In my 24 years of being in and around Catholic youth ministry in parishes around the world, I’ve observed that:
- Some parishes don’t really make reaching out to youth a main priority, opting for the “they will come back once married for the Sacraments plan.” (Statistics no longer support this theory.)
- Some parishes wish they had more teens attending Mass, but do nothing to make their Liturgies youth friendly.
- Some parishes don’t think they will find volunteers to work with teens so they stick with a solo minister model that often collapses when the youth minister moves on. (The average youth minister stays at a parish less than 2 years citing lack of support as a key reason for leaving.)
- Some parishes are afraid that if they focus more on the teens that the other groups in the parish will be upset, so they “tone down” things for youth.
- Some parishes see the teens not as a vital part of the parish, but merely as free labor to help with the parish picnic, stuff bulletins, and stack chairs.
- Some parishes are afraid of chasing teens away by being “too spiritual,” so they end up making the primary programming mostly fun events and the teachings become “Catholic lite.” (Teens actually want more not less depth.)
- Some parishes don’t place emphasis on reaching out to the teens who are registered but aren’t involved at the parish. (On average teens need to be invited 5 times or more before they will say yes and attend an event.)
- Some parishes aren’t intentional about challenging young people to discern a religious vocation. (Most Seminarians cite the fact that someone was bold and asked them to consider the priesthood as the key reason they are now in the Seminary.)
- Some parishes don’t emphasize a Eucharist centered youth ministry.
- Some parishes place too little value on relational ministry with teens. (Teens are relational in nature, if the Church doesn’t foster relationships with teens, they will find relationships elsewhere.)
- Some parishes keep facility usage as a roadblock to the teens rather than creating a welcoming space.
- Some parishes don’t send teens to camps, conferences, and mission trips thinking that the teens can’t afford them. (Actually, week long experiences are amazing conversion engines for teens. Once families see the transformation, they are willing to support sending teens.)
Fortunately your parish is not like some parishes! Or is it?
I volunteered in the LifeTeen youth ministry movement in my home parish from 1996-2004. The LifeTeen conference was such a life-changing event for me. I wanted teens and youth to be offered everything possible to connect them to God, develop and enrich their faith lives, see how they can be a part of the mission of Jesus.
During those years God led me to further my training and work as a youth minister. I was employed in two other parishes from 2004-2010. I have heard, seen and experienced what is stated in this excellent article. The fight was tough but through God’s grace I and the parishioners (especially youth/teens) developed the youth ministries. Unfortunately, the pastors of both parishes in which I worked would not allow us to subscribe to LT. One pastor did not believe in youth friendly liturgies nor allow subscription to LT. The other pastor allowed a youth friendly Mass once per month but no high school level youth ministry, nor subscription to LT/Edge. At leAst i was permitted to go to Dedham, MA…which, by the way, was awesome!!
I have been looking to work in youth ministry again but all I hear from other pastors is that while my qualifications and experience is impressive, they can not afford to hire me, even part time. I could put 20 hours in plus countless hours off the clock because I am passionate about the youth and helping them develop their Christ-centered, Eucharistic faith. My salary could be raised through fund raisers. Some pastors do not want to do that because they don’t want to burden the families by asking for money to support a youth ministry when there is so much more that the money could go toward. Of course, I am in the archdiocese of Phila. where there is much going on right now. But I know there are poor parishes across the country with vibrant YM made available to the youth.
I have to work on getting the pastors to “see the light”. Do you have any suggestions? One idea is that I could free-lance at different parishes with retreats and local mission trips, etc. At least that could be something the youth could experience and maybe spark their faith.
How can we get through to the pastors? They need to read these articles. Thanks for “listening”.
God Bless You,
Angel Conicelli