St Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians, “There are many parts, but one body.” By our Baptism, we are brothers and sisters in Christ regardless of race or heritage or language. Yet sadly, within the walls of our own parishes and zip codes we can discover gaping divisions.

All Saints’ parish in Manassas, VA is a Life Teen parish that appeared to be two very separate communities (one Hispanic and the other Anglo) no less than three years ago. Still far from arriving at a place of true unity, significant progress toward that goal has brought a new vibrancy, cooperation, and life to our community.

Here are a few contributing reasons:

1. Event Information & Forms Translated into Spanish goes a long way in expressing invitation to the families of the Hispanic community. Though most kids are very proficient in English, their parents often are not. The effort put forth in providing forms in their language goes a long way in expressing a desired unity.
2. Shared Confirmation Retreats means that all Confirmandi attend the same retreat. Homeschoolers, Catholic School kids, a number of public school populations, plus about a 40% Latino population and other minority cultural groups all mixed together on a powerful weekend retreat where they are reminded of their universal “catholic” identity provides pretty strong mortar in the bridge to parish unity.
3. Soldados de Dios “Soldiers of Christ” is a Friday night outreach ministry we host in our Youth Room that has grown from roughly 10 teens to 60 in a year. It begins with soccer at 7pm followed by food, a talk, and fellowship. Most who attend are Hispanic and it is important to have leaders already accepted within the Hispanic community. This groups meets in parallel with an Adult Spanish Prayer Group called Amore de Dios where many of their parents take part.
4. Core Members from the Hispanic community is one of the most significant ways to create growth in building bridges between the cultural divide. Those Core Members create a sense of trust amongst other Hispanic families who may be uncertain about Life Teen. A dynamic core should also be one that represents the cultural diversity within the parish.
5. Living Stations in Spanish & English is prepared in full collaboration by kids from the Friday night Soldados group and the Sunday night Life Teen group. Over a four week rehearsal period, teens from two culturally diverse groups collaborate towards a single goal that results in a performance of the Living Stations of the Cross on a Friday in Lent. The teen actors take freezes while meditations are read in English and Spanish. The beauty of this activity is that adult members of the Anglo and Latino communities are brought together for the performance as they share together in practicing their common faith.

I believe it will be the young people who, in the end, will break down the cultural divide and bring our fractured parish families into one communion that both respects the different cultures while acknowledging our universal catholicity. As Youth Ministers, we need to take strides toward promoting a deep respect and concern for our brothers and sisters among us who may seem quite different, but, in truth, are so very much the same.

Leading a multi-parish youth ministry effort, as you can see from previous blog postings, requires a lot of effective communication. In fact, effective communication is not a separate principle that is developed on its own. It is a principle that plays an important role as we work through all the principles to develop effective ministry to young people.

Principle 8: Effective Communication

Although there are many systems that could be used as a strategy for effective communication, I feel less compelled to share any systems that I have seen used. Most systems work well and it is a matter of picking a system that works best in the context of multi-parish youth ministry and implementing it. Instead, it is more important to examine our own communication patterns to determine areas that we are weak in and that need to be addressed. We have a tendency to put the blame on others for the lack of or ineffective communication. The problem is, we cannot control others. We can only control ourselves.

John C. Maxwell writes in The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player that communicative players do and act in specific ways that help the communication process. On the flip side, communicative players choose to avoid certain activities that cause ineffective communication. Below are five insights by John C. Maxwell with my own notes and insights.

Communicative players…

1. Do not isolate themselves.
It is amazing how easy it is to hide in ministry. In a multi-parish youth ministry setting, one can easily avoid a certain parish on a regular basis creating an ineffective pattern of communication with the staff and parishioners. As a multi-parish ministry leader, we need to make sure that we are present to all people at every parish on a regular basis. It is not enough to sit in our office shooting off emails or text massages. The face-to-face time is absolutely essential to making multi-parish youth ministry work. If you find that you are spending a lot of time in the office and not out building relationships with staff and parishioners, then the ministry efforts are bound to fail.

2. Make it easy for teammates to communicate with them.
Do not make it a challenge to communicate with you. If people have a difficult time even getting in touch with you or having a conversation with you, they are less likely to come to you in the future. Ken Blanchard once stated that, “Real communication happens when people feel safe.” What steps do you take to make people feel welcome and safe to come and speak with you? Everything from attitude, to presence, to the way we listen, are all key factors. Assure people and make them feel good about coming to you, even if it is something negative that they have shared with you.

