Join over 3000 of your peers... July 10th - July 31st. Across 5 different dioceses In over 90 Parishes & Catholic Centers Mass & Picnic with Cardinal George on Sunday, July 31st.

Theology-on-Tap 2005

Background & Purpose

Theology-on-Tap is a four-week summer program for young adults, college age through the thirties, both married and single. It is a weekly opportunity for a parish to gather young adults for a speaker, conversation and theology. One parish in cooperation with other parishes in the area hosts the program. Therefore, it is not a parish program, but works best with the support, cooperation and presence of parish staffs and young adults from neighboring parishes.

Theology-on-Tap is an opportunity for parishes to focus some time, attention and resources on one of the most overlooked groups of people in the parish, people in their twenties and thirties. Interestingly, the average age of registered Catholics is about 49. The average age of American people is about 34.

There are many types of people who fit into the category of young adults. Over the past eighteen summers, parishes have chosen to use Theology-on-Tap to outreach and invite one or more types of young adults to participate in the four week program.

Some parishes have a large resident college population who are home for the summer. Theology-on-Tap is a great way to gather returning college people. A number of present and former college students have had very positive worship and other church experiences at school. They are home now looking for similar activities and opportunities.

Some parishes with many apartment buildings, condos and townhouses in their community are becoming increasingly aware of the need to outreach young singles and young couples who are not as present in the parish as they could be. Theology-on-Tap is a great vehicle to reach those young adults.

Many young adults are the parents of the children being baptized today, as well as the parents of the children in the early grades of parish schools and religious education programs. Many of these parents received little formation from the Church fifteen or twenty years ago when they were in their formative years. Theology-on-Tap is an opportunity to present these young adult parents with the Catholic religious tradition they missed or took for granted. Being parents makes everything different now.

There are a lot of people who are young adults in a parish. Theology-on-Tap is a wonderful opportunity to make those younger parishioners feel welcome and at home by their church.

When Theology-on-Tap begins the week of July 10, 2005, it will mark the twenty-fourth year that this program has taken place in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Theology-on-Tap was invited to be a part of the ministry to young adults in the Diocese of Joliet for the first time during the summer of 1994; the Diocese of Rockford in 1998; the Diocese of Gary, Indiana in 2000, and in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2001.

During the first twenty-two years (1981 – 2002) Theology-on-Tap was hosted by 380 different local parishes. More than 330 local speakers have been privileged to address over 30,000 young adults during these summer sessions.

Theology-on-Tap began in the Archdiocese of Chicago in June, 1981 at St. James Parish, Arlington Heights, as a response to a conversation between a parish priest and a young man from the parish who was graduating from college. That man was looking beyond his last few months of college to the "real world." He was facing a career, and wondering about the future. He was concerned about his personal identity and finding meaning in life. "Will I be more than my job? What will it mean to fall in love? Where does God fit in all this? What does it mean to be Catholic?" Theology-on-Tap will continue to address these and similar questions for the twenty-fifth consecutive year from July 10th to July 31st., 2005.

At 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 31st., Theology-on-Tap will close with a grand finale. Mass will be celebrated in Holy Name Cathedral for all the young adults who attended the program. And, from 4:30-7:30 p.m., a lawn party complete with music, food and dancing, will take place at the residence of Francis Cardinal George.

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, former Archbishop of Chicago, developed a special relationship with young adults. He presided at the Theology-on-Tap Mass with young adults and hosted them at his residence every year until his death in 1996. Also, in his homily at the Theology-on-Tap Mass in August of 1985, he made this remark, "If I had children of my own, they would be your age. You are very special to me and to this Archdiocese."

Francis Cardinal George continued that relationship with young adults in 1997. As soon as he arrived as the new Archbishop of Chicago, he enthusiastically agreed to preside at our Theology-on-Tap Mass and to host over 1,000 young adults at a picnic on the grounds of his residence. In a letter inviting young adults to attend the Mass and picnic, Cardinal George said, “You are very important members of the Church. Your energy, talent and faith will give me much help as together we build up our local Church to be a vital presence in the Chicago area. Together we can continue the mission of Jesus Christ to bring the Gospel of love, forgiveness and holiness to all the places where we live and encounter others.”