WHAT IS YOUTH MINISTRY?

“What is Youth Ministry?” This has become something of a proverbial question. For many of us involved in day-to-day ministry, we can quickly answer this question with comments like, “Wednesday night programming for students” or “Sunday school designed for teens,” but these answers seem to miss out on the bigger picture of why youth ministries exist.

And even if we respond to the question with answers such as, “youth ministry is discipleship” or “youth group is all about relationships,” we risk missing out on elements that are also critical to a healthy and effective youth ministry.

It’s important to take the time to remember what the whole of youth ministry really all about.

Sometimes the urgency of the job can cause us to take our focus off the goal. Or the pressure to be liked by students can drive us to fill our programming space with fun rather than time for relationship building and discipleship. Having clear goals and objectives with keep us on the right path.

YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY

Who Are Young Adults?

Young adults are persons in their late teens, twenties, and thirties who represent diverse cultural, racial, ethnic, educational, vocational, social, political, and spiritual backgrounds. They are college students, workers, and professionals; they are persons in military service; they are single, married, divorced, or widowed; they are with or without children; they are newcomers in search of a better life.

The Key Principles

1. Young adults internalize their beliefs and values within a supportive community and live their vocation in the world.
    
2. Young adults seek opportunities for relationships with their peers and experiences that are intergenerational and multicultural.
    
3. Young adults understand both the message of faith and the traditions of the Church when these are communicated through words, symbols, and activities that relate to life experiences.
    
4. Young adults respond positively when the Church invites their participation and engages them in the planning of activities for the spiritual life of the community.
    
5. The Church meets young adults where they are present: the workplace, the home, the campus, and the civic community.
    
6. Effective ministry invites young adults into the life of the Church and collaborates with them to identify specific initiatives for the young adult community.
    
7. Effective ministry assists young adults to become spiritual people, thereby developing a holistic and healthy understanding of life and deepening one’s relationship with God.
    
8. Effective ministry provides young adults with constructive opportunities to ask questions and to discover answers present in the teaching and tradition of the Catholic Church.
    
9. Effective ministry with young adults engages them in peer ministry, as well as family ministry.
    
10. Effective ministry acknowledges, understands, respects, and celebrates the cultural diversity of individuals and communities.
     
11. Effective ministry facilitates and engages young adults in an awareness of and an invitation to the work of justice, peace, and compassion.
     
12. Effective ministry includes the commitment of necessary resources for the evangelization, catechesis, and pastoral care of young adults.