3. Follow the twenty-four hour rule
A current goal that I have set for myself is to follow up on all communications within twenty-four hours, unless it is my day off, am sick, or am on vacation. Having a call or email returned right away makes people feel important and valued, letting them know that what they have to say is important to you and the ministry. The twenty-four rule also means that if you have a difficulty or conflict with anyone in the ministry, do not let more than twenty-four hours go by without addressing it. If it is not addressed in that time frame, ill feelings are not resolved and they become underline to every communication that happens past that time. Do not ignore it. Deal with the conflict right away.

4. Give attention to potentially difficult relationships.
First of all, it is important to clarify which difficult relationships need to be given attention to. Determine if the person is integral to the success of the ministry. This could be key volunteers, parish staff, parents, or young people. If you know you have to work with certain individuals and you find that this might be a difficult relationship, do not ignore it. Give it the attention it needs to grow into a fruitful relational experience. Often times, people that seem the most difficult to work with just want to be heard and understood. For individuals like this, all it takes is an open and honest ear. Regardless of the situation, if this person is a key part of the ministry, work to understand them and to get them on board with the vision and the plan. This can save time and hassle in the future.

5. Follow up important communication in writing.
Did you make an important decision over the phone? Were some major ideas addressed in a meeting? Document these things. We are a visual people. Having important communication written down not only helps us to remember what has been discussed, but allows us to have a written record of our progress. Although this can sound untrustworthy and counter cultural to what we teach in church, verbal agreements and understandings often do not hold weight. If it is that important, write it in the minutes of the meeting or confirm the details of the conversation via an email. Vision, mission, values, and goals are all items that should be written down.

Summary

In effective communication, it is important to end with this: If it goes without saying, it should definitely be said. Too many miscommunications happen because of assumptions. Assuming that people already know or understand something can negatively affect the ministry work that is trying to be accomplished.

Becoming a communicative player is key to building effective multi-parish youth ministry. Work on yourself first, and you will find that as you model good communication, others will begin to emulate you.

As we move forward in multi-parish youth ministry, it is important to build momentum to help your ministry be successful, gather resources, and thrive. Principles 6 and 7 allow you to get some successes under your belt so that people can see that multi-parish youth ministry is working.

Jesus Centered Ministry

Principle 6: Dynamic Events

Effective and dynamic events must be central to the shared vision of the multi-parish youth ministry and its mission. Good comprehensive youth ministry calls us to move away from ‘youth group’ and more towards ‘youth groupings,’ providing multiple opportunities for young people to get involved. No youth ministry should be all events, but they are integral to its success.

Dynamic events afford an opportunity to gather a critical mass of young people and volunteers, to
build community, to continue on older parish traditions, and to start some new traditions. Nothing builds momentum faster in multi-parish youth ministry than events that do the following:

• Build authentic community and relationships
• Provide dynamic opportunities for prayer and worship
• Foster the multi-parish identity
• Feed young people’s souls and stomachs
• No one gets hurt

Okay, the last one is said a little tongue-in-cheek, but I guarantee that if a young person gets hurt, that will not help your multi-parish youth ministry efforts. The list above allows people to really get excited about what it is the parishes are trying to with young people. Dynamic events are very visible and public, and, with that, provide a glimpse to the parish communities of what the youth ministry is up to. If young people walk away from these experiences excited, they will certainly talk about it with their friends, family, fellow classmates, and strangers on the street! Nothing builds excitement more than young people talking about youth ministry with everyone they meet.

This is why events like the National Catholic Youth Conference are so powerful. That event is able to build wonderful community with young people from across the country, models effective prayer and worship experiences, fosters a universal Catholic identity in the United States, and it feeds people’s souls. I have not met one youth that walked away from NCYC without their hearts burning for our God.

Travelling to a national conference may not always be the best option, but here is a list of events that may work in your ministry setting:

1. Retreats, overnight or day-long
2. Youth Day or Rally
3. Outdoor excursions like snowboarding weekends
4. Service outreach programs like mission trips
5. National or international events like NCYC and World Youth Day

This list could go on. But take advantage of the momentum you build with these events. Publicize its success. Allow young people to share about their experiences at mass or other church meetings/events. And let that momentum roll you in to more effective and dynamic multi-parish youth ministry.

Principle 7: Change Management

The second blog article in this series, Multi-Parish Identity: Healing the Change, touches on this principle. But change management is an ongoing process, whether your parishes were ‘forced’ in to this multi-parish identity or it was by choice.

