Where are you going?” Christians today often reflect on these words spoken by the risen Christ to Peter. For young people especially, these words in Latin, Quo Vadis, are about discerning the trajectory of their futures as they ask, “Am I living a life that is centered on Christ?”

While in college in 2018, Jacob Kleinhenz and his friends recognized the need for a young adult community in Midwest Ohio to help them and others grow in faith. “You become the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” says Kleinhenz, “so you need to have friends and people in your life who not only care about you as a person, but also your soul.”

The Quo Vadis group they established for young adults (ages 18 to 29), has since grown as a community of fellowship and prayer to include more than 1,000 people. Open to those in the northern archdiocese area, the group offers free monthly events and services. Involved since its early days, Grant Garke credits this community with rekindling his relationship with Christ. “I would not be who I am in my faith without Quo Vadis,” he said. Kleinhenz invited him to join at a time when his faith had grown lukewarm. Garke credits the group and its opportunities to encounter God through prayer for helping him deepen his faith.

Abby Ashbaugh joined a few years after Quo Vadis was up and running. She felt God pulling her toward the community as a way to continue deepening her faith. During her first meeting, she discovered other people like her, seeking a relationship with God. “The group calls you to strive for more; you can share ideas and faith practices to grow close to God,” Ashbaugh said. These friendships with like-minded people have sustained her faith and enabled her to deepen her involvement in the ministry.

Quo Vadis began by offering bi- weekly events featuring a speaker on Sunday evenings. Weekly Wednesday recreation nights have since been added, typically volleyball when it’s warm and basketball in colder months. The group hosts a Holy Hour on every fourth Friday at a local church, for people of all ages, followed by fellowship for the young adults. And they even formed a choir to provide music during Adoration. For this Holy Jubilee Year, pilgrimages were scheduled to holy sites within the archdiocese. Organizers hope to offer additional pilgrimages in the future. Additionally, there is a Quo Vadis men’s group, Brothers in Arms, and a women’s group, Ladies of the Rose. Each meet monthly for other activities.

“Each event has its own qualities,” Garke said, finding it hard to say which is his favorite. “At Quo Vadis nights, you learn; at Men’s nights you grow in fellowship; and on the fourth Friday you experience prayer with the Blessed Sacrament.”

As with many ministries, putting it all together has its challenges. Quo Vadis’ structure enables young adults to minister to young adults and sustains its ministries through 25 volunteers who serve as missionaries for a year. “You don’t have to leave your own backyard to be a missionary,” said Ashbaugh. The team of volunteers organizes events in a way that responsibility does not all fall on the four-person leadership team.

With God’s grace, the ministry is seeing the fruits of their labor. “In just six years there have been 20 couples who met through Quo Vadis and are now married and living out their vocation,” Kleinhenz said. And several members are discerning a call to the priesthood or religious life.

For young people looking for community in our local church, Quo Vadis has a place for you. “Take that step of faith,” urges Garke, “You won’t regret it.” The fellowship in Christ you find with other like-minded adults will be the support you need to grow in faith.

This article appeared in the June 2025 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.