Against Young Adult Ministry? | Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress & Fr. Gregory Pine
Вставка
- Опубліковано 10 вер 2024
- Against Young Adult Ministry? | Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress & Fr. Gregory Pine
On this episode of Godsplaining, Fr. Joseph-Anthony and Fr. Gregory discuss their experiences in ministry, where we actually learn the Faith, relationships, what ministry is and what it is not, feeling alone, and more.
Subscribe to our channel
/ godsplainin. .
Support the Podcast
Patreon: / godsplaining
Shop our NEW merch store: godsplaining.c...
Shop Books Written by the Friars
St. Dominic's Way of Life: www.amazon.com....
Prudence: Choose Confidently, Live Boldly: www.amazon.com....
Connect on Social Media
Follow us on Instagram: / godsplaining
Like us on Facebook: / godsplaining. .
Follow us on Twitter: / godsplaining
To learn more about the Province of St. Joseph visit: www.opeast.org
To support the Province of St. Joseph visit: www.dominicanfriars.org
As a millennial social media specialist, my whole job is to bring the vibes to my diocese. Thanks for the acknowledgment. Totes vibin in the views, Father bros. Peace and deuces 💛
😂😂
Great topic and conversation. I've felt so different my whole life, even in young adult ministry. Been seeking out healing of my past these days, doing a deep dive into my psychology. Please pray for me if you read this :)
Has anyone ever mentioned that you holy guys are awesome? ❤
chillaxin'
That was like circa 1997.
But I've kept it.
Great concept, Fathers. YAs are a hard group to minister to because no one knows who’s included in it, so it just ends up being a smorgasbord of mostly post-college-age unmarried men looking for a girlfriend. Looking forward to getting into this.
Along with the random girl who only came because her friends said they were going and not really interested in any of the guys there
Bro this is so accurate 💀
I feel ya. It's so strange. Can't tell if it's more healing or damaging honestly. Praying for genuine friendships.
Two fire young priests
So much of this resonates though not really in a way I can affirm. The church is simply no place to make friends. I typically go to mass 5 to 6 times a week and kayak once or twice a week. The difference is stark. The people on the river want to know my name and how I'm doing. After Mass I rarely am able to talk to anyone. In the morning everyone's rushing off to work. In the evening folks want to stay late and pray or are rushing off. On Sundays folks talk but you really need to be in a clique. It's nice to hang around and chat when I recognize somebody I've met somewhere else though. Maybe I'm simply in my own head, but I'll always remember sitting down next to a couple roughly my age at coffee and donuts after Sunday Mass, and watching them whisper to themselves and tersely answer, if at all, my overtures.
When they said they knew a lady who went to a young adults event and had already ignored messages from every guy there, that pretty much tells the story of urban Catholic dating, though I'm pretty sure it goes the other way too: at least some guys sign on to Catholicmatch for the first time only to realize they've been given the cold shoulder by every woman with a profile on the site in a reasonable geographic radius at a young adult event.
I was a leader in YA ministry for many years. This is a great covering of the topic. Thanks
I'd add that YA ministry is supposed to be a bridge ministry.
If not, then yes only the lonely (creepy) are left there.
One strategy is to have the YA folks team up with other parish ministries.
YA gets a booth at the fair.
YA joins the Marion helpers at the soup kitchen
YA runs the holiday giving tree with the St. Vincent ministry.
YA comes together to a parish retreat.
Sure, often success of YA looks like a good Catholic marriage, and it also looks like members joining all those other multigenerational parish ministries.
Over time, we can see that a YA that is steeped in prayer, social building, and plugging into parish life, will keep younger folks coming in and pushing older folks out of the nest. The older creepy single guys that are not really interested in spiritual growth and parish life age themselves out because the group becomes less comfortable for them.
And yeah, as a leader I've had to ask older guys to not return to our events.
Clear vision and courageous leadership also helps.
Heh, I aged myself out of YA leadership after having a seat on parish council and being one leader in the Teens Youth group.
I tangentially was a leader at a YA at another parish and agreed to help at “one last event” … that is the night I met my wife.
I did not leave YA because I got married. I left because I was 33 years old and got involved with other parish ministries. It was time to move on and let other younger YA lead. And as Fr. Said… one of the YA groups just disintegrated after myself and my 3 fellow leaders left.
And that is OK … we have found that YA at some parishes rise and fall like a phoenix very 7-8 years.
I think everything you said is true, but... it is healthy for people in their upper 20's and 30's to be friends with people their own age. Also, I know a lot of young men who are more spiritually mature than their older counterparts.
The best way to get to know people at a parish is to volunteer. And now that - as you've mentioned - many of the "pillars of the church" are older, volunteers are usually in pretty steady demand. When you volunteer, you are automatically appreciated, so you're starting new relationships on a good foot. But additionally, when you work with other people, you get to know them sort of slowly and indirectly, without that overly direct Q & A stuff - this isn't speed dating! But you make a little joke and they laugh at it, you compliment somebody's seven layer salad and they like it, they ask you to put the heavy bowl on the top shelf and that helps them out. They'll ask about your family, you ask about theirs, and so forth. Then they'll mention you in a positive way to the other pillars of the community, and one thing leads to another.
When the lockdowns happened, essentially what existed of Young Adult groups in my area went away. I was part of Cincinnati Frassati, shepherded by the Dominicans at St. Gertrude's. Alas, it folded and now I'm too old.
The trend of young adults even having commitment to gather is rather endangered. We see it with fellowship organizations.
One bright side, some Catholic guilds and young professional organizations are doing pretty well in some places.
Check out YCP Cincinnati
PS You don't need to be a business professional to join.
Thank you Fathers!!!!! My boyfriend and I asked Father Joseph Anthony about young adult ministry at the past all-comers retreat... and were SO excited to see you guys post a video about it (: Just wanted to give a huge heartfelt thank you for sharing your wisdom on this!!!
I really like this idea of making young adult ministry more about mentorship because I'm someone who has always been in an awkward position no matter what. I'm the youngest child, my parents were in their 30s when I was born, and I've always found it relatively easy to connect with people older than me. On the other hand, friendships with people my own age have always been much more of a challenge because I may have lived the same cultural experiences as them but with a slightly different perspective. Long story short, I like that idea. 😊
In my experience, young adults just want to have their own group so they don’t have to mix with boomers since they disagree liturgically. But they need to learn that a community includes all ages and people they may disagree with.
Thank you for this discussion, Fathers! I will definitely take some of the suggestions to heart.
I entered the Church from a Southern Protestant background and parish social life has been really tough for me. I’ve been Catholic for about a year and a half and the anonymity between me and my fellow parishioners has not been chipped away at all! It’s partly me and partly them, but the overall cultural norm at my parish is to not introduce yourself to people.
My wife joined a women's Bible study group 2 years ago. This group meets once a week. The group is made up of mostly young married women with some exceptions such as my wife (we are GenX and she is the oldest that attends regularly) that said the group has started something that is bearing fruit.
Rosary dinners
Rosary dinner are potlucks where the hosts provide the protein. We eat, we pray the Rosary, and have fellowship. These dinners have allowed the men to get to know each other and all the kids play together and have fun. We also invite priests to come and usually from several different parishes because the Bible study is made up that way. Also this is a great time to invite friends of the host family to come and meet new people. We hosted 1 two days ago and had 50 people in our front yard praying a Rosary. I have found that these dinners are the most cross generational thing in our area as people will invite their parents and grandparents. Parties in the past have ranged from babies to walkers.
Rarely does 2 months go by without someone hosting a Rosary dinner.
Great content
I'm a bit of a curmudgeon, but I don't like the idea of establishing a minister of young adults. A random 25 year-old lay will not become my spiritual father--I won't do it. I've seen it really work well when a priest runs it, but in a lot of instances it revolves around the priest (when he goes, the bottom drops). The relationships part is crucial.
Activities will become niche in age and thing once people get to know each other. Like-minded people will gravitate toward each other. But generalized activities like a brewery trip is just a door in. A community of Catholics getting to know each other is good. Doing too much more than that is unrealistic as you need human connections to push forward. That push comes from vulnerability and trust--it doesn't seem effective to force it.
As a boomer I totally don't understand that lingo.
I hate to say this as a millennial but I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that most young adults in the Church are as narcissistic and snobby as those in the secular world are! If you can’t make young adults less narcissistic than their secular peers then you have failed as both a Church and as a young adults ministry!
Agree mostly with the first part, but not with the second really.