend World Youth Day 2008 in Australia.

This past June, Revive! — the young-adult track at the archdiocese’s annual Eucharistic Congress held in conjunction with the Feast of Corpus Christi — drew more than 600 young adults. Other events see groups of 50 to 100.

Meeting young adults “where they’re at” is crucial, according to Polchinski. “Of course, the perfect example of inculturation is Jesus,” she quips. “He became one of us.”

“Investing in young adults is a win-win situation,” Polchinski adds. “They come with their energy and enthusiasm, as well as various gifts that enhance parish life. We’ve seen many young adults here in Atlanta who give so much back to the Church, from community service to volunteering in their parish.”

“We have many young adults here who have served in various liturgical roles. Many have even responded to the priesthood or religious life,” she says. “Here in Atlanta the young adults are not just being fed; they are making a difference in the universal Church.”

If there’s one generalization you can make about young adults today, it’s that they’re all wired. That means Internet-based communications are essential, young-adult organizers agree.

The website of the Atlanta Archdiocese’s young-adult ministry features a calendar as well as podcasts from recent events. Weekly and monthly e-mails announce archdiocesan and parish-based events. City on a Hill also advertises upcoming events through e-mails and postings on the diocesan and Catholic Challenge websites.

And online evangelization goes beyond the announcement of events. Often young-adult Catholics rely on online communities for meaningful connections, as not all dioceses and parishes are as pro-active as Kansas City and Atlanta.

“Young adults live and work all over the place, but they’re all online,” Wood says. “Young-adult Catholics are online looking for people who are at the same stage in life as they are.”

Catholic website developer Brian Barcaro agrees with Wood’s assessment.

“Young adults are the most transient group in the Church and the least likely to be associated with a parish group,” he says. “Yet many young adults turn to online forums to find people with similar values.”

Barcaro is a cofounder and partner at Acolyte, LLC. The Pennsylvania-based company manages Catholic Match, the largest Catholic singles website, and 4marks, a family-friendly Catholic social networking site named for the four marks of the Church: one, holy, Catholic and apostolic. The 4marks site has approximately 200,000 users.

Although parish groups and online communities are a start, Wood encourages young adults to address their own ministry needs.

“Ask not what your parish can do for you, but what you can do for your parish,” she says. “Someone has to have the courage to put the wheels in motion.”

Amy Smith writes from

Geneva, Illinois.