NCYAMA: What's the Point? 
What is the purpose of the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association? More than its mission and goals, this is an understandable question to hear from people. The Association's mission and goals are great for building the foundation for the organization's leadership, but the more direct query ("What's the point?") is something that people across the country who are invested in young adult ministry on a local level are more interested in knowing.
To best answer this question, we broke our response down into the top 10 reasons why NCYAMA should exist - and why it is important for the Catholic Church today...
1. To start national conversations on issues important to the field of young adult ministry.
2. To network church leaders together on a local and national level around the issue of young adult ministry.
3. To train and consult with parishes, dioceses, and Catholic leaders nationwide on young adults and young adult ministry.
4. To advocate on a national level for the integration of young adults within the Catholic Church in the United States.
5. To be the voice of young adult ministry leaders in national conversations and collaborative partnerships.
6. To be a trusted resource for U.S. Catholic bishops regarding young adults and young adult ministry.
8. To gather Catholic leaders together for the development of resources for the field of young adult ministry.
9. To develop standards of excellence and professionalism for church leaders engaged in young adult ministry.
10. To create larger national opportunities for young adults and/or young adult ministers that no single parish, diocese, and/or Catholic organization could do on its own.
Another way of looking at this is: What would happen if NCYAMA ceased to exist?
Would there be a national voice or a group of people dedicated towards developing excellence and professioalism for this invaluable field of ministry? Would there be an organization motivating parish and diocesan leaders to gather together and network together? Would there be adequete training and education of this unique and challenging area of the Church's life and work? Perhaps...
However, for the past thirty years, NCYAMA has already laid the foundation for advocacy, training services, and networking for those engaged in this critical ministry. Currently, NCYAMA serves in an advisory capcity to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and has established fruitful collaborative relationships with the Catholic Campus Ministry Association (CCMA), the National Association for Lay Ministry (NALM), the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM), the National Catholic Student Coalition (NCSC), the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC), and a number of academic institutions, religious communities, and volunteer organizations across the country. We feel this history speaks volumes - and that even greater things are yet to come.
In fact, we argue that when offices are closing, parishes are consolidating resources, and budgets are being cut, there is no greater time for an organization like the National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association to exist. NCYAMA provides training at affordable rates and networks people together for no cost at all.
NCYAMA exists to serve the Catholic Church across the United States and remind us all of the challenge put to us in the USCCB document, "Sons and Daughters of the Light"... that is, "We need to be a Church that is interested in the lives of these men and women and is willing to invite them into our community. We need to be a Church imbued with a missionary zeal for the Gospel. When young adults accept our invitation, we must welcome them, acknowledge their participation, and make room for them in all aspects of church life."
We cannot do this work alone - we need one another. And if there was one reason why NCYAMA should exist, it is simply that... We need a nationwide community to network, to resource, to train, and to advocate for an evangelization and ministry to our Church's young adults.
- Paul Jarzembowski, Executive Director / National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association (NCYAMA)