By Brianna Dauby • Posted January 16, 2026

Young adult Catholics in the Philadelphia region continue to step into leadership roles inviting young adults to form communities around their local parishes.

In Chester County, Lauren Pickell wanted to start a group that would cultivate Catholic friends in her life, especially after a recent move.

“I just really want some like-minded Catholic friends in my life that I don’t have right now because I had moved back to Phoenixville,” she said.

So with the help of Father Daniel Arechabala, pastor of St. Ann Parish in Phoenixville, Pickell founded a new young adult group: the Phoenixville Young Adults.

Since its founding last winter, the group’s events held every other week have included eucharistic adoration followed by a social, landscaping outside St. Ann Church, and bowling.

Members took the discernment of mission for the group very seriously and held regular holy hours for this purpose.

“Many hours of intercessory prayer went into the founding of this group. We trust this will bear much fruit!” said young adult Lauren Joyce, the missionary hub director at St. Ann Parish in Phoenixville.

The Phoenixville Young Adults group is facing unique opportunities for growth, plus challenges, as it starts out. The group sees a slightly different growth curve compared to similar groups in the region.

The St. Matthew’s Young Adult Group in Conshohocken grew its membership quickly over one Lenten season. Within a year it boasted multiple ministries including Bible study groups, service projects, and other events held regularly.

Unlike Conshohocken, Phoenixville is in a more rural location with fewer surrounding close-knit neighborhoods.

That reality makes it harder to create a strong community in the same way as naturally happens in a town such as Conshohocken, where events take place close to where many people live.

Pickell says there is a desire by young adults to have a group in Phoenixville but they struggle to host events consistently to make the group’s presence felt in the community.

After about four months of events and discernment for the group, Father Arechabala put Pickell in touch with Father Stephen DeLacy, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Vicar for Faith Formation for Youth and Young Adults, and Pauline Father Timothy Tarnacki, director of the Office for Ministry with Young Adults (OMYA).

With their help and the support of OMYA, Pickell was able to host the group’s first major event, Theology on Tap at the Great American Pub, which brought a lot of recognition to the group and helped to spread the word that Phoenixville now has its own young adult group.

Pickell’s work is especially important for more rural areas of Chester County where there are few events for young adults. Many parishes in that area also have higher median ages of parishioners.

“The average age of a St. Mary’s parishioner is older,” Pickell said of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish on the north side of Phoenixville. “It is really not a young adult crowd, but Phoenixville itself has a young adult crowd.”

That makes the Phoenixville Young Adults group vitally important in helping to connect the young adults living in Phoenixville and regularly attending Mass and parish events.

The growth of young adult ministry in parishes is important because many young adults are known for “hopping” from parish to parish. When they begin to form communities in the parishes near them, they can breathe new life into these parishes.

Young people bring vibrancy and energy to a parish, but also are able to learn from older parishioners on ways to parent and teach the faith to their children.

The relationship can flourish if young people are being drawn into the Catholic faith especially through communities of young adults.

Through prayers for the success of the Phoenixville group, more events are happening.

“People were wanting it to happen and people were praying for it to happen — that there is young adult ministry in Phoenixville,” Pickell said. “That is more powerful than I originally gave it credit for and it is something that I have been praying for since January. I think that we’re getting to the point where we can have more frequent events.”

As the Phoenixville Young Adult Group continues to grow and learn how best to create community in rural areas, the group aims to serve as a guide to other parishes in similar parts of Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties that currently have few events for young adults.

Pickell hopes to have another event in January and to continue to serve this need as the group continues to grow.