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Why Catholic Teens Leave the Church Before College | Kedon Gumerson, Ep 077

Why Catholic Teens Leave the Church Before College | Kedon Gumerson, Ep 077

The Church Podcast
• 55 min
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"The head and the heart leave the church much earlier." Kedon Gumerson, founder of Kinetic Catholic, on why most young Catholics are gone before college and what reaches Catholic high schoolers now. Kedon started a weekly Catholic apologetics channel at 11. Now a senior at Franciscan University of Steubenville, he leads a team of young adult missionaries running retreats in Catholic high schools. He and Christopher talk about why faith becomes "a school subject," why Gen Z is all in when they love Jesus, the age gap in our parishes, how older leaders can empower young people, and how to keep going without burning out. Full show notes and resources: https://blog.marathonyouthministry.com/churchpodcast/episode-077-why-catholic-teens-leave-the-church-before-college-with-kedon-gumerson Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC307YUsy2980SICsZElRPGA CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open: "It's old people" 1:01 Welcome and introduction 3:50 Meet Kedon Gumerson 5:09 Kid Catholic: an apologetics channel at 11 13:06 Building a team at Franciscan 18:04 Why teens leave before college 23:59 Why Gen Z is all in 28:41 The age gap in our parishes 34:22 How older leaders can empower young people 38:56 Inside a Kinetic Catholic retreat 44:51 Avoiding burnout 48:55 Kedon's hope, and how to connect RESOURCES MENTIONED Kinetic Catholic: https://kineticcatholic.com/ Springtide Research Institute, research on Catholic teens: https://springtideresearch.org/post/religion-and-spirituality/research-on-catholic-teens TENx10: https://www.tenx10.org/ NFCYM events, including NCYC and Exchange: https://nfcym.org/ CONNECT WITH KINETIC CATHOLIC Website: https://kineticcatholic.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kineticcatholic/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kineticcatholic YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8xnRLyVlvmPL-PFiu-1bYg MORE FROM MARATHON YOUTH MINISTRY M2GO: training videos, templates and resources for your ministry team: https://marathonyouthministry.com/ministry2go?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=church-podcast&utm_content=ep077 Ministry Coach: https://ministryally.app?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=church-podcast&utm_content=ep077 MYM store: https://marathonyouthministry.store?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=church-podcast&utm_content=ep077 Ask a question for a future episode: http://thechurchpodcast.org/ The Church Podcast is a member of the NFCYM Podcast Network: https://nfcym.org/podcastnetwork/ More from the show: http://thechurchpodcast.org/ Recorded on Riverside (affiliate link): https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=christopher-wesley Produced by Marathon Youth Ministry and Stephen Herrera of Be Well Creative: https://bewellcreative.co/