Generation Catholic

Mentored by Dallas Legatus members, Young Catholic Professionals pursue holiness . . .

During an eight-month break between business school and a new job, Jennifer Baugh delved into her Catholic faith and emerged with an idea.

It was to gather young professionals in a setting where they could network, hear executive speakers, and learn how to live their Catholic faith in the workplace without compromise.

Aided by Legatus members in the Dallas area, Baugh started Young Catholic Professionals, a group that regularly draws 200 or more people to its monthly executive speaker series, has 1,600 Facebook followers, and is sparking interest from Catholics in other cities — including several bishops.

Fruits of prayer

Baugh organized the first Young Catholic Professionals (YCP) event in 2010. The speaker was Dallas Legate Dan Hennessy, principal and general counsel of the development services firm Garfield Traub. When more than 100 people showed up, she knew that she was onto something.

Jennifer Baugh

A 27-year-old who gave up a demanding consulting job to work full-time with YCP, Baugh said she was inspired by her generation’s spiritual hunger and by reading the works of Pope Benedict XVI.

“We’re all so restless at this age — in our 20s and 30s — because we have the pressures of working our way up the corporate ladder, relationships, families, and secularism, which is running wild these days.” At the same time, she continued, “all of us have this seed of faith planted in our hearts.”

For Baugh, that seed had lain dormant until she decided to explore her faith after earning an MBA from Texas A&M University in December 2009. When she moved to Dallas for a job that wouldn’t start until the following August, she began to ask herself some serious questions. Although she had been attending Mass faithfully and self-identified as a Catholic, she realized she had no relationship with Christ.

Baugh began to pray and, determined to become an authentic Catholic, started reading everything from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and scripture to the lives of the saints and Pope Benedict’s encyclicals. The more she learned, the more she wanted to share her faith with her peers. Thus, Young Catholic Professionals was born.

YCP’s mission is to encourage young adults in various professions to “work in witness” for Christ. It seeks to bolster Catholic identity so that young Catholic professionals know, love and promote their faith; foster a sense of community; and inspire young professionals to be courageous, to make a difference and to take a stand.

Catholic convert Chip Field, who spoke to the group on Sept. 11, commended YCP on its choice of the phrase “work in witness.”

“You could have chosen ‘witness in work,’” he told them, “and your choice made all the difference.

“Work in witness,” he said, conveys that work is a subcategory of witnessing, not the other way around. “That is to say that our real work is witnessing and that our careers are just one of the tools we employ in that effort. All Christians are called to martyrdom: a few by the blood in their veins in defense of the faith, most by the sweat of their brow in service to others.”

Embracing Catholicism

YCP offers young professionals involvement at two levels: the free executive speaker series, which is held monthly in parish halls across the Dallas diocese, and paid membership, which provides access to an executive mentorship program, networking receptions with past speakers and mentors, panel discussions, spiritual direction, retreats and job leads.

The group has 145 paid members, and its executive speaker series has featured such presenters as Tom Horton, president of AMR Corp. and American Airlines, and Jim Burke, chairman and CEO of TXU Energy.

Richard Toussaint

YCP’s model is similar to Legatus, said Richard Toussaint, a member of Legatus’ Dallas Chapter and CEO of Forest Park Medical System. Toussaint began working with Baugh about two years ago to lay the foundation for the organization.

“These are young people who are well educated and meeting together to share their values and to network for the advancement of Catholic values in the workplace environment,” he said.

Toussaint, who facilitated production of YCP’s promotional video through a company he helped start, says Young Catholic Professionals is a kind of minor league for future Legatus members and values-oriented business leaders.

“It’s astounding to me that in today’s materialistic and secular environment, you would have 200 to 300 young people gathered together to evidence faith and to share with each other when most people that age are in a club environment or socializing in a less constructive way. There is something special about this organization that resonates with that generation.”

Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell, who serves as the group’s spiritual director, calls Young Catholic Professionals “a remarkable Catholic ministry. One of the most important works I do in the Church is to promote them because that is where our future is,” he told Legatus magazine.

What has surprised Bishop Farrell most about his encounters with YCP members is their interest in knowing more about Church teaching and what their faith means in today’s world. “They do not want to be an organization of getting together for lunch and dinner once a month and just having a talk. They also want to give something back to the community.”

Toward that end — and at Bishop Farrell’s suggestion — YCP is developing a program whereby members will mentor college students.

“We are really excited about this,” Baugh said, “because not only is this the next generation of membership for Young Catholic Professionals, but it’s also a chance to share what we have received.”

Dallas Legate Rich Kelly, principal in Lumacorp, Inc., and chairman of the YCP board, said the group also is working on a model that can be replicated in other locations. Among the ideas being considered is using Legatus as a template and then replicating the YCP model to other cities with Legatus chapters.

“I think it’s an incredibly natural fit,” Kelly said. The two groups have in common a fundamental view of the world inspired by the Catholic faith, coupled with an emphasis on business involvement, fellowship and intellectual feeding, he said.

Baugh said the support YCP has received from Legatus members has been invaluable. “We find that they share such wisdom and guidance with us about our faith,” she said. “It makes such a difference in our lives. We may be the only Catholics in our workplace. Learning from these executives who do not compromise our faith is very important for us.”

Judy Roberts is Legatus magazine’s staff— writer.

On the web: youngcatholicprofessionals.org
For more information, contact Jennifer Baugh at [email protected]