I have never been a fan of youth ministry as it is conceived within the Catholic Church. We have 2,000 years of doctrine, liturgy, art, and music upon which to draw in order to bolster the faith and Catholic identity of our youth and we give them watered down doctrine, bad music, bad liturgy, and felt banners. Our youth deserve more.
So it is that I am amenable to drawing the same conclusion that many pastors are now forumlating. That “Modern Youth Ministry a ’50-Year Failed Experiment.‘
The film is produced by the National Center for Family Integrated Churches in association with LeClerc Brothers Motion Pictures. The producers released the documentary earlier this month online, and have made it available for free until Sept. 15.
“Divided” follows “edgy twenty-something” Christian filmmaker Philip LeClerc on a quest to find answers to why his generation is increasingly turning away from attending church. Recent surveys have shown that as many as 85 percent of young people will leave the church and many never return.
NCFIC Director Scott T. Brown told The Christian Post that today’s modern concept of youth ministry is a “50-year failed experiment.” Brown said that when he was a church leader in the ’70s and ’80s he could have been the “poster boy” for the youth ministry movement in California. However, he said he now feels that dividing children from adults at church is an unbiblical concept borrowed from humanistic philosophies.
“The church has become divided generationally,” Brown said. “It’s not doing what Scripture prescribes and is actually doing something foreign to Scripture by dividing people by age or by life stage.”
As Catholics, we should be teaching our young about the glories and difficulties of our faith, about our rich history, about the music created by masters for God’s own purpose. We hide our riches from the young and as a result they go looking elsewhere for it.
I grew up with this garbage and I always knew it was garbage. Kids are not stupid. We should teach them good doctrine, good liturgy, and good music. If we teach them, if we pass it on, they will stay.
ht @amywelborn2
May 9, 2012 at 7:40 am
It was a huge mistake to create Catholic youth ghettos that pandered to entertainment instead of substance. But laying the problem on Catholic youth ministry is passing the buck. Most parents want quick and entertaining when it comes to religion for themselves. They want a religious experience that sates an emotional need and does not challenge behavior for themselves. Much of Catholic youth ministry copied the worst of protestant youth ministries. Why? Because that was what this inane culture and its hedonistic values wanted. I am tired of parents grumbling that we are not meeting their needs when they do little to nothing to be the first teachers of their children in the ways of the faith. I have had to suffer through hours of milquetoast parents who 'want Johnnies to decide participation in faith himself'…a standard that wouldn't get leveled against studies, a whole host of extracurricular activities and ESPECIALLY SPORTS! Most parishes felt backed into a corner to be 'fun' when it came to youth. I have tried for years to run solid educational programs soaked in the meat and potatoes of our faith…know what I got…a chorus of crickets complaining that it was 'too churchy','too old fashioned', 'too conservative'..and all the families who used the excuse that programs were too liberal and fluffy…guess what the response was? Oh, well, Johnny plays baseball that night, or Mary has a softball tournament then, or Willie's coach schedules their football practice then. For all the self-righteous positioning I see from parents about the programs being too this or too that and thus their kids are falling away from the practice of the faith, while I will say the parishes have waffled…the parents did first and routinely make the practice and education in the faith secondary to their worldly pursuits. How many of these whining parents did so much as pick up a catechism or Bible and started reading and reflecting with their children? How many of these 'pass-the-buck' types pray as a family at all? How many of these disappointed parents put faith before sports? How many read a story of a saint? Watched uplifting and faith filled media? All I hear is a litany of lame excuses and accusations of why not. I continually deal with parents who think it is the parish that has the primary task of raising up faithful Catholics. I have news for you…if parents do not make it a priority and see to it that their children value and practice faith, you could have SS Bernard and Thomas Aquinas themselves preach and it will fall of deaf ears. Faithful parents produce faithful young adults.
May 9, 2012 at 7:55 am
In my family: we read the bible and stories of the saints. we prayed the rosary every night and prayed together before bed. Mass was not an option. Mom and Dad did not see faith as just another choice, but impressed upon us its necessity and meaning. We were to regularly engage in the corporal works of mercy. Confession was to be as regular as could be. Mom and dad were good shepherds who regulated the types of music, TV, movies and later video games that came into the house. Extracurricular activities took a back seat Church events and family evening meals. Neither of my parents were theologians; dad was an engineer and mom a stay at home mother with 6 kids. They made it a priority so we did.
May 9, 2012 at 8:19 am
Your blog post makes a huge sweeping hasty generalization. You cannot say that youth ministry has failed. There are many excellent youth ministries out there. I think this is too negative.
