The Young Adult Leaders of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland: A Qualitative Study on the New Generation of Volunteer Leaders in Parish Ministry

Young adults are important to the Catholic Church as they are responsible for helping parish ministries continue to grow and thrive in a community. In the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, it is important to recognize how to best retain young adults who serve as volunteer leaders for parish ministries. In this qualitative instrumental, single case study, 30 interviews were conducted with young adults who have served as volunteer leaders in parishes for at least two years. From the study, four themes emerged to help answer the research question, which was to discover what motivates young adults in the Catholic churches in the Diocese of Cleveland to volunteer in leadership roles, and how they perceive the support provided by the Church to remain engaged in those positions. The four themes included the participants’ introduction to volunteerism in the Catholic Church, their motivations for involvement in the Catholic Church, factors to encourage continued involvement in the future, and factors that discouraged continued involvement in the future. The recommendations from this study, specifically a series of listening sessions to seek young adults’ feedback, increased young adult representation on leadership teams, and increased opportunities to foster a life of service at an early age, can be used to assist the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Parish Life Office, specifically in the areas of young adult ministry and Lay Ecclesial Ministry.

Grantor dc:publisher

Creighton University

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Lowes-Bolin, Megan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Georges, Leah

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright is retained by the Author. A non-exclusive distribution right is granted to Creighton University and to ProQuest following the publishing model selected above.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/130396

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:cdr.creighton.edu:10504/130396