I used to believe that ministry was all about the weekend. It was on the weekend where life change happened, and that’s where we needed to direct people. I used to believe if teens showed up on the weekend or at one of our large group gatherings, everything would fall into place. It was your classic, “Open the doors, and they will come” mentality. While Mass does matter, I was missing the fact that our faith is more than a weekend experience.
Right now, the weekend experience is undergoing a lot of changes. Mass, whether it’s streamed or in person, is a limited and less than ideal experience. As youth ministers, we can’t gather in large groups; therefore, how we evangelize and catechize needs to look different. While the temptation is to simply wait for this season to pass by the better approach is to go beyond the weekend approach and:
Since we won’t be able to linger after Mass for a while, it’s going to be hard to have those impromptu conversations with teens. With our regular gatherings and retreats put on hold, sharing the Gospel in a controlled setting is going to be tough. Instead of waiting for things to go back, we have to offer teens the opportunity to evangelize in their context.
Our efforts to evangelize will only grow stronger if we look at ways of training teens to share their stories through social media and the interactions they do have. To help them learn their story offer and online course (Use our You Have A Story Worth Sharing Resource to help).
Right now, the majority of people are spending their time at home. While people are itching to get out, there is an opportunity for families to grow closer together. While we can introduce resources for parents to share with their teens, we can also use this as a way of empowering parents to be the positive influence God has called them to be.
We should invest in the domestic church by letting them know it’s okay, not to be okay. We need to call and offer an empathetic ear. The parish can serve the domestic church by reminding them of some simple basics like eating meals together, family game night, or evening prayer. If you are looking for ways to empower the domestic church, check out our partners at Ablaze Family Ministries: https://ablazefamily.org/.
One day the teens in your parish will move away from home. That means they won’t have the same domestic church or local congregation to help them with their faith journey. When you think about the formation for your young people, does it show them how to form a faith-sharing small group or seek out the right parish? Do the teens in your ministry know how to grow on their own? Do they need that constant reminder from you or a parent?
In addition to all the knowledge, our faith has to offer, we need to make sure teens know what to do when they no longer have mom or dad to drive them to Mass. Teens in your ministry should be building intergenerational relationships and getting involved in opportunities that develop life long skills. The more they build Christ-like habits, the more likely they will be to stick with their faith post high school.
The weekend is important, and it does matter, but it isn’t the only time the Church should act as the Church. Your ministry is more than a weekend experience because our faith needs to be nurtured constantly. Over the next few weeks, take the time to reimagine your ministry. Don’t wait for the weekend experience to come back, instead move forward and commission missionary disciples throughout the week.