I love the out-of-town speakers.  Some of those guys and gals are good friends.

In Catholic Social Teaching, we understand that subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority.

All the “out-of-town speakers” I know get that.  YOU are the best hope for sharing the Word with young people, not the “cool” person (like the Ignatius character from the video satire) with the music, juggling, pop references, an awesome web-site, comedy, “smoking hot wife” or great power-point with photo-shopped images. “if you love young people in Jesus in name, and want to teach them His Word; maybe, just maybe, you are not doing so bad.” YOU might be “cooler” than you think!  Go get ‘em this weekend, folks!

I wrapped up our six week Seminar in Youth Ministry training last night in Bel Air, MD.   What a fine group of folks – -  many coming from one parish!

Last night, we covered the Adolescent Catechesis session.  In anticipation that we might be reformatting this training to include some on-line elements, I also set up the flip camera to capture video…  We’ll see how that went in a day or two.  If it looks decent, I’ll post it up. 

If you have been following along on this site, you’ll noted that I claim that the popes and World Youth Day, the GDC, Our Hearts are Burning Within Us, and Renewing the Vision are all pointing us in the same direction:  DISCIPLESHIP.  Further, I also believe that it is not just about head, heart, hands anymore but must also include home/feet.

The power-point can be downloaded from here

The Seminars in Youth Ministry cover Renewing the Vision, Adolescent Development, Youth Culture, Pastoral Care and Adolescent Catechesis.  Our staff of five covers the six sessions.  This season i drew the repeat visit schedule.

I covered Youth Culture – -  which we use primarily as an effort to get into the heads of young people.  We do spend some time with the National Study on Youth and Religion and other studies that examine where young people and the society that surrounds them “are at” with faith and spirituality.

The power-point can be downloaded from here

We live in dangerous times.

Peggy Noonan recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the anxiety of the economic collapse is settling into our social conscious, leaving us suffering in a “pandemic of fear.” In her article, she reminds us that “The writer and philosopher Laurens van der Post, in his memoir of his friendship with Carl Jung, said, ‘We live not only our own lives but, whether we know it or not, also the life of our time.’ We are actors in a moment of history, taking part in it, moving it this way or that as we move forward or back. The moment we are living now is a strange one, a disquieting one, a time that seems full of endings.”  Her closer: “Too bad there’s no pill for that.”

But there is a cure:  Hope!

Bishop Blase Cupich of Rapid City, S.D., recently wrote about the Power in the Present for America magazine.  In it, he retells a story told about a  small town was to be flooded as part of a dam project, they stopped all improvements and repairs to their property. Soon the town fell into ruin. As the dinner companion observed, “What was the use of painting a house if it was to be covered with water in six months? Why repair anything when the whole village was to be wiped out?” Then he added: “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no power in the present.”  Read more here.

Is this not what youth ministry is to be about… power in the present, faith in the future?

Ladies and Gentlemen, go out and be the Good News today!

In Group Magazine’s State of Youth Ministry Survey, the field was asked what was one good changer that has occurred in the last five years:

> An attention to family ministry
> A hunger among students for ‘deeper’ things”
> A transition from a preaching style of youth ministry to a more interactive and relational style.
> All our area youth ministries are working together, for the sake of the kingdom—not just for ourselves.
> Many going on mission trips.
> An emergence of different styles of worship that appeal to youth.
> Becoming more focused on Jesus  rather than a focus on entertaining them with games and events.
> Connection and insight into youth’s lives through the Internet.
> Figuring out how to do student leadership development better.
> We’re moving toward a small group youth ministry.
> I’ve seen kids become more aware of social justice.
> More youth pastors are in it for good.
> There are so many free resources and the resources have greatly improved.
> Leaders staying in their jobs longer.
> Incorporating pop culture into teaching, which is very relevant.

So, what is one good change that has occurred in the last five years?

(from the Youthworker ejournal) In effort to continue the tremendously successful rebuilding of the Big Easy, the New Orleans Marriott has launched “Build & Bond,” offering voluntourism groups a special nightly rate of $84, including all taxes. This rate is based on an occupancy of one to four, which could bring the price per person, per night as low as $21.

“Build & Bond” makes it easy for groups visiting New Orleans for mission trips. It offers a resource kit including information on area transportation companies and city guides; a complimentary meeting room, where the group can congregate to discuss and plan the day ahead; complimentary parking for 15-passenger vans; 50 percent off parking for personal vehicles and discounted pricing for box lunches to keep volunteers fueled “on the job.” For guests in need of some direction about where to lend a hand, “Build & Bond” provides recommendations on a variety of local volunteer organizations so do-good guests can plan where to donate their time. For more information about the New Orleans Marriott or to book “Build & Bond,” call 504.553.5526.

In Group Magazine’s State of Youth Ministry Survey, the field was asked when they think about their youth ministry, what is not going well.  (The first two comments represent, by far, the top complaints):

> Winning the battle against culture
> Apathy from some of the youth and their parents.
> Communication—I haven’t found the best way to market events
> Designing studies that are relevant to their lives
> Evangelistic efforts by students.
> Faith formation in the home.
> Adult involvement.
> Giving to our ministry is down, requiring us to fund-raise
> Helping students live for Christ consistently in all areas of life.
> I do not know how to deal with behavior issues.
> I’m frustrated with the same-old, same-old youth group meeting.
> Me! I’m stretched in the limited time I have
> Outreach is met with hostility from the kids in localschools.”
> Sustainable faith practices.

So, what is the area that is not going well within your youth ministry?

Been on a retreat for you lately?  If not, get an encouraging message from the North.

OTTAWA, ON, CANANDA — Youth ministers can easily lose focus, confidence and direction when dealing with the “swirling mist of grey” that surrounds Catholic youth today, says the youth and young adult outreach director of the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Young people are asking “Why should I care about being Catholic? Why do I have to choose? What difference does it make who I sleep with?” said John Beaulieu. Teenagers see life in terms of “my truth and your truth.”

They come to Christ “with conditions,” Beaulieu said during a retreat for youth ministry workers in the Ottawa Archdiocese March 7. They go to youth group on Friday night, and then have oral sex with their girlfriend on Saturday night. Youth ministers need more than a small candle to break through, he said. “You need a bright light to be seen in a thick fog.” The solution, he said, comes from a life of holiness and prayer and through doing things with Christ rather than in his name as an idea or a concept.  More here.

A word about the ninth component of a comprehensive approach to Catholic Youth Ministry.

PORTLAND, OR — Scores of Catholic youths gather at a Portland rally this month to hear that everyone has a vocation — whether it be to priesthood or diaconate, religious life, marriage or single life.  Local vocations directors and Serra Club members have decided to concentrate their outreach to two crucial moments of childhood and adolescence — the age of 11 and grade 11. That’s why the program is called Focus 11. This month’s rally is for sixth graders.  In a letter to principals of Catholic schools, the vocations alliance says: “We, vocation directors in the Archdiocese of Portland, always note to the students these basic truths when we make presentations about vocations: All are called to holiness. Everyone has a vocation.” More here 

And they all are heroes… or should we call them SHEroes.

SAN ANTONIA, TX — The Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, also known as the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of their arrival to the United States from Italy in 1908. The sisters’ mission is, and always has been, to provide a quality Catholic education to youth, especially those less fortunate. More here.

In Group Magazine’s State of Youth Ministry Survey, the field was asked what is going “really well”? The responses primary grouped into these areas:

> Anything that includes parents
> Teens willing to do right even if those around them are not
> Building trust.
> Connecting with the students.
> Current research and practical applications
> it’s the quality of my leadership team
> Discipleship through small group ministry
> Helping kids face their pain
> Our kids are most energized when they are serving others.
> I think the students are starting to understand life with Christ as a journey
> I would say we have developed a strong evangelistic edge in our ministry
> Students here have a chance to take ownership of ‘their’ ministry.
> Our trips and retreats are our most impactful connection pieces.”
> Parental involvement.
> The ‘safe’ atmosphere that we’ve created within our youth group

So, what is the area that is going “really well” in your youth ministry?

As reported earlier, Boston held their own first annual  Symposium for Adolescent Catechesis. The daylong-conference was led by Sean Reynolds, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Read here for the full report on Sean’s presentation in Beantown.

Sean had his challenge set before him, however, when, in his opening address, Cardinal O’Malley set the tone for the symposium, urging the attendees that now, more than ever, “We must continue to walk with our young people, to accompany them on their journey of faith, in the midst of an increasingly hostile culture.”

“The privatization of religion in today’s climate of new-age individualism is poisonous to the Bible message of community and connectedness in the body of Christ,” said the cardinal.

“We need to promote the distinctiveness of our Catholic identity, our emphasis on community and social teaching — those things that are uniquely Catholic and through which young people can form a bond to their Church,” he said.  Cardinal Sean blogged on his own reflection on the symposium here and included video of his twelve minute intervention as well.

In Group Magazine’s State of Youth Ministry Survey, the field was asked what is their most pressing need in youth ministry. The responses were primary grouped into these areas:

> More and Better Volunteers
> Teenagers Who Are Engaged and Passionate About Their Faith
> More Effective Discipleship Strategies
> More Practical Resources
> Better Ways to Involve and Equip Parents
> A Greater Emphasis and “Battle Plan” for Outreach
> Money and Supplies
> Time Management
> More Help With Worship
> Better Connections With the Wider Church

So, what is the area that you are dying for within your youth ministry?