May 9, 2012 at 10:31 am
In some of the comments, the saints are mentioned, including St John Bosco. As I'm involved in youth ministry, he happens to be one of my favourite saints. He realised early on in his ministry to young boys that he had to find a way of attracting them before he could begin to catechise and take them to church. John Bosco learned to juggle, this was the original "ice-breaker" of youth ministry. After this he could give them real food – catechism, Mass and Eucharistic Adoration. There always has to be a balance because the teen years are unlike any other period of a person's life.
May 9, 2012 at 12:36 pm
We have been watching this movement for awhile now, and that is the reason we keep our girls with us during Mass. And Catholics need to stop blaming everything on protestants! What a lame excuse. Quit complaining about "over generalizations etc" There's a problem, teens are exiting the church after they graduate, now let's fix the problem instead of getting all defensive about how your youth group is so great.
Kids need to feel they belong and are needed. This documentary/movement shows that teens find they have no place in the church after they are past the youth group age. I went to an Episcopal Church that had a youth group, BUT I was also in the choir at age 14, surrounded by adults every thursday. We didn't have "youth sundays" and "youth choirs" I was integrated with adults. I was in bible studies, with adults. It wasn't deemed to hard for me, or over my head. So after I graduated college, I fit right in to the church parish.
May 9, 2012 at 1:31 pm
You need to heed the words of the Blessed John Paul the Great and stop generalizing youth ministry:
"Christ must be presented to all people with confidence. We shall address adults, families, young people, children, without ever hiding the most radical demands of the Gospel message, but taking into account each person's needs in regard to their sensitivity and language, after the example of Paul who declared: "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (1 Cor 9:22). In making these recommendations, I am thinking especially of the pastoral care of young people. Precisely in regard to young people, as I said earlier, the Jubilee has given us an encouraging testimony of their generous availability. We must learn to interpret that heartening response, by investing that enthusiasm like a new talent (cf. Mt 25:15) which the Lord has put into our hands so that we can make it yield a rich return". Novo Millennio Ineunte
May 9, 2012 at 2:15 pm
I've always found the leaders of the youth groups to be well, creepy. I thought hip Brother Joe, and space cadet Sr. Sunshine were jokes when I was 16 and I stopped going to Mass as soon as I turned 18. I didn't go back until I was a married woman.
May 9, 2012 at 2:45 pm
We have a youth minister who openly claims that the only way to get the youths to attend mass is with "rock" style music, which is loud and non-litergical. Otherwise they they would fall asleep because mass was so boring. Many, if not all, parents do not and have not given their "teens" any religious training at all because they do not know their Catholic Religion. We live in a society of non dicipline for children. It's the parents fault and the Church's fault as well……
May 9, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Thank you for this article! It's time someone said it. As a parent of a teen, I find it's best to teach them as adults on Catholic history, martyrs and catechism in a straightforward, no bull approach. You get their attention and respect. If they leave the church as adults, they realize what they're giving up and may convert back later. I acknowlege the time and sacrifice YMs give, and I thank them. However, most either don't realize or refuse to accept that the soft approach is failing. The worst YMs and DREs in my parish are openly pro-choice and encourage kids to quit the church and try out other faiths (yes, it happened.) There's good news though. Faith among Catholic youths is flourishing, even thriving, in places where traditional doctrine is boldly proclaimed and taught. For example: Catholic blogs like RCTV employing youth interns; in TLM (Latin mass) parishes; at MI retreats; in Catholic charter high schools like Lyceum in OH; in orthodox Catholic universities like Ave Maria & Christendom. These young people will be the remnant that keeps the fire of faith going after we pass away.
May 9, 2012 at 3:23 pm
I don't think that Mr. Archibald or anyone else would suggest that parishes and dioceses ought not to have activities or classes for children and students. But let's be honest: the phrase "youth ministry" invariably describes the prevalent form of inanity to which Mr. Archibald alludes. It is clearly wrong to say that there is no place in the Church for any activity centered on the young; it is equally wrong to say that what we have been doing under the auspices of "youth ministry" is the way to go about it.
May 9, 2012 at 3:34 pm
Glad you can make such a sweeping generalization of all youth ministers and their programs. Here in the KCK diocese we youth ministers have amazing programs of outreach and discipleship. Don't be so harsh against those working tirelessly for His Church and its youth.
I live in Kansas city Kansas. I would say you are blind.
