Building a Young Church

Recently I was zoning out during the Deacon’s homily at Sunday Mass and I started to look around the church. I admit, I probably should have been paying more attention, but nothing in this particular homily was grabbing me, and I’m only human. As I looked around at the local parish, something occurred to me that hadn’t ever struck me before.

Nothing about this parish appealed to me.

While this list is not exhaustive, here are some of the things that didn’t resonate with me:

• The architecture of the church building.

• The screens in the sanctuary.

• The choral music sung from the hymnals.

• The selection of worship songs.

• The way that the parish welcomed me into the Mass.

• The manner in which the parish communicates (by bulletin and pulpit announcements).

• The cultural references within the homily (I could not relate to them - they were directed at an older generation).

• The clubs and parish groups who were plugged during the announcements.

In fact, the only thing about the parish that appealed to me were the words of the Mass, which are familiar and timeless.

That is not to say that this parish was doing anything wrong. There is nothing wrong with screens, and choral music, and bulletins, etc.I fully recognize that the parish is not about me and the purpose of liturgical worship isn’t about crafting something that appeals to me so that “I can get something out of it.” Worship is about God, the Church is a community, and it is a wonderful and incredible mystery to be invited to participate in the Holy Eucharist at every Mass.

I am simply saying that I would prefer that the architecture, music, homily, communication, etc. be done differently. The kinds of things that I love within a Catholic setting were not present at this Sunday Mass, at this particular parish. And that is ok… it isn’t about me.

But what struck me was… the way that this parish operates and celebrates Mass has to appeal to someone (even if it isn’t me). So I thought about it and asked myself the question, “who would enjoy this parish community?” I knew the answer immediately.

My parents.

The thing is, I think the vast majority of Catholic parishes have become exclusively about appealing to an older generation… and that is not healthy.

Understanding the generation who lived through Vatican II

I didn’t live through Vatican II, but when I hear from the generation that did, they frequently speak of it as a badly needed “breath of fresh air” in the Church.

I have heard many stories about not being able to understand anything that Monsignor was saying while his back was turned to the congregation. I have heard stories about trying to follow along with the latin to english translations, the Sunday school Baltimore Catechism lessons, and pinning a piece of paper to your head because you forgot your veil and girls could not walk into Church without one.

I have heard a lot of stories about nuns who would hit kids with rulers, corporal punishment in Catholic schools, memorization of prayers, and a lot of rules that kids had to follow.

“Pray, pay, and obey,” was the motto.

Reading the Bible and exploring the depths of theology were not a point of emphasis.

Many in my parents generation do not look fondly on the Church in the 1950s and I can understand why.

And then came Vatican II… and the Church began a series of reforms to embrace and engage the modern world.

Let me be clear… I am very pro-Vatican II. I am a firm believer that the reforms of Vatican II were good and necessary. I believe we are only beginning to reap the benefits of this tremendous ecumenical council. That being said, there is no question that the Church went “off the rails” for awhile immediately following Vatican II. For several decades, there was poor catechesis, a lot of heresy taught in our seminaries and universities, and a lot of things done within liturgy that shouldn’t have happened. These things did not happen because of Vatican II. That toxicity already existed in the Church prior to the council and Vatican II simply caused it to come to the surface so it could be dealt with.

I’ll be the first to tell you that the stories I heard of the post-Vatican II Church (and some of what I saw growing up in the 90’s) make me cringe. There was a lot of experimentation in liturgy, architecture, music, and worship. Some of it was good and fruitful. Some of it wasn’t.

I share all of this to say that I recognize that my parent’s generation engages with the parish and looks for a kind of community that is very unappealing to me. The invitation of “modern and innovative,” things into worship represents engaging with God in a more personal way. It is, in many ways, the opposite of what they grew up with pre-Vatican II. My parent’s generation sees tradition as representing a God who is restrictive and distant. Modernity within worship represents something new - one that is personal and loving.

… and that’s a problem for me. Because that is not the way that I view or see God.

Understanding the Difference in the Millennial Generation

I am a millennial and my generation has been vocal in the Church about wanting to see a return to the sacred. We are a generation that loves Eucharistic Adoration, chant, and more traditional music, vestments, orthodox teaching, and a strong emphasis on catechesis. While we love the tradition of the Church, we also have embraced a lot of the spirit of Vatican II. Many in our generation enjoy participating in praise and worship, participate in Charismatic movements, the use of technology in spreading the Gospel, and lay-run, revivalist movements.

I can look back at times in the past and see where those differences between the generations were very pronounced.

Over 10 years ago, I attended a national gathering of Catholic youth ministry workers for a week of collaboration and networking. Every main session was started with an effort at communal prayer. On one afternoon, an older gentleman (probably Generation X) was asked to lead our group in prayer before we heard from our speaker. He proceeded to hand out empty wicker baskets to each table and explained to us that these baskets were woven by Native American youth on an Indian reservation and represented hours of prayer as they made each of these baskets by hand. He invited us to pass the baskets around our table and to imagine our prayer intentions going into the empty basket as an offering to God. He then proceeded to play some strange “meditation” music and burn incense while we participated in this exercise. This man was not a Native American and he was not teaching us something about his culture. He just thought that these actions were meaningful and that this represented a group effort at prayer.

This “prayer” is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen in my life.

I was probably no older than 30 at the time and I could see that those in the room who were from my generation were fighting not to break out in laughter.

At the end of the conference there was a luncheon for first time attendees and one of the conference planners facilitated a discussion and asked for feedback. I spoke up and said that I was disappointed in the way that this community entered into prayer together. I said that it would have been nice to have Eucharistic Adoration scheduled into the conference (there was no Eucharistic Adoration during the week long Catholic conference) and that I was uncomfortable during some of the times of communal prayer. The facilitator pushed me for more specifics so I told him the Native American basket weaving meditation was not something that I felt belonged in this setting. I recall specifically asking, “If we are all Catholic and we are attempting to invite everyone to pray together, is there something wrong with praying the Liturgy of the Hours?”

After that luncheon, an older lady pulled me aside and said to me, “I find what you said interesting. The basket meditation was the only prayer time this week that I was really able to connect with.” At the time, being an arrogant 30 year old, I just dismissed what she said as something that was old and out of touch. I recognize now that she was actually sharing with me that each generation has had different experiences in the Church, and that one person’s way of connecting with God is not necessarily the same for everyone.

While that doesn’t change my perspective on liturgy, prayer, and worship (follow the rubrics, no need for creativity in the Mass), it does give me pause to consider the need to respect the history and experiences of my elders and what they have contributed to the Church.

A New Generation of Leadership

I am passionate about young people in the Catholic Church. That is why I run an apostolate focused on youth ministry. I have long said that our young people need to belong in our Church. Part of belonging is giving someone ownership.

I turn 41 years old today. I am a millennial and I can no longer be considered “young.” In many ways, I feel like I am still waiting for my turn to lead in the Church. That Sunday, looking around at the church, I realized that my experience at the parish was representative of what I am seeing in the Catholic Church around the country. We have done a poor job of raising up the next generation of leaders in the Church.

The reason why everything at this parish appeals to an older generation is because the older generation is still holding all of the leadership in the Church. If this is my experience as a 40 year old, I can only imagine what a 20 year old from Gen Z experiences at their local parish.

I don’t want the older generation to go away or for them to become marginalized. I don’t want to de-value their experiences or the way that they engage with God. What i do want is for the Baby Boomers and Gen X to let go of their kung fu death grip on the reigns of the Catholic Church. We need our older generations to be heroic and discern when it is time to step aside. What they will find is that the younger generations will not continue their legacies. Pancake breakfasts will probably go away. So will the bulletin and some of those God awful 80’s hymns. And that’s a good thing. Our young people belong in the Church too and the Holy Spirit has given them gifts and vision. They will start their own legacies and we badly need that breath of fresh air that they will bring into the Church.

EVERETT FRITZ is a leading expert in small group discipleship and an advocate for quality youth ministry. He is the author of 4 books, including The Art of Forming Young Disciples (Sophia Institute Press) and One Disciple at a Time (Ave Maria Press). Everett has been serving in the trenches of youth ministry for over 18 years and is the founder and President of Andrew Ministries. He helps ministries all over the world to stop spinning their wheels in order to build youth ministries that get results.