What we Do

These are the different pieces that make up our ministry.

We believe that a thriving Christian life is not one which lives in a Church. Joy, fellowship, and laughter are as much a part of a thriving human life as are prayer and the sacraments. One thing that many newcomers often are struck by when they see our community is how many group members plan official & non-official social events. From camping trips to kickball, nights at the pub to coffee after Mass, these are often the first times young adults encounter us. Check our calendar to see what’s coming up next and come have a beer, coffee, glass of wine, cup of tea, or hot chocolate with us, or whatever the occasion calls for. We look forward to seeing you!

Thursday Nights are the center of the STA Young Adult community. The mission of Thursday Nights is to personally connect you with other members seeking Christ in community. Here you are able to meet staff members, longtime members, and new members of the group. Whether you are a committed Catholic hungry for authentic friendships or just someone who’s wanting something deeper than the uptown bar scene, our Thursday Nights are the hub, the place to come, get to know us, and get plugged in.

On Thursday Nights, the community gathers to engage with a topic relevant to our faith journey. There are often guest speakers, testimonies from group members, and small group discussion. We encourage newcomers to commit to being present for at least three consecutive Thursdays as it takes a few weeks to better understand what keeps people coming each week. We’re looking forward to meeting you!

Visit our calendar to know when the next event is and make sure to subscribe to our Newsletter by clicking on the link below to be in the know.

Dinner groups are simply a way to provide Christian hospitality to members of our community. These groups are a way to plug in with the ministry through breaking bread together and sharing in conversation in a more personal setting rather than a large group setting. Dinner groups are hosted twice a month in between our speaker series and socials. Each group is led by two hosts and has 6-8 participants each week joining together for dinner and prayer at the home of one of the hosts.

Participants are asked to attend both weeks each month at the same hosts’ dinner. Dinners are hosted 7:00-9:00pm on a day of the week that you prefer.

Sign up on the Calendar page.

If you have questions about STA Young Adults, our values, heart and vision, or if you're interested in joining the St. Thomas Aquinas family, we invite you to join us for our next Diving Deeper Class. In the class we will dive into our mission & our core values of Authenticity, Community & Commitment and how we live them. We will also walk you through a tour of our beautiful church. The sessions follow Thursday Speaker Series and run about 30 minutes. Sign up today! It's a great opportunity to discover the mission of STA Young Adults and the heart of our family of believers in a warm, comfortable environment.

Next Step is an 8-week course hosted by Discerning Marriage, a support ministry for those single or dating to intentionally pursue the call to Marriage. This course is for seriously dating couples or singles that are in an intentional pursuit of the Sacrament of Marriage.

CLICK HERE for information on this course.

Pange Língua: A Night of Worship at St. Thomas Aquinas with Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament

Pange Língua is a night of worship hosted on the first Tuesdays of every month (except during summer) from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. This night is a time of worship for families, youth, and young adults of the parish to join together with our Lord to pray specifically for the community of St. Thomas Aquinas, our priests, our leaders, and for unity in the Church. 

There will be time for meditation, adoration, song, silence, and Confessions.

Each year, we put on three retreats for the purpose of disconnecting from the chaos of life and finding specific time to reflect and pray for God's will in our lives. We have one weekend long retreat at The Pines Catholic Camp on Labor Day Weekend and two day retreats: one during Advent and one during Lent.

Mother Teresa once told a reporter that America was the poorest country in the world because America suffers most from the poverty of loneliness. This poverty is a real one. In 2004 The American sociological journal published findings that 25 percent of Americans have no close friends with whom they may confide in and rely on. That number disproportionately falls in the millennial age group, a group that is broadly connected via social media, but held back from going deep by fear of commitment and intimacy.

Dallas has many Catholic young adult events, which is a great gift, but young adults still struggle to develop real, lasting, Christ-filled friendships. STA Community Groups were founded to give young adults the opportunity to form these relationships. At a STA Community Group, you will see 6-8 young adults meeting on a regular basis around food, Scripture, and prayer, learning to love one another.

Young adults in Dallas tend to live very transient lives, hopping from place to place, job to job, relationship to relationship. The Millennial Generation is often characterized as a “generation of maybes,” constantly keeping options open in case of missing out on something better. We push our STA young adult members to move from a position of consuming what the group has to offer to a position of commitment to each other. STA Young Adults cannot exist without members putting their skills and time at the disposal of the group. From social media to hospitality to community group leaders, each night is only as effective as the core leadership, so the opportunities to serve are many. If you would like to take that step into commitment and serve the group with your skills, we encourage you to speak to one of the leaders so that we can get you in the right place.