Nearly 25 years later, both the founders had passed away and their seven children assumed control of the foundation.

Michael Wolohan, the youngest of his siblings and the foundation's president, said his parents imbued the foundation with "a Catholic-informed perspective," which for the Wolohan siblings meant focusing on "the corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, to give water to the thirsty, homes for the homeless."

Ensuring that their parents' commitment to their Catholic faith continued through the Michigan-based foundation was key.

With Michael and his siblings now north of age 65, they are preparing to hand control over to a new cohort of descendants who do not know the founders as intimately and who came of age in a radically different world.

Catholic ministries face an uncertain financial future as religiosity decreases among younger Americans—including, perhaps, descendants of prominent Catholic philanthropic leaders.

This process can present challenges not just for the Wolohan family, but for other private Catholic family foundations throughout the country, which each year disburse tens of millions of dollars to Catholic ministries.

Those ministries could face an uncertain financial future, some analysts say, as religiosity decreases among younger Americans—including, perhaps, descendants of prominent Catholic philanthropic leaders.

While there are no definitive estimates of how much foundation money makes its way to Catholic-affiliated organizations each year, it likely runs into the billions.

According to the Catholic Funding Guide, an online subscription-based search tool listing foundations that include Catholic ministries and organizations in their giving portfolios, about 2,200 of these private foundations, church-based grantmakers, religious communities and international funders control assets of more than $39 trillion and annually give more than $14 billion in support.

President of the US Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Gomez (above), has a serious misunderstanding, and perhaps even a willed ignorance, about the goals and motivations of contemporary social justice movements. However, a leading theologian at Fordam University theology, Fr Bryan Massingale says "most Black Catholics I know advocate Black Lives Matter precisely because of our belief in the universal human dignity of all people as images of God."

Gen next

"We know engaging the next generation is beneficial to everybody, and it strengthens our mission," said Maria Raskob.

Ms. Raskob chairs the board of the Catholic philanthropic consortium Fadica (Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities) and is herself a fourth-generation descendant of one of the nation's prominent Catholic philanthropic families.

"Part of that engagement is passing on faith and values that began with the foundation and has been incorporated in everything that we do," she said.

John and Helena Raskob founded the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities in 1945.

The foundation has disbursed more than $200 million to Catholic organizations since its founding.

Now the Delaware-based foundation operates with a membership model: Descendants of John and Helena can be as involved as much or as little in the grantmaking process as they desire. Making sure that younger members of the family want to participate—and that they understand the intent of the founders—is a key priority for the Raskob Foundation.

And that formation starts young.

"The next generation is exposed [to] and involved with the foundation at a really early age," Ms. Raskob said.

Some parents bring their children to service events organized by the foundation or even to annual meetings.

Once descendants turn 18, they are able to participate in more formal ways as well, exposing them to the church's vast social justice ministry. That can help forge strong bonds, she said, between family members and the institutional church, even if the individual descendant is not religious.

"What younger members, and any members, see is Catholic social teaching in action," she said, learning how it "covers health care, social services, peace and justice, and environmental issues."

"This is inspiring to witness, and all members are able to find aspects of the work that are appealing to them," Ms. Raskob said.

Maria Raskob: "We know engaging the next generation is beneficial to everybody, and it strengthens our mission." Continue reading

For millions of Christians around the world, 40 days of "fasting" kicked off on Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent.

In the United States, even as younger Americans drift further away from organized religion, the practice of Lent persists.

The Lenten season culminates on Holy Thursday, which falls during the week before Easter Sunday. (This year, Lent runs Feb. 26 to April 9.)

Those observing — including Catholics and many Christians in liturgical traditions — historically fasted or refrained from eating meat, especially on Fridays, or gave up other luxury items, such as sweets or fatty foods.

Resisting temptation was meant to be a time of reflection, an opportunity to grow closer to God.

In 2015, 47 per cent of U.S. Catholics said they gave up something or did something extra for Lent, according to the Pew Research Center. One-third of cultural Catholics said they would observe Lent, as did 12 per cent of former Catholics.

Millennials are leaving religion in greater numbers than ever before, but they are more likely to observe Lent than baby boomers, according to 2014 research from Barna Group, an evangelical Christian polling group.