I used to cringe whenever I heard someone say to a group of teens, "You are the future of the Church."
To me, it felt dismissive. As if we were telling them to wait their turn. To sit still, stay quiet, and hold off on mattering until some undefined later.
So I’d push back and say, “You’re not the future—you’re the Church of today.”
But recently, I’ve started to rethink that.
I was in conversation with someone who said,
"You know when people say to teens, ‘You aren’t the future of the Church—you’re the Church of today’? That really bothers me."
I nodded, curious.
“Yeah? Tell me why that bothers you.”
She went on to explain that while she agrees young people are part of the Church right now, she’s uncomfortable with the idea that we’ve dropped the future language altogether.
Because when we acknowledge that young people are the future, we also treat them as an investment. And if we’re honest, we’re not doing a whole lot of investing right now.
That struck me.
Because she’s right—we’ve spent so much time fighting the narrative that youth are only the future, that maybe we’ve neglected what it means to help them get there.
We should absolutely affirm their place in the Church today.
But we should also be building for who they are becoming—investing in their future with intention and hope.
If our parishes are “growing gray,” maybe it’s not just because teens are walking away.
Maybe it’s because leadership and community haven’t prioritized young people through our culture, our structures, or our decisions.
So here’s my question for you:
How are we investing in the future of the Church—right now?
- Are we budgeting for it?
- Making room at the table for it?
- Shaping ministry around it?
Or are we just hoping young people stick around long enough to lead something we never prepared them for?