Change starts with you as the leader. Tolstoy once said that, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Change is not something that is embraced by many people right away. It has been said that people and parishes are most willing to embrace change when they:

• Hurt enough that they are willing to change.
• Learn enough that they are willing to change.
• Receive enough that they are able to change.

I don’t recommend hurting people to help them change, but we do have control over the other two points. Advocacy is a huge role of a youth ministry leader. Being an advocate is about educating others about your cause or ministry. They must learn and we must help them learn that multi-parish youth ministry is something that can add tremendous value to the parish communities. They must learn who our young people are and how youth ministry serves them.

Receiving enough that they are able to change is about affirmation, encouragement, and education. They must be given the tools and the encouragement to change. In what ways can we help our parish communities receive the tools and encouragement to change? The tools can be about education and training. The encouragement can very well be the dynamic events that are sponsored which help build the momentum of the multi-parish youth ministry efforts. Sometimes, it only takes the story of one or two young people who have been profoundly affected by youth ministry to help even the most hesitant parishioner jump on board.

What kind of dynamic events can you do to help build momentum in multi-parish youth ministry? What steps can you take to be an advocate for youth ministry that will help people embrace this new change in the way we do church?

CMU Sacramento, CA Do you live near Sacramento? Join John Rinaldo and members of the Life Teen staff on September 12, 2009 for our 1-day Core Member University. Learn More Sessions Include: Core Member Call – Back to the Basics of Life Sold Out! (For the Mission) 10 Sure Fire Tips for Core Team Members Virtue and Reality – helping teens live out the virtues Small groups that impact teen lives Building Communion with teens It Makes All the Difference – Praying with teens Becoming What We Receive – Helping teens understand the Mass

As we continue to delve into the eight principles for effective multi-parish youth ministry, we’ve reviewed many “big picture” practices such as vision, structures, and empowering leadership. Now it’s time to dig deeper into the details with administrative issues and shared prayer and worship.

Jesus Centered Ministry

Principle 4: Administrative Issues

There are so many questions that need to be addressed in a multi-parish setting when it comes to the administrative work. For instance, where will the office be? How does the budget work? Who’s the support staff for youth ministry? Who supervises the coordinator?

These are all good questions and there is no one right answer for each of them. One thing is true, however. These questions need to be addressed at the beginning to reduce any conflict or confusion. So let’s walk through them.

1. Where will the office be? In a suburban setting where the parishes are situated closely together (a few miles apart), it might make sense to have an office in each parish. This is a good strategy for numerous reasons. For one, this will allow you to have face time at all locations and to be a part of the parish staff. If the office was situated only in one parish, that parishes’ staff would get to know you well, but you would not be integrated into the other parishes, making collaboration more difficult.
2. How do we work the budget? It has been done numerous ways. Some prefer to have the budget housed in one parish, making the cash flow easier to manage. This would require each parish to pay the parish in which the budget is housed the agreed upon amount each year for salaries, programming costs, etc. For programs that consists of more than three or four parishes, it might make sense to have an externally housed budget, managed by the Diocesan Office if possible. Again, each parish would pay the amount due each year into that budget. There are pros and cons to each strategy, so discuss them thoroughly in advance, thinking about all contingencies, including tax implications.
3. Who’s the support staff? If you are lucky enough to have any at all, this is probably the easiest one to solve. Pick a support staff from whichever parish makes sense, considering the work load, ministry involvement of each, and location of the youth ministry office. Again, this decision should be made in advance with the support and “buy-in” from the pastors.
4. Who supervises the coordinator? There should be one supervisor. Anything more will cause conflict in interest and strategy. A suggestion would be to have an annual meeting with the pastors of all the parishes to review and evaluate the ministry, but then have the pastors agree on who will be the one supervisor. It is important to maintain this hierarchy for clear communication. If a pastor who is not the supervisor has a concern about an aspect of the ministry, he should communicate that with the supervisor who will then communicate that to the coordinator. Every pastor should feel comfortable to talk to the coordinator at any time, but when it comes to strategy and planning, the lines of communication need to be filtered through the supervisor.

Principle 5: Shared Prayer and Worship

As Catholics, mass is the source and summit of our faith. Therefore, how do we manage a Sunday liturgy when we have a multi-parish youth ministry effort? Do we have a youth liturgy at one parish, on a rotating basis, or at all the parishes? Fair warning: this can be a very touchy subject for pastors and lay ministers alike. There is no easy answer and, again, this should be discussed in advance.

