I'll be honest. I'm getting a little tired of hearing how poorly catechized our parents and volunteers are.
Don't get me wrong. I agree. Our adults need better catechesis. But I think a lot of the time we talk about it because we don't know what to do about it. How do you actually catechize adults?
Most parishes answer that with a workshop, a seminar, or a class. I see the value in those. But they assume people are going to come. They assume adults already want to learn more. Meanwhile, most adults I know are getting their information from videos, podcasts, or a good old blog post. So maybe the real conversation is how we're engaging adults in the first place.
I have another pet peeve. Engaging parents seems to fall on the DRE and the youth minister. We talk about parents not going to Mass, and somehow that becomes youth ministry's problem. I'm not saying the liturgy needs to change. But if adults don't see the value of going to Mass, why is that on the youth minister alone? That's a conversation for the whole parish. Youth ministers want to be part of it. They just can't carry it by themselves.
So do I have solutions? I think I do.
Start with small groups. Adults are just like kids. We crave relationships. And there are a lot more lonely adults out there than we think. Don't be fooled because they're at every one of their kids' activities. Sitting on the same sideline every Saturday doesn't mean they're building friendships with the parents next to them. We need to figure out how to build something small and sustainable for adults.
Look at pastoral care. A lot of people my age are losing their parents or watching them become dependents. I've lost my in-laws, and I know how heavy that season is. What does our outreach look like for those families? Who from the parish is showing up?
Invest in the kids. If you tell me I need to be somewhere because my kid has a class, I'm going to show up. I might be reluctant, but I'll be there. Show me you really care about my kids. That's why parents spend so much money on travel sports. They see somebody investing in their child. If we alligator arm the next generation, we shouldn't be surprised when their parents drift away too.
You don't have to figure this out alone. My friend Michael Marchand wrote Small-Group Discipleship, and it's one of the most practical guides out there for building intentional mentorship and consistent community in a parish. YDisciple does a great job of treating parents as the primary faith educators, with resources in every session to keep the conversation going at home, in English and Spanish.
None of this is easy. But I'd rather we spend our energy building something than repeating how bad things are. We can do this.
If you want help getting started, that's why we built M2GO. You'll get a community of leaders working through the same challenges, practical articles, teaching videos for both staff and volunteers, and exercises to help you rethink how you approach your ministry. Come join us.