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The Pew Forum has a new study exploring the religious beliefs of teens. Notably, only 24% of U.S. teens say that religion is very important in their lives.
A few comments, starting with: that's our (in my case, the Catholic Church's) fault
1/ https://twitter.com/PewReligion/status/1304061028272140289
A few comments, starting with: that's our (in my case, the Catholic Church's) fault
1/ https://twitter.com/PewReligion/status/1304061028272140289
You know what's "very important" to most teens? Their friends. Their iPhone. Video games. Sports. Texts. TikTok. Their favorite restaurant.
Because teens get something specific and irreplaceable from these things. Pervasively, they don't feel like they get that from religion.
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Because teens get something specific and irreplaceable from these things. Pervasively, they don't feel like they get that from religion.
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You take away a teen's phone, and they instantly and ceaselessly feel like they're missing something.
You take away the opportunity to go to church and... most teens honestly wouldn't miss it all that much. If at all. Or be actually glad they don't have to go.
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You take away the opportunity to go to church and... most teens honestly wouldn't miss it all that much. If at all. Or be actually glad they don't have to go.
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Far too pervasively, we combine insipid liturgies with mediocre catechesis with lousy sacramental prep... we financially disinvest from youth ministry and college campus ministry... and then we pretend to be shocked when young people walk away from the Catholic Church.
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But in communities that prioritize and invest in young people, the results are obvious. Thriving youth groups. Dynamic college campus ministries. And young adults who end up carrying those experiences forward into parish life.
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When we create spaces where young people can form meaningful relationships, experience an unconditionally loving and supportive community, and learn about the radical, counter-cultural teachings of the Gospel, young people show up. And they bring friends.
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But it takes a lot of work to create these spaces. It takes time & money & adults who are committed to the process. It's not a DVD series or a trip to a Steubenville rally. It's a long, slow process of teaching adults to accompany young people, as Pope Francis has exhorted.
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Many white Catholic communities could learn a great deal from immigrant sisters and brothers. Many of the most thriving youth ministries are in Mexican, Vietnamese, Nigerian, Filipino, and others who surround young people with a loving, supportive community. (And food!)
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To my mind, the Confirmation experience is key. Get it out of a classroom, make it extremely practical, not unlike marriage prep. About how to LIVE the faith as a teen and adult. Facilitate honest conversation. For adults, that means listening more than talking.
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Get young people talking about racism and lgbtq+ and women's roles in the Church. Get them unpacking what it means to ask for a nude selfie, or be asked for one. Give them a space to talk about bullying and gossip and loneliness and depression and mental health struggles.
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If you can create a space where teens understand that THIS is the community where you'll be loved and accepted no matter what—where you can stop the posturing and pretending and just be HONEST and REAL with one another—they will come to love that space as much as their iPhone
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I've seen it with my own eyes. We started with an empty youth room, and within 6 months we couldn't fit in the building.
We confirmed about 50 8th graders a year, so about 200 high school aged teens in the parish. More than 100 (>50%) were active in the HS youth group.
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We confirmed about 50 8th graders a year, so about 200 high school aged teens in the parish. More than 100 (>50%) were active in the HS youth group.
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Parents actually joined our parish so that their kids could be part of our Confirmation program. It shocked the heck out of lifelong catechists to hear 6th graders say, "I can't wait til I'm in 8th grade so I can go on the Confirmation retreat."
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If Catholic parishes invested as heavily in young people as we do in chasubles, chalices, and pipe organs, it would change the world. If as much $$ went from the diocesan appeal to youth ministry as goes to the seminaries, we would actually get *more* vocations.
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And the thing is, when people see what their $$ is going to... when parents hear their sophomore say, "I'm so excited for the fall retreat... they are incredibly generous. They will open up their checkbooks and ask, "What do you need?" People want to support youth ministry.
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All of this ties into genuine lay co-responsibility and decision-making at every level of the Church. Inviting families to have a true say in the parish budget.
And there's just no substitute for a paid (living wage, please) full-time youth minister.
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And there's just no substitute for a paid (living wage, please) full-time youth minister.
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You can't wait for the USCCB panel on "wHY aRe YoUnG pEOplE lEaVIng?" to give the answers. You can't wait for the arch/diocese to come up with a plan.
It starts with parents deciding that they want this for their kids and working with the pastor to make it happen.
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It starts with parents deciding that they want this for their kids and working with the pastor to make it happen.
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It's not a DVD series. It's not a youth rally. It's not booking the right speaker. It's creating an unconditionally loving, welcoming community where teens feel at home and can be honest. Once they have that, will religion be "very important" to them.
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