The best answer depends on the situation. If all the parishes that are involved have a set youth liturgy, then the best option will be to let them continue as is while reaching out to all those liturgies and the youth and parents that attend. If only one parish has a youth liturgy, then the best option may be to encourage the youth to attend that specific liturgy, if the other parishes are not interested in developing one.

If each parish is interested in starting and maintaining a youth liturgy, as the coordinator of youth ministry for all those parishes, you may not want to be the one that is in charge of the liturgy. It is impossible to facilitate good youth liturgy if you cannot attend that parish each week. The parish that wants to start and maintain a youth liturgy should find the team and resources from within their parish and involve the youth ministry coordinator as a consultant and resource.

It is important from time to time to have liturgy as an entire youth ministry community, whether that happens on retreat, quarterly at one of the parishes, or at another youth event. These shared experiences of liturgy are important and can bring the youth ministry community together.

As leader, we are excited and consumed by the big picture questions of vision. In any ministry, a leader must spend time on these smaller, less exciting details. This is more true for a multi-parish youth ministry. The more time that is spent reflecting and acting on these smaller questions, the more likely the multi-parish youth ministry will succeed.

In my last blog entry, we began to explore the necessary principles for a multi-parish youth ministry effort. Our ministry efforts need to be to Jesus centered, and, our vision for the multi-parish ministry efforts needs to be clear and concise, with 100% buy-in from the leadership.

Jesus Centered Ministry

Principle 2: Empowering Leadership

The next principle is empowering leadership. The quote “one is too small a number to achieve greatness” gets at the heart of empowering leadership. John C. Maxwell states, “It takes teamwork to make the dream work.” Too often, youth ministry coordinators try to go at it alone, becoming a lone ranger, and eventually, they burn out. It is the same in a multi-parish setting. The only difference is that they burn out faster then they would in a single parish setting. There are three keys to empowering volunteers:

1. Let go. You need to let go of a few things. So stop thinking that you can do everything. Stop thinking that you can do everything better than anyone else. And stop thinking you have to do everything.
2. Ask people directly for help. Most volunteers are not going to come to you to get involved. Most volunteers want to be asked to share their time and talents. If you have clearly articulated the vision of your ministry, then use that vision to excite and motivate people to get involved in youth ministry. If your vision does not excite the parishes, then you may need to go back and rework the vision.
3. Allow volunteers to work in their areas of strength. I tell volunteers all the time that they don’t volunteer enough hours a week to be spending that time in their areas of weakness. They won’t enjoy the work and they won’t last. Let them tell you what they are good at and help them match their strengths to a volunteer role in the multi-parish youth ministry.

Use the following questions to reflect on your youth ministry and empowering leadership.

• What are your strengths and do you feel that you are consistently working in those areas of strength?
• In what ways can your organization better empower people?
• How can you shepherd volunteers to use their strengths in multi-parish youth ministry?

Remember this: the bigger the dream, the bigger the team. Multi-parish youth ministry is a big and awesome dream. Take the time to bring the right team around you.

Principle 3: Inclusive Structures

The challenge of working with multiple parishes is that we need to work hard to make sure that the structure of the multi-parish youth ministry is inclusive and that all parishes are involved in the process. It has to do with balance. It is imperative to find a balance between collaboration and the upholding of parish identity. Leadership teams that are part of the planning process are the key to balance.

The structure below can provide some guidance.

To ensure that all parishes are part of the planning process for multi-parish youth ministry programming, having teams that represent each parish is a good idea. In this structure, there is a core team that is representative of each parish and over sees and directs the entire youth ministry effort. The parish teams work closely with the core team and represent their parish’s needs and desires, as well as serve as planning teams for the ministry.

Once an inclusive structure is in place, you can begin the planning process. Work together with these teams to create the following:

• Short-term and long-term goals
• Measurable objectives for each goal
• Detailed action plans for each objective

Make sure you write these all out and follow through. Make adjustments when needed, but have it on paper so that you can go back and look at your progress and evaluate.

These structures will allow you to clearly know where you want to go and what you want to do, especially if all the parish voices are represented in your model.

For more on structuring for youth ministry, read the article of the same name at the following site: http://www.dsj.org/ministries/youth-ministry/coordinators-of-youth-ministry

Effective multi-parish youth ministry has eight principles that allow it to be a ministry of growth, success, and transformed lives. Embracing these eight principles allow your multi-parish youth ministry to thrive. Doug Tooke, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Helena, developed these eight elements as he worked in a rural multi-parish youth ministry setting.

