“I fell out of the faith during my early and late 20s," said Ryan, an Australian student at Mid-Michigan College in Mount Pleasant. Now 32, Ryan had stopped attending church altogether, though he previously went to an Anglican church with his mother. “[I] saw the world going down a direction that I didn't want to be a part of and found my way back.”

His cousin Oliver, a recent convert, invited Ryan to attend Mass at St. Mary’s with him.

Despite some hesitation at first, Ryan gave it a try.

“I immersed myself in the tradition ... and I thought, ‘Now I’m into this!’” he said.

In addition to Oliver's personal invitation, Ryan credits Father Matt Gembrowski, pastor of St. Mary’s University Parish, with helping him journey to conversion. Father Matt invited Ryan to lunch, and they struck up a friendship, discussing faith and life. When Father Matt invited Ryan to join the OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, he accepted.

During OCIA, candidates (those who have been baptized) and catechumens (those who have never been baptized) can learn about the Catholic faith and what the Church teaches.

For Ryan, the Catholic teaching on marriage has transformed how he views relationships and marriage.

“Instead of thinking of ... ‘What can this person do for me,’ I want to find someone that I can give myself to entirely,” he said.

Madde, a junior at Central Michigan University, rediscovered her Catholic Faith after attending Mass with her boyfriend. When Father Matt invited her to explore OCIA, she felt like that’s where the Lord was leading her.

“I felt that it was right for me, and that I was ready to move forward in that way,” she said. “Looking back, I do think now there was a huge part that the Holy Spirit had in it.”

This journey has transformed her relationship with Jesus.

“Coming back into the Faith, it was just like a massive switch in how deep my relationship with God is,” she said. “He sees it all, I can open up in a way that before I thought I needed to hide.”

Madde and Ryan were two of 30 young adults at St. Mary’s received into Catholic Church this Easter Vigil. This included 10 each of non-Catholic Christians making a Profession of Faith and receiving First Eucharist and Confirmation; baptized Catholics completing their sacraments and catechumens receiving all three Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, First Eucharist and Confirmation).

Looking back at the past year, Madde sees the Lord’s hand in it all.  

“I've had a bit of a revelation knowing that God had a huge part in [me joining OCIA],” she said.

“He had a plan.”

Father Matt attributes the rise in Gen Z conversions to looking for truth in a confusing time, the efforts at St. Mary’s to invite students, including the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionaries, and—of course—the Holy Spirit.

“We are a church right in the middle of a campus of 14,000 people,” Father Matt points out. “My hope is that we evangelize every heart on campus [to come] to Christ. My desire is that we are a home for people in which they can build habits of virtue that are going to bear fruit in a lifelong relationship with Christ and his Church.”

The world can be confusing and full of woundedness. But there’s hope.

“Young people have questions,” Father Matt said. “And God wants to show them the answer: Jesus.”

More than 260 people came into full communion with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil in the Diocese of Saginaw, a 48 percent increase from 2025. This mirrors a national trend of year-over-year increases in converts, as reported by the National Catholic Register.

Your generous support of Christ’s Mission Appeal supports the evangelization of college students at St. Mary’s University Parish and beyond.