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Article_Mobilizing to reach youth

Feature News | Monday, October 20, 2014

Mobilizing to reach youth

National leader gives scary stats, helpful tips

Youth ministers from Mother of Christ Church speak among themselves on youth ministry issues. From left: Idayme Vazquez, Carlos Vazquez, Jose Villafranca and Yurien Villafranca.

Photographer: MARLENE QUARONI | FC

Youth ministers from Mother of Christ Church speak among themselves on youth ministry issues. From left: Idayme Vazquez, Carlos Vazquez, Jose Villafranca and Yurien Villafranca.

 

MIAMI SHORES | "How many of you have teenagers?" Robert McCarty asked, getting a show of hands from his 87 listeners.

"How many have more than one?" he then asked, getting fewer hands.

His third question — "How come?" — brought knowing laughs from the listeners, all of whom worked with younger Catholics.

"Teenagers show us that God has a sense of humor," said McCarty, executive director of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, who was in town to help the archdiocese beef up its outreach to younger Catholics.

The Sept. 16 meeting at the Pastoral Center brought officials from 36 schools, parishes and other ministries. Improving outreach to youths is part of the archdiocese's Strategic Pastoral Plan, issued in October at the close of the archdiocesan synod. Among other goals, the 28-page document called for more effective ministry to parishioners 18-35 years old.

It also called for the reopening of an archdiocesan Office for Youth and Young Adults, something that was accomplished this month when Rosemarie Banich was hired as its director

Daphne Dominique, assistant to the principal at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame Prep and youth minister at St. Martha Parish, listens to Robert McCarty.

Photographer: MARLENE QUARONI | FC

Daphne Dominique, assistant to the principal at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame Prep and youth minister at St. Martha Parish, listens to Robert McCarty.

McCarty's presentation — one of 20-25 he gives each year across the U.S. — was aimed at explaining the emotional makeup of modern youths, and how to help them build a relationship with the Church.

After an introduction by Stephen Colella, the archdiocese's new director of evangelization and parish life, McCarty gave not only gentle gibes but scary stats:

  • 44 percent of American adults have changed their religious affiliation, and 20 percent are now unaffiliated.
  • Only 68 percent of people brought up Catholic continue in the Church — a slide of more than 20 percentage points from the older generation.
  • 60 percent of Catholics who are now unaffiliated left the Church between 13 and 23 years old.
  • Only 32 percent of all Americans 18-29 years old are affiliated with any religion - the group commonly called the "Nones."
  • Only 39 percent of Catholics now marry in the Church.

McCarty's dire summary: "Our youths and young adults are just bleeding out. We have to make a full-court press." 

How to do that? McCarty said it would take "engagement" and "integration," rather than segregating younger Catholics into ministries just for their age range.

He stressed that engagement is not involvement. People can do church work and still drift away, he said. They’ll more likely stay if they feel "a strong emotional connection to the faith community."

Engagement in turn can lead to spiritual commitment, McCarty said. "For my generation, belief led to belonging. For the modern generation, it's the opposite: Belonging leads to behavior, and behavior leads to belief."

It's also a natural approach for Catholics, he added. "Our relationship with Jesus Christ has to do with our relationship with the community of believers. It is not an individual religion; it's a communal religion."

McCarty offered a few ideas on how to engage and mainstream young parishioners:

  • Having them take part in liturgical events, like Stations of the Cross and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
  • Sponsoring "Intergenerational" parish events, like social gatherings and service projects, not only with adults but with their own families.
  • Holding blessings of pets, bicycles, even car keys.
  • The youths should also be formally blessed just before leaving for a mission, McCarty recommended.

He finished with a bit of encouragement for the youth leaders themselves: "We're in this for the long haul. These kids are going to be different adults because of what we did."

Asked their reaction, youth leaders often used two words -- "excited" and "energized" -- as much from hearing from one another as from McCarty.

"It's exciting to see all the efforts in support of youth," said Ivannia Van Arman, youth minister at Blessed Trinity Church, Miami Springs. "It's good to get reminders of what works."

Van Arman liked the idea of focusing on youth in Masses and blessings. She said McCarty's presentation came just in time: "We're starting up our youth group again tomorrow."

Silvia Lopez, a fourth-grade teacher and team leader with Blessed Trinity's youth ministry, said it was a "new insight" to hear the need to enlist families into connecting with youth."

We need more meetings like this," Lopez said. "We could trade ideas with other youth ministers."

Also at the meeting were officials of Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Coconut Grove, run by the Religious of the Society of the Sacred Heart. They came away enthusiastic.

"I feel renewed, excited to work with the girls tomorrow," said Erica Ramirez, the school dean. "We need continual opportunities for renewal."

Her campus minister, Consi Panzer, agreed. "[McCarty] lit a fire. Sometimes we need that. We need to rethink what we know."

Daphne Dominique, assistant to the principal at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame Prep in Miami, was totally on board with McCarty's ideas. "Young people are the best thing that's ever happened to the world," she said. "They're the future of the Church, a blank page."

What did young people need most from the Church? Dominique, also a member of St. Martha Church in Miami Shores, had an immediate answer: "Acceptance from older people, a sense of belonging to the Church. They get pushed away."

Colella, the archdiocesan officer, said he's heard similar reactions. "They’ve felt energized and said they were thankful that they were not alone. And they're excited at the prospect of archdiocesan training."

McCarty also spoke on youth outreach at the archdiocese's convocation for priests the following day. As he wrapped up his talk, he said, he got a standing ovation.

"It's the first time I've seen that in 15-20 years," McCarty said. "I hear the priests saying, 'Yep, we get this.'"

Next goal in the Strategic Plan is to train 40-50 young adults in "peer-to-peer" ministry. Also ahead are elements like training parish-based young adult missionaries, publishing a list of youth ministry models, and holding youth retreats, including at least one in the Florida Keys.

Colella said he would turn the Strategic Plan into a "menu of possibilities" from which parish leaders could choose. "That's my style. Different parishes are at different places."

He said the Strategic Plan is "aggressive but wonderful," he said. "I think people like having clear goals. They know they're working hard and reaching people, and they want to reach more people. This is an exciting new chapter."  

Robert McCarty of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, leads the youth ministry conference at the archdiocese.

Photographer: MARLENE QUARONI | FC

Robert McCarty of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, leads the youth ministry conference at the archdiocese.


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