Black Catholic leader focuses on evangelizing next generation

Rahsaan Garlin is passionate about encouraging African American young people to see how their gifts are needed in the Catholic Church.

“We need to bring our youth and young adults back into the Church and guide them in the direction of the Lord so that they can see and understand that God has a plan for them,” said Garlin, the associate director of the Archdiocese of Newark’s African American, African, and Caribbean Apostolate and director of youth ministry at Saint Patrick and Assumption/All Saints Parish in Jersey City. “I try to provide an outlet for leadership for those African American young adults who want to share talents and help other youth.” 

He said part of that effort should include providing Black youth with opportunities “for expressing their Blackness and being in a Black space with their community.” 

The future for young Black Catholics is one of the issues Garlin and his colleagues at The Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) at Xavier University of Louisiana talk about in their theology and pastoral ministry courses. A continuing education student in the program, Garlin was thrilled to learn that this year he was one of six members to receive a new endowed scholarship named in honor of Sister Jamie T. Phelps, O.P., Ph.D., a charter member and former director of the IBCS.  For 45 years, the institute has been evangelizing the African American community and the Church at large. 

Each summer, a cohort of Black Catholic leaders from across the U.S. gathers at the institute for three weeks to take courses and collaborate. Multiculturalism—“being able to exist amongst different cultures within one Church”—is another priority, Garlin explained. For three years, he has enjoyed studying in the classroom with seminarians, priests, and other lay leaders. He also shares what he learned at the institute with the Archdiocese of Newark and Saint Patrick and Assumption/All Saints Parish.

“The priests and parishioners have gravitated to many of my ideas,” Garlin said. 

Garlin has been giving back to his community for decades. A former manager for the office space company Regus and a graduate of New Jersey City University with a bachelor’s degree in business management/marketing, he has coached baseball and football in Hudson County organizations, including Jersey City PAL, Pop Warner, Jersey City Gators, and Hudson County Saints. The coaching and interaction with children led him to become a youth minister.

“I’ve been involved with the youth all my life,” Garlin said. 

Recently, Garlin and his colleagues hosted the National Association of Black Catholic Administrators’ annual meeting in Newark. They were delighted that Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., the Archbishop of Newark, joined them at the conference. Garlin said they told the cardinal how they would like to see more seminarians and deacons who are not of color take time to learn about the richness of African American worship and culture.

Garlin and volunteers host events, renewals, and retreats to engage young people. Most recently, the apostolate partnered with the archdiocese for New Jersey Catholic Youth Day in May. Nearly 75 youth and young adults took a day trip to Six Flags and attended Mass celebrated by Diocese of Paterson Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney. Two seminarians also spoke to the young people about their vocations.

“We just had a great time, and the kids had a great time,” Garlin said. 

Moving forward, the apostolate wants to encourage vocations by providing more opportunities for the young to interact with those who have a religious vocation or are ordained or lay persons in ministries.

“It’s important for us to evangelize in our Black communities.,” said Garlin, a husband and father. “I am focused on the Black Catholic youth and young adults because that is where the future of the Black Catholic is.” 

For youth who have been through tough times, he has a message: “There is a God, and He can help.”

Other priorities for the apostolate this upcoming year are to focus on mental health among African American youth and recruit volunteers to help with its ministries. Additionally, the apostolate aims to attract sponsors and donors for the Bishop Francis Scholarship Fund, which helps support college education and trade school tuition for students from low-income, single-parent homes.

Garlin and his colleagues are also helping push forward the sainthood causes for some of the Black Catholic leaders who lived virtuous lives, including Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA, servant of God.   

“She’s relatable to me for her IBCS relationship,” Garlin said. “She’s a woman of God. I’m a man of God. And we try to do the same thing. We give back to our community.”

To learn more about the Archdiocese of Newark’s African American, African, and Caribbean Apostolate, click here.