There is no particular order that these principles have to be implemented, but the more of them that are in place, the more likely the multi-parish youth ministry will be to succeed.

An Overview

Jesus Centered Ministry

Who is at the center of the multi-parish youth ministry effort? It is easy to forget to put Christ first in our ministry. We get caught up in all the paperwork, liabilities, conflict, and programming, that we sometimes lose sight of the why behind our ministry. Research shows that three-quarters of our young people said they want youth ministry leaders “whose personality and lifestyle makes [them] want to learn more about Jesus” (Jesus Centered Youth Ministry, 64). Although these eight principles are important to multi-parish youth ministry, they are nothing without being centered on Christ. If your ministry exists for any other reason than to bring young people closer to Christ through the community, then spend some time in prayer with that thought before you continue reading this article.

Principle 1: Shared Vision

What is the vision for the ministry? Can all the key leaders articulate the vision? How do you communicate the vision? These are all key questions that need to be asked before the ministry can move forward. It is essential that all parish leadership teams, especially the pastors, can agree on a way forward and are willing to buy in to the direction of the ministry, both financially and with their support and mentorship. This vision needs to be created with every parish involved. Do not create the vision yourself and then expect the parishes to buy into it and take ownership. It does not work that way.

In their book, Collaboration, Sofield and Juliano state, “Many good projects, whether at the diocesan, parish, or community level, flounder or fail due to the absence of an articulated vision which clearly defines the direction.” Ken Blanchard defines vision very simply: “A clear vision is really just a picture of how things would be if everything were running as planned. The most powerful dream a leader can have is a vision of perfection.”

If you lack an articulated vision of the future for your multi-parish youth ministry, it is recommended that the key leaders of every parish get together for a day-long visioning retreat to answer the questions above about vision. Create a blue print for the direction that you want to move, and then outline specific goals and objectives that will help you get there. Spending the time necessary to create a shared vision will enable you to serve the young people better, and, save yourself more than a few headaches in the future.

In my next blog, we’ll look into a few more of the principles for effective multi-parish youth ministry.

Recognizing and understanding parish history and identity is important. Perhaps you are in a situation where there was a parish closure or a mandated clustering of parish ministries in your diocese. Maybe you are one of the many parishes that are choosing to work together in one or more ministries. In any case, recognizing that a parish has its own way of being community is an important piece to study as we begin our multi-parish ministry. As coordinators, you represent the change or the loss of identity because you facilitate this multi-parish youth ministry effort. We must allow our parishes to grieve any perceived or actual loss due to this change. What is seemingly an attack on you is not really an attack at all, but a grieving process. Name it for what it is, and then let it go. Now, do what you can to help them heal.

Six Steps to Healing

1. Give it time. People will not and cannot accept change right away. Accept the fact that change is hard for most people, unless they are the ones initiating the change.
2. Be present. When you first start, it will be important to show your face at each parish community you serve. Show your face often. This can be very time consuming trying to get to all the parish masses and major events, but create a schedule for yourself to make it happen. The more people get to know you as a person, the more comfortable they will be with the idea of a multi-parish youth ministry, and in turn, the more comfortable they will be in changing the way they think about their parish community. The time will be worth it. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll encourage their teenagers to get involved.
3. Youth interviews. Have the youth interview people from the different parish identities to find out about its history, style of liturgy, and community. Those that are being interviewed will appreciate the time and the young people will learn what makes each parish tick.
4. Communicate. Communicate often and openly. Let the parish communities clearly know what you and your team are doing in youth ministry. Let them contact you directly, via email or phone, if they have comments, questions, or thoughts. Better yet, have the young people themselves communicate what is being done in youth ministry. The more people see and hear about the fruits of the work of youth ministry, the more this will help them heal. When they find out the change is for the better, they will begin to heal.
5. Pastor support. Meet with all the pastors and parish staff that are involved. Work hard to receive their support. This is about building relationships. The more the pastor and parish staff know you and trust you, the more likely they are to not only show their support with their words, but with their presence.
6. Give it time. It’s worth repeating twice.

You and I can only do so much to help people heal for change. Ultimately, though, the Spirit needs to do its thing. So be patient. Let people grieve the change. And do what you do best: leading and serving the young people in our parishes.