“Oh yeah, I didn’t get to Mass yesterday. I should try to go next week.”

I have a distinct memory of the first time a friend said this to me.

I was 19 or 20 and was catching up with a friend and had offhand mentioned something from Sunday Mass the day before.

This was a good friend–we had grown up together in large Catholic families. We had met at a Catholic youth event. She had been homeschooled and had always taken theology while growing up.

In the moment, I didn’t even know how to formulate a response because it was so unexpected…people like her didn’t just stop going to Mass…right?

Over the next few years, I had more friends casually mention that they were no longer practicing.

I had friends share with me that their sister no longer goes to Mass.

For some of my friends, they are the last practicing Catholic in their immediate family.

Perhaps this is old news to you–after all, isn’t it a cliche that “kids leave the Church when they go to college”…but is that what’s really happening?

As rates of teenagers and young adults “opting out” of a traditional 4 year college experience continue to increase, the rate of this same group leaving the Church has continued.

College seems less of a cause then simply the place where we see the effect–rather, something that occurred EARLIER that is only revealed when teenagers and young adults leave their parents’ home (and parish) that this lapse is made manifest.

So, what can be done? What actually happened before these kids left home? And when in their development of faith did it occur?

While there are incredible organizations working to reengage young adults who have left the faith (many operating on college campuses), what can we do NOW to prevent this from happening in the future?

Rather than simply waiting for a “search and rescue” situation AFTER they’ve left, what can we do RIGHT NOW when they are still in our homes to stem the tide?

This summer, the team at Holy Heroes had a really serious conversation about how we could stem the tide of kids leaving the Church when they leave home.

We do a GREAT job of engaging young children in Mass and the Rosary and the Saints…but are we addressing the root reason kids are leaving the Church when they leave home?

After a lot of thought, we hatched a plan that has been coming to fruition over the last few weeks.

We will be unveiling this project in a few weeks.

Truly, this is the best thing I have ever helped create and I believe this is what Catholic families are in desperate need of right now.

NOTE: Our new program will have limited availability. Sign up to be alerted immediately so you can sign up before we close enrollment.

PS–My Dad discusses some research that reinforces the direction we are heading with this new program–click the graphic below to see his blog post (short video) about it. But FIRST: enter your email to be notified and forward this to your friends. too!