This most recent set of reflections all started with a reminder of the Angrisano/ Tomaszek anthem Go make a diff’rence in the world. 

We have opted to make a difference in the world by investing ourselves on behalf of the church.

Building adolescent catechesis is not easy and will make demands on your parish, your resources, and the youth and families entrusted to your care. Yet it is absolutely worth the investment as we convey in our efforts, our prayers, the use of our resources, and our parish life the message first spoken by Saint John Bosco, the saint of the young. “That you are young is reason enough to love you.”

And off you go. Adolescent faith formation and evangelization, like all church work, are more similar to a marathon than a sprint. We are committing to building relationships, not programs, and this will take time and effort. We need to:

Monitor your Health and Progress: As part of your calendar of events, schedule the times when your team will re-assess the situation and plan for the upcoming year. Planning is an ongoing and intentional process and includes opportunities for team building and social times. You might use spring as the time for new needs assessments and program calendaring, and June as time for the annual evaluation. Your planning will begin to incorporate some traditional events (a Christmas dance or Lenten Stations of the Cross), spontaneous events (a trip during a sudden school holiday or a food drive in response to a natural disaster) and a cafeteria approach (variety of activities which allows youth some choice for participation). The team should also begin planning for leadership training for both youth and adult team members.

And off you go. Adolescent faith formation and evangelization, like all church work, are more similar to a marathon than a sprint. We are committing to building relationships, not programs, and this will take time and effort. We need to:

Know the Course Before You: Developing an adolescent faith formation calendar is essential for your planning. It might be easier to plan in seasonal or three- month blocks. Don’t forget that the summer is an important time for programming, especially for younger adolescents. In planning, try to achieve a balance of programs in each component area. Check with the parish and local high school calendars, so you’re not competing for your teens’ time. Also check the diocesan Office of Youth Ministry and/or Catechesis calendar. There is usually something going on that your young people can attend. It makes for easy planning and early success. You should also touch base with surrounding parishes for activities to which your young people can be invited. It’s good for teenagers to see what others are doing and it helps them experience a larger sense of Church.

And off you go. Adolescent faith formation and evangelization, like all church work, are more similar to a marathon than a sprint. We are committing to building relationships, not programs, and this will take time and effort. We need to:

Plan for the Long Haul: We need to organize ourselves so that we might best manage the uphills and downhills, equipping ourselves for the spurts and for the long haul. An organizational structure provides the ongoing leadership and coordination needed for a comprehensive adolescent catechesis program. The structure can vary according to the members and needs of your team. Program Committees with youth and adults, a Coordinating Team, a Youth Board and an Adult Advisory Board are all options for your organization. Also, it is important to determine regular meeting times for the committees, team or board, and to identify the person who will coordinate the organization, set agendas and facilitate the meetings.

And off you go. Adolescent faith formation and evangelization, like all church work, are more similar to a marathon than a sprint. We are committing to building relationships, not programs, and this will take time and effort. We need to:

Pray: We must place our efforts and our ministry in the hands and design of God. This work is not our own, but God’s. We need to treat all our successes and disappointment as opportunities in which God is at work, Therefore, we are reminded, as Paul consoled the Thessalonians to “rejoice always; pray without ceasing; (and) in all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Getting off on the right foot is essential in any race. Here are some suggestions on how to properly position yourselves for developing adolescent faith formation and evangelization in your faith community.

The next step is to develop the ideas into actual programs. This step can be accomplished in smaller planning groups of adults and youth. Each group could plan one event or activity. It is important to enable young people to take some responsibility for the program activities. However, early in the process adults should be more directive in their leadership, if the youth aren’t ready for the responsibility. Each activity should have a lead agent, or co-lead agents with a teen and adult together.

Good planning always answers the what, when, where, how and who questions. Plan for a variety of program formats, times and content. Plan activities that youth want. Plan well and plan for good publicity. Use flyers in the schools (if allowed), a newsletter sent to each parish teenager, personal phone contacts, the parish bulletin and website, and posters around the parish. Be creative and always over-publicize.

Getting off on the right foot is essential in any race. Here are some suggestions on how to properly position yourselves for developing adolescent faith formation and evangelization in your faith community.

Based on the needs from the assessment and on the vision identified by the adolescent faith formation team, it is time to generate program ideas. The discussion should use a holistic and comprehensive framework, developing ideas for each of the components of comprehensive youth ministry. Prioritize your ideas. Don’t try everything at once or plan more than your team can actually do. Rather, do fewer activities very well. Plan for quality activities and don’t evaluate solely on the number of participants. Good programs and publicity will attract youth. Go for the short term, immediate successes at first.

Getting off on the right foot is essential in any race. Here are some suggestions on how to properly position yourselves for developing adolescent faith formation and evangelization in your faith community.

You need to have a proper physical before starting this exercise. In other words, conduct a needs assessment. Your efforts in ministering with young people must begin with an understanding of the needs and wants of the youth and their families in your parish. This can be done through interviews with select youth, phone calls to parish youth, questionnaires or surveys distributed during or after Mass, or through a Town Meeting. A Town Meeting is a gathering of an inclusive cross section of parish youth structured to foster dialogue about their needs and interests. This can be achieved through personal invitations by phone, parish bulletin, pulpit announcements, flyer or newsletter (get names and addresses through the parish census).

Get up to the starting line. Here are some of the fundamentals that you will need.

It is important for the team to look at the past history and the current reality of the parish’s efforts with adolescent catechesis and youth ministry. How does your parish love and care for its young people? How is that love and caring expressed in specific ways that invites adolescents into the fabric of who you are and what you do? Please note that the lead question is not, “Do we have enough money and the necessary resources to hire a full time youth minister/ coordinator of adolescent faith formation?”

This assessment step brings together the critical realities of your identified parish priorities and your parish resources and how they relate. This assessment can foster healthy discussion about intentionally using your parish’s resources to reflect your parish’s vision, values, and priorities. As your team reviews the conditions, it is important to avoid a “politics of scarcity” approach. Having vital adolescent catechesis does not mean taking parish financial support away from the senior group in the parish or siphoning off badly needed monies for the food pantry.

Get up to the starting line. Here are some of the fundamentals that you will need.

Your team needs training in the goals, components, and methods of comprehensive faith formation. Perhaps the postings in the CAFFEINE section might serve as a starting point. Nonetheless, the team must be presented with a foundation for building parish adolescent faith formation. Together, there should be agreement as to what will work, what approaches will be taken, the pace and the goal of our efforts. Having the adults and key leaders trained to share a common understanding of adolescent faith formation is critical so that your parish might develop an informed awareness of its ministry with young people.