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Author Archives: Mark Hart

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Contrary to Popular Belief: (Mis)perceptions in Youth Ministry

By | February 4, 2011

I’ve always liked the phrase “contrary to popular belief”. It gets your attention. It challenges your knowledge. What follows it can leave you feeling sheepish at your own ignorance or quite edified in your own intelligence. Traveling the globe doing ministry these past 15+ years, I’ve noticed a lot of – we’ll call them “trends” – in conversations with youth ministers. While some of what follows is bound to strike a chord (and probably a nerve) with some of you reading it, remember our primary goal: holiness. If our desire is to grow in holiness and improve the quality of the ministries we offer, we must constantly evaluate where we need to die to ourselves, our short-sightedness and our pride.

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Jesus, You’re Fired! Effective Ministry in an Imperfect World

By | January 20, 2011

To Whom It May Concern: In agreement with the clearly delineated Diocesan norms for termination of employment, below are just a handful of the reasons we were forced to fire Jesus of Nazareth from our Parish Staff here at Our Lady of the Emptying Pews: He was never in the office. He was constantly leaving work to “go and pray.” He never turned in a single bulletin announcement. He invited all the “wrong kinds of people” into the Parish community. He turned over tables at the annual Parish

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Announcing Life Teen’s 2011 Theme: “Veni Sancte Spiritus”

By | November 16, 2010

Are your teens and parish “fired up” when the Spirit’s fire falls or do the cradle Catholics in the pews reach for extinguishers out of a desire to remain comfortable? How do you typically celebrate the movement of the Holy Spirit in your daily life?

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The Gospel According to . . . My Garbage Man

By | October 28, 2010

It was about 5:30 a.m. and I was in the middle of my morning prayer. The sun had yet to rise. The coffee was hot and the house, serene. Just then, in the middle of my prayer, apprehension gripped my body and shattered my peace. “Oh crap…it’s bulk trash pickup today!” I sprang up from the couch in our prayer room, threw on some warm clothes and within minutes found myself in my back yard. The sun was peeking over the wall and the sound of the city garbage truck echoed through the neighborhood.

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Healthy Youth Ministry requires healthy Youth Ministers

By | October 18, 2010

Youth Ministry necessitates some really odd hours. Long after the Parish secretary has rolled the phones to voice mail, you’re trying to track down 50 pens that actually write or 20 Bibles that never made their way back to the bookcase. By the time the last teen is picked up, the last door gets locked and the last parking lot conversation ends, your last brain cell is running on overdrive.

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The Dangers of Distraction: How Youth Ministry has changed

By | October 6, 2010

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately on how much Youth Ministry has evolved in the past several years. I know some of you reading this have been in ministry far longer than I, while many of you are relatively newer to the ranks. I began as a Core Member in 1991. Suffice to say, the Catholic Youth Ministry landscape has changed dramatically since then.

So at the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, I thought I’d take some of you on a trip back in youth ministry time. Jump in the DeLorean and let’s get to it.

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Are your teens licensed to pray? Empowering and helping teens to pray.

By | September 16, 2010

Driving Instructors are brave. They are out on the streets, seated right beside a young soul with little more than a second brake to protect them. As a driving instructor, you might need to work your brake at times. You will need to prepare them before you “start.” You might need to pull over and walk them through how to do certain things. The point is that you are actively helping them and empowering them to do it on their own. You’re not just teaching them a skill; you’re growing their own confidence in that skill.

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The Bible: God’s Original Text Message

By | August 19, 2010

Many adults today tell me that the “average teenager” couldn’t care less about the Bible. Extensive firsthand experience, however, demands that I humbly reply, “LOL” (“laugh out loud” in text-happy vernacular). I led my first teen Bible study almost 20 years ago and, while teen culture has dramatically changed, their desires have not. Teens want truth, and the Catholic Church has it.

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Don’t be talkin’ ‘bout my Mama: protecting your teens from mistruths

By | May 13, 2010

I sat stunned in the back of the room. I was in shock. “Did he just say that?” I asked myself in utter disbelief.

I had been asked to speak at a multi-parish teen retreat (in a state that will go unnamed). During this particular session a local priest was present and had agreed to answer teen questions about the faith…

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The Theology of Randomness: how useless knowledge can be useful in ministry

By | April 29, 2010

I love useless knowledge. I could read random bits of trivia all day. One of the reasons that I love Sacred Scripture so much is because there are so many random, seemingly unimportant details found in its pages. They fascinate me. Nothing is unnecessary, however. Every iota of Scripture was inspired and breathed by the Holy Spirit. Everything is important and everything, everything is useful if we pray about it long enough. Over the past several years I’ve spent a lot more time sharing the “random”