May 9, 2012 at 5:36 pm
I personally feel at times cheated and even lied to about "Catholic Teaching" and what is really means to be "Catholic." I am the product of a failed program of Catechesis, confirmed while in the 8th grade, and pretty much "fed" on the NO Mass, and way watered down theology. I thank G-d for my grandparents, even with their fallibility tried to instill and inoculate me in the Catholic faith.
They were not scholars, and I am not sure if they all possessed a high school diploma. They were Confirmed as children, but had great faith that they LIVED. They taught the Gospel, and only sometimes used words. They, my grandfathers and grandmothers had a rich prayer life, and were involved in their parish communities.
If it were not for them, I don’t know if I’d be Christian, let alone a practicing Catholic
May 9, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Would anyone claiming they have a great youth program care to share more details? Is there a website with details, curricula, whatever?
May 9, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Ann Roth, what would you like to know specifically?
May 9, 2012 at 6:47 pm
Fr Bill says perfectly what is needed for young people to grow into adults of faith. The duty of parents in respect of their children's faith is both grave and essential.
May 9, 2012 at 6:57 pm
Greetings,
I have responded to your article in my own blog.
http://catholicgadfly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/has-youth-ministry-failed.html
I have thought about this for a long long time and I have suggested a solution that you may interested in.
Many thanks
May 9, 2012 at 9:54 pm
The Catholic church was dreary for youth and always has been, broken only by a brief stint of CYO. It's no longer dreary (here in the U.S.), and that's the work of the Holy Spirit answering prayers (JP II's and the Church's) for our youth. I grew up in Vatican I. How I thank God for the Second Vatican Council and all the warmth that was needed.
I'll tell you truly –if I were considering converting to Catholicism right now, some of what I've read online from those who consider themselves the Church's greatest defenders — the Traditional-istic creating an us vs them thing — would give me grave pause.
May 9, 2012 at 11:59 pm
A great deal of people on this site are complaining about the youth minestry 'dumbing down' the catechesis. I'm a teacher and even I struggle to understand what the point of bible readings and homilies are a great deal of the time. How are kids going to engage in church if it is too hard for them to learn the messages of god? It's like giving them a copy of Einsteins article on the theory of relativity and saying you will understand this and enjoy it. Give me a break. Youth minestry is there to help our kids and if you have an issue with it, guess what, it isn't compulsory!
May 10, 2012 at 12:24 am
As a Youth Minister, I am very careful to ensure that correct, thorough, and even sublime doctrine is taught at all times. I read papal documents, study the catechism, and bring all of my lesson plans before the Blessed Sacrament.
In addition, I make sure to get to know each and every one of our kids. I take them to coffee, show up at basketball games, chaperone school field trips, and invite their boy/girl friends to events. I play ultimate frisbee. But most of all, I ensure that the name of Jesus Christ is spoken at each and every event that I attend.
My parish began with a group of 10-15 lukewarm teens with nothing else to do, and through God's grace, we have grown to a ministry of nearly 300 students weekly in 2 years. Students from our parish are holding leadership positions at Newman centers, are considering vocations, are becoming Knights of Columbus as soon as they are old enough, and most of all, are passionate for Jesus.
And yes, I'm a 20-something. Yes, I'm a "Gen JP2" minister. And no, we don't use Lifeteen materials.
We have to meet students where they are in today's anti-Catholic culture, help them to see the value and beauty of the Faith, introduce them to the person of Jesus, and help them to form a community.
If Youth Ministry isn't working, what are you suggesting we do in order to reach these kids instead?
May 10, 2012 at 7:11 am
In the original post and the ensuing 60 comments I've read, one word is missing:
Gospel
Teach the Gospel. First, teach it to the parents so they know what it is. Then encourage them to teach it to their children.
I dare say that most Catholics do not know what the Gospel is. I speak from personal experience. The Church teaches it but does so in a cliched fashion, without explaining it. Yes, people can recite cliches but that's far different than knowing what the Gospel actually means. The Church also buries the Gospel under a pile of esoteric theology and questionable popular piety.
No youth ministry, regardless of congregation or denomination, can compare with the parental influence. Yes, I know that families are falling apart and that "traditional family values" are seen as passe. So what?
Perhaps if the Church became less infatuated with "The New Evangelization" and concentrated on simple communication of basic truths, the problem would start to be resolved.
Then again, most bishops don't want their people knowing truth. The bishops revere power and prestige above all. Anything — and I mean anything — that interferes — even (and especially) fidelity — is disregarded or subordinated to the episcopate's fleshly concerns.