ILF 4:12: Discipleship Formation for Young Adults

Todd Graff, Director of Lay Formation & RCIA

Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

-1 Timothy 4:12

Greetings of Peace, Friends in Christ!

When I arrived in Winona in July of 1990 to begin my work in the diocese, I was 29 years old. (And, if you’re doing the math, you would know that I recently turned 60 years old.) I was, then, part of the “young adult” demographic – understood by our Church as “men and women in their late teens, twenties, and thirties” (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops). Now, some 31 years later, I have long since “aged out” of this demographic category. But, I do have six children who are all young adults – ranging in age from 18-29.

Much has changed in the Church over these past 30 years. The emergence of “World Youth Day” gatherings, begun during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II and continued by his successors, has brought a vibrancy to the faith of many of our young people throughout the world. The World Youth Day held in Denver, CO, in 1993, has had a deep and lasting impact on the Church in the United States and on the faith lives of countless (then) young people who participated in the event.

But, other things have changed in less positive directions. The assumption prevalent in my younger years that people may drift away from the faith in their college years only to return after being married and starting families no longer holds. Countless of our young people do, indeed, still drift away in their teens and early 20s, but far fewer now return to an active practice of the faith during their young adult years (or later).

The trend of “disaffiliation” from church membership among all age groups, but particularly among our youth and young adults, is well documented and researched. My intention here is not to present this research or to dwell on these dynamics, but rather to share a pastoral response formed from within our diocese.

Pete Burak (director of the young adult outreach of Renewal Ministries) explains in a recent video, The Young Adult Ministry Death Cycle, that the millennial generation is asking three big questions: “Who am I?” “Where do I belong?” “What is my Purpose?” As a member of the millennial generation I resonate with searching for the answers to these questions and am grateful to have had the Catholic Faith to help me in this journey. However, that wasn’t always the case.

As someone who lived a life with little faith before becoming Catholic at the age of 22, I am aware of how hard it is to find the true and meaningful answers to these questions, and how the many quick-fix answers that we are presented with from society can make this search daunting and unfulfilling. Having experienced this quest both with a faith to rely on and without it, it saddens me to know that one out of four of my peers is seeking for these same answers without the context of faith or the Church to guide and support them.

Our “ILF 4:12” initiative proposes that the Catholic Faith has meaningful answers to the questions many young adults are asking in their lives, and it seeks to provide a supportive learning environment where millennials can come together and explore the question of what it means to be a disciple in this modern time.

The Church needs disciples, and disciples need leaders filled with the Holy Spirit.

The ILF 4:12 initiative seeks to provide both.

-Camille Withrow, diocesan staff & ILF 4:12 leadership team member

It began with a conversation…

A couple of years ago, I was sitting next to Dana Petricka (then a parish faith formation leader, and now a diocesan staff colleague) at a diocesan event. I asked her about a matter that I was pondering – i.e., how our diocesan Institute of Lay Formation could be more inviting to the young adults in our diocese, and more responsive to their particular needs for formation. We had a nice conversation, and left it there.

Several months later, Dana approached me with the idea of developing a formation initiative within the Institute that would be specifically designed for young adults. She had been working with a young adult group in Rochester, and thought that a formation process in discipleship and pastoral leadership might be a valuable resource to provide for them.

We invited my colleague, Camille Withrow (a young adult herself), and Philip Lomneth (who also worked with these young adults) to join us in exploring the possibilities of such an initiative. We had our first meeting together at St. James Coffee in Rochester just before COVID hit, and then moved our meetings and planning online for the next several months.

Introducing “ILF 4:12”…

What has emerged from our prayer, discernment, conversation, and planning is, “ILF 4:12” – a new diocesan initiative which seeks to form and empower Catholic faith and leadership among young adults and foster authentic missionary discipleship. The formation process for ILF 4:12 will focus on these areas of faith and discipleship:

Pastoral Formation for Discipleship

• Faith-filled Accompaniment & Leadership

• Service & Social Mission

Spiritual Formation for Discipleship

• Encountering & Proclaiming Christ in Word and Deed

• Living and Praying a Sacramental Spirituality.

Participants will gather in Rochester for five Saturday morning sessions (held from October 2021, through May 2022) which will include time for prayer, presentation, reflection, and sharing of faith and witness. As has been true for our diocesan Institute of Lay Formation during its 23 years, formation through ILF 4:12 will take place in a context of mutual support and faith-filled community.

On behalf of our ILF 4:12 leadership team, I invite young adults in our diocese to consider and prayerfully discern their participation in this new initiative. For more information, please visit our diocesan web page (https://www.dowr.org/offices/lay-formation/ ilfyoungadult.html) and/or contact me (tgraff@dowr. org / 507-858-1270) or Dana Petricka (dpetricka@ dowr.org / 507-858-1272). Deo gratias!

Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life. The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive! He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One….

Dear young people, my joyful hope is to see you keep running the race before you…. May the Holy Spirit urge you on as you run this race. The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith. We need them! And when you arrive where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us.

-Pope Francis, Christus Vivit