Here’s a wrap-up of of September’s top posts of the month…
The Wordle on the left is a “word cloud” generated from all the text over the past month.  (click on the image to enlarge.) This is a great tool to see of what you are writing (or scripting for a presentation) are on target for what you want to emphasize.  A quick look, and, yep, Catholic, Youth, Ministry, Christ, Young are all some of the keywords worth repeating over and over!

Also, an upset in the rankings below.  The CaptionThis has been the steady monthly winner.  This time (perhaps because of the second weekend posting), this is not true! Was it too much of me or of Petey the Parrott?

What will happen in the fifty years following
[the publication of Hope for the Decade?]

Once can only guess,
but based on the growth and radical change
in the first half century of its existence,

Youth work should continue to be
an exciting and growing ministry in the Church

In 1980, (over thirty years ago) the National Catholic Youth Organization Federation (predecessor to today’s NFCYM) published Hope for the Decade: A Look at the Issues Facing Catholic Youth Ministry.

Throughout Fridays in September, we are pulling a few quotes, wondering about change and growth in our field.

Previously: Hope for the Parish, …for the Family, …for the Youth Minister, and … for Ministry

Related to yesterday’s post about young men, this summer the Wall Street Journal had a report on how deep (and surprisingly traditional) the bond between daughters and dads is, how powerful it remains throughout their lives, and how resilient it can be.  Peggy Drexler, author of Our Fathers, Ourselves: Daughters, Fathers and the Changing American Family, writes that no matter how successful their careers, how happy their marriages, or how fulfilling their lives, women told me that their happiness passed through a filter of their fathers’ reactions.

We know that fathers play a key role in the development and choices of their daughters. But even for women whose fathers had been neglectful or abusive, the researcher still finds a hunger for approval. They wanted a warm relationship with men who did not deserve any relationship at all.  Women still find that their fathers are a potent and enduring part of ourselves.

Read more about Daughters and Dad’s Approval.  What about your parish or schools programming attempts to serve to address this issue?

There are certainly enough attack points to be found in this uncommonly brief (less than 5 minutes) cautionary video regarding the demise of guys.

We can claim “woe is” regarding young men academically, with gaming, and especially porn. But they are just symptomatic.

How shall we respond to the digital re-wiring of guy’s brains, especially when it comes to faith which we are likely also passion along ivia analog, static, interactively passive means?

Any ideas?

  Watched Moneyball over the weekend.  It’s a great baseball movie that’s very accessible to all with good performances by Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.

A true-life story, it talks about changing the game of tradition laden baseball, especially how talent was evaluated and utilized… not much of the action is on the field  Scouts used to be always on the lookout for a “five-tool player,” one who observably excelled at hitting for average, hitting for power, baserunning skills and speed, throwing ability, and fielding abilities. The movie suggested that scouts looked at other intangibles such as the hotness of the girlfriend as an indication of a player’s confidence. Scout were happy to find a player with two or three tools. It was high praise to find a five-tool player.

Well, the movie tells the story of what happened to the near–successful (as in short of making the World Series) under-paying Oakland Athletics after the 2001 American League Division Series. The A’s were up two games on the New York Yankees, a team with three times the payroll, before losing it all. In the post season, they could not keep Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Jason Isringhausen, free-agents who went to higher paying teams.

A’s General Manager Billy Beane has to rebuild the smaller market/ smaller budget team to again be competitive. As a formerly described five-tool player, he well understood the flaws in that system of evaluation and, therefore, latches on to a new system, sabermetrics, which boils down statistics to evaluate players’ value rather the traditional scouting techniques of observation and intuition.

The “Sabermetric Evaluation” of Youth Ministry

Hmmmm, I thunk and thunk to myself after the movie.  In the past few years, we have had book after book of statistics that call for us in re-evaluation of our efforts in youth ministry… If we moved beyond our own observation and instinct, what would be the sabermetric effect for youth ministry?

(more…)

Our prayer for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time:

Lord God, we seek to do the will of the Lord, Make Your ways, O Lord, known to us.  Teach us your paths, guide us  in your truth and teach us, for you are God our Savior.

Remember your mercies and kindness, O Lord. Guide us to justice and teach us Your way. We seek in ourselves the same attitude that is found in Christ Jesus.

We desire to complete our joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. We want to Yours. Totus Tuus. Through our participation in the Spirit, we seek to share Your compassion with others, discovering solace in loves, finding encourage in Christ. Help us regard others as more important than ourselves, not looking out not for our own interests, but for each other.

In living for you and others, we preserve our own lives. We shall not die, but live for you and in you. Totus Tuus.

On one level, the proliferation of inadequate defined ministries is a difficulty.
Some people and agencies have a high tolerance for ambiguity in this regard,
others require greater precision and clarity.

It is important that we clearly communicate to colleagues
the goals and assumptions that shape ministerial roles.
Since the rapid expansion in ministries causes instinctive defensive reactions in more traditional settings,
clear and affirming communication is necessary for joint progress.

In 1980, the National Catholic Youth Organization Federation (predecessor to today’s NFCYM) published Hope for the Decade: A Look at the Issues Facing Catholic Youth Ministry.

Throughout Fridays in September, we are pulling a few quotes, wondering about change and growth in our field.

Previously: Hope for the Parish, …for the Family, …for the Youth Minister

We are wrapping up our review of the Contact Meetings from last weekend. See part 1, part 2, and part 3.

While we traditionally have invited our Youth Contacts (profession and key volunteer leaders from our parishes).  This year, we added high school campus ministers as well.

Next up is Marissa Alspaugh.  She lead a great ice-breaker earlier in the day that set up the whole transformational vibe.  Marissa is the youth ministry leader (she has got a great team assembled) at St. Timothy in Walkersville which is in central Maryland. She is discussing how to integrate all that has been discussed throughout the day.

And, finally, Wayne Hipley and Ted Miles offer the conclusion to the day.

The handouts can be found at ArchBalt Contact Meeting page.