Diocese of Joliet

Young Adult Ministry

Paul Jarzembowski, Director

St. Charles Borromeo Pastoral Center

402 South Independence Blvd.

(located at Rt. 53 at Airport Road)

Romeoville, Illinois 60446-2264

(815) 834-4047 (ph)

(815) 834-4067 (fx)

pjarzembowski@dioceseofjoliet.org

www.dioceseofjoliet.org/yam/

Our mission to help connect young adults to Jesus Christ, the Church, the mission of the Church in the world, and to a peer community (from "Sons & Daughters of the Light") in area parishes and throughout the Diocese of Joliet.

About the Diocesan Director

Paul Jarzembowski

Paul has been the Director of Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Joliet since 2006. He is also the Executive Director of the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association (NCYAMA), a national network of dioceses and parishes and a resource provider for young adult ministry best practices across the country. He also serves as an advisor to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, DC, on issues of young adult ministry and evangelization.

Paul is a popular speaker on faith and film and is the author of the forthcoming book, Spiritual Popcorn: Finding God in Your Favorite Movies. He also reviews secular films from a Catholic Christian perspective on his blog, www.spiritualpopcorn.blogspot.com.

He speaks and writes to adults of all ages on a number of topics and issues, especially young adult culture and evangelization, leadership in the church, young adult enpowerment, the Bible (especially the prophets), Catholic social teaching, faithful citizenship, Ignatian spirituality, parenting young adults, and of course, film.

Paul is also a graduate student at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago, and lives with his wife Sarah in their home in Plainfield, Illinois.

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Who are young adults?

Young adults are persons in their late teens, twenties, and thirties who represent diverse cultural, racial, ethnic, education, vocational, social, political, and spiritual backgrounds. They are college and university students, workers, and professionals; they are persons in military service; they are single, married, divorced, or widowed; they are with or without children; the are newcomers in search of a better life.

(from the "National Directory on Catechesis," pg. 195)

What is Young Adult Ministry?

Young Adult Ministry is an intentional ministry and outreach to those in their late teens, twenties, and thirties, with the goals of connecting young adults with Jesus Christ, the Church, the mission of the Church in the world, and a peer comunity in which their faith is nurtured and strengthened.

(adapted from "Sons & Daugters of the Light," pgs. 25-26)