Hands Down, this is the Best Youth Ministry Program Available

When I was growing up as a teenager, my first experience of youth ministry was going on a TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) Retreat. TEC was a retreat movement, similar to Cursillo, that was founded in 1964. The program initiated teens into a community of believers through a retreat and then had a support structure built into the ministry to help each teenager remain engaged with their community of peers. I made my TEC retreat in 2001, and the TEC community was very instrumental in helping me to develop my faith as a teenager.

When I think back on the actual structure and content of the retreat program that I attended, I have to say… it was very dated. The retreat program itself was far from cutting edge youth ministry. And yet, at least my chapter of TEC yielded more good and long lasting fruit than any other youth program in my diocese. The best part about the program wasn’t the program itself. The witness of the people running the program is was made it so successful. I developed relationships with peers and caring adults who lived their faith and I learned from their witness and example.

I am a part of a couple of youth ministry forums on social media where hundreds of youth ministry leaders share content, tips, and crowdsource ideas. The question that I see repeated ad nauseam is some variation of,

What program should I run to get teens interested in the Catholic faith?

I have been working in the trenches of youth ministry for over 15 years. I have seen and evaluated a lot of youth ministry programs. If you are looking for a youth ministry program that will make lifelong followers of Jesus Christ, you are going to be disappointed. There is no silver bullet program that will make disciples because programs and curriculum don’t make disciples. Disciples make disciples. The best “programs” are the one’s that minimize time spent trying to execute a “lesson” and maximize person-to-person relationships. This is what Jesus did and this is why his ministry succeeded.

What is discipleship?

I am a firm believer that Jesus didn’t only share the message of the Gospel with the Church; he also shared the method that would ensure that the Gospel message would be shared successfully. In the days of Jesus, discipleship was a word used to describe the relationship between a student and a rabbi. As a young Jew grew up, he graduated from school to school. At the end of his classroom education, the those students who were selected by a rabbi had the opportunity to move into the household of a rabbi, to live with him and learn from his way of life.

As a disciple lived with a rabbi to learn from his daily example, so the apostles learned from the words of Jesus—from His words, yes, but even more from His routine of prayer, the way He handled difficult situations, His daily routines, and His example. The entire concept of discipleship hinges upon intentional relationships built around imitation and apprenticeship.

National Dialogue

From 2016-2020 the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) carried out a National Dialogue with Young People. The team had over 10,000 conversations with Catholic young people and compiled the data from these conversations into a report. One of the key themes that was reported over and over again from this National Dialogue was that young people wanted a Church with leaders who were authentic and they wanted to abandon classroom models of catechesis in favor or models that allow for dialogue and accompaniment. In short, young people wanted relationships with people who were actually living the faith.

One last theme that came up frequently in conversations was how young people struggle with the Church’s teachings (in 45.5% of conversations). While the teachings they take issue with vary, there seems to be a clear sense that they want to learn more and wish to engage in dialogue in these areas. Unlike some theories that better catechesis would alleviate this concern, we observed that many young people really do understand the Church’s teaching well, but felt that there was more to be said. Whether they agree with the theological concepts is one thing. What came up in many conversations was the lack of action or consistency in the living out of these teachings. (National Dialogue Final Report, p 78).

If you are a youth ministry leader and you are spending the majority of your time prepping lessons, youth groups, curriculum, events or games, then you are doing it wrong. This isn’t what young people are looking for. At Andrew Ministries, our method prioritizes relationships and mentoring and our results in our work with young people speak for themselves.

Hands down, the best youth ministry program available today is you.

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