Greetings!
"Evangelization is the mission of the Church, not just of a few, but my, your, our mission... Let us feel within us the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing. Because evangelizing, announcing Jesus, brings us joy!" - Pope Francis Hello! By way of introduction, my name is Matt Karr and I am the mission center director for Saint Paul's Outreach(SPO) in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. SPO has been invited by the Archdiocese to do college campus ministry work and post-college young adult outreach in the Archdiocese at Benedictine College, Johnson County Community College, and among post-college young adults in the Kansas City area. I want to inform you of our mission in the Archdiocese, ask for your prayers, and connect you with our resources for young adults both in and out of college.
Saint Paul's Outreach is a national organization founded in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1985. We have mission centers in 7 states, SPO exists to help students on college campuses and post-college young people find a personal relationship with Christ in the fullness of the Church.
The need is fairly clear - college campuses and young adult culture are battlegrounds for the minds and souls of our young people, and many are leaving the Church. Only 14% of Catholics in college and after college attend weekly Mass. Young adults are hungry for truth and meaning but most are not being reached effectively. Saint Paul's Outreach (SPO) reaches these young adults, bringing them back to Christ and the fullness of the Catholic faith. We build evangelistic communities that provide a unique quality and depth of formation in the Catholic faith and life. Saint Paul's Outreach has produced thousands of alumni who are passionate followers of Christ and who continue to shine His light in the world long after they have graduated. They are renewing the Church and evangelizing the culture.
 
Locally, SPO's missionaries stepped foot on Johnson County Community College campus one month ago. We were just approved by the student senate to become the first Catholic club in the JCCC's history. We are kicking off our work with the first Mass on campus this Friday, October 4 - Fr. Andrew Strobl will preside at the Liturgy. In addition, we are beginning a a women's bible study next Wednesday called "In His Image" on Mondays at 11am and Fridays at 2pm on campus. For the men, we are beginning a program called "Dangerous Men" next week which will run on Wednesday afternoons at 2:30pm. In addition, we will have a weekly prayer meeting and presentation on JCCC's campus on Fridays at noon.
SPO has also been asked by the Archdiocese to do work with post-college young adults in the Kansas City area. SPO runs a formation program for post-college young adults that meets on the first Saturday and third Monday nights of each month. The formation program is critical to helping our young people grow as disciples of Jesus, in community, and in becoming missional in their approach to life. Currently, we have over 40 young adults committed to the formation program for the year. In addition to the formation program, SPO has established households on in the area - the women's house is in Prairie Village and the men's house is in Overland Park. SPO hosts Lord's Day dinners for young adults each month on Saturday evening - our next Lord's Day dinner for young adults is Saturday, October 19 at 5pm at the men's house in the OP.
Lastly, our SPO mission leaders in Kansas City have been doing street prayer ministry in places we do not normally see the Catholic Church, but places where lots of young people hang out - Westport, the Plaza, and the Power and Light district. We have had the opportunity to pray with nearly 100 young adults on the streets this past month and continue to do outreach in these places on Thursday nights.
Thank you so much for your time! If you have any more questions on Saint Paul's Outreach, would like to connect, or know of people we should be in contact with, please send me an e-mail.
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