The Future of Youth Ministry is Synodal
This blog is the second of several in a series that accompany our Kickstarter campaign. Over the course of four weeks, Andrew Ministries is raising funds to begin development of a new youth ministry strategy and program - one that is specifically designated to fight and reverse the disaffiliation of Catholic youth.
After we launched our Kickstarter, a friend called me last week to lend his support and encouragement. He told me about the the challenges of the youth ministry at his parish. For the past 6 years, he and his wife had been volunteering with the parish youth ministry. Over those 6 years, they had 3 different youth ministers (i.e. high turnover). My friend shared that many of the youth group meetings were painful and cringy as the youth ministers attempted to entertain the teens with programatic, “dynamic” catechetical lessons. The teens were disinterested.
While the parish was in between youth ministers, my friend approached the pastor and received permission to start a discipleship group with a handful of teens. Over the course of a couple of years, he and his wife met with a co-ed group of teenagers, developing organic relationships, journeying with the youth, sharing dialogue around the faith, and ministering through authentic relationships. After 2 years of discipleship, 2 of the boys in the group entered seminary, 1 girl entered religious life, and the rest of the teens went to colleges with strong Catholic communities where they could continue to grow and thrive in their faith.
The youth ministry program didn’t work.
Discipleship (which is much easier and simpler to execute) is what the teens responded to.
Consider what Pope Francis shares in Christus Vivet:
The young make us see the need for new styles and new strategies. For example, while adults often worry about having everything properly planned, with regular meetings and fixed times, most young people today have little interest in this kind of pastoral approach. Youth ministry needs to become more flexible: inviting young people to events or occasions that provide an opportunity not only for learning, but also for conversing, celebrating, singing, listening to real stories and experiencing a shared encounter with the living God.
- Pope Francis, Christus Vivet, 204
Young People want relationships, not programs.
Youth Ministry Needs to be Synodal
Synodality. There’s that word again.
Pope Francis recently hosted the bishops of the Catholic Church for a Synod on Synodality. If you paid attention to Catholic media, you would likely have gotten the impression that the Synod was about different agendas in the Church trying to take over, fight for power, and change Church teaching on controversial topics. This is not what Synodality is nor is it what the Synod was about.
The 2 Greek words that make up Synod are syn (together) and hodos (meaning way or journey). The purpose of synodality is to journey with someone. Saint John Chrysostom says, ‘Church and Synod are synonymous’ – inasmuch as the Church is nothing other than the ‘journeying together’ of God’s flock along the paths of history towards the encounter with Christ the Lord.
I have long said that it is not enough to get the message of the Gospel correct. We can preach with conviction, provide quality catechesis, and offer all kinds of programs that lead people to encounters with Christ. It is not enough. If we wish to be successful, we must pay attention to HOW Jesus communicated the Gospel. God became human so that he could walk and journey with us. He forgave sinners, conversed with the outcasts, embraced the lepers, and entered into the suffering of the human experience. Jesus is the perfect example of synodality in action.
Pope Francis is right. Now, more than ever, we need the Catholic Church to embrace synodality. In particular, our young people need it.
Young People Need Accompaniment
Generation Z is the most socially connected generation in human history. Phones and social media have made it possible for people to be connected to others constantly. Despite this, Generation Z is the loneliest generation. A study by Springtide Research Institute found that 33% of young people feel completely alone much of the time. 40% of young people feel that they have no one to talk to. For young people, participating in religious groups has virtually no protective effect against the experience of loneliness. This suggests that the Church is doing an exceptionally poor job of accompanying young people.
Loneliness should be the antithesis of a Christian community. God is love, and love requires a relationship. If young people are experiencing our programs and failing to develop meaningful relationships, then they are not experiencing authentic Christianity.
12 years ago, I threw out the program playbook and rebuilt my youth ministry on the back of small, mentoring groups. We took a step back from curriculum and leaned in to relationships, testimonies, personal witness, and lived community. I have spent the past 6 years using Andrew Ministries as a platform to teach other parishes to do the same thing. The results have been astounding. I have been blessed to be a part of what are now some of the most successful youth ministries in the country.
We want to build a platform that allows us to teach others to develop a “synodal” youth ministry - one that meets the needs of today’s youth. Please consider supporting our Kickstarter so that we can begin development. The plan is to develop 500 of these youth ministries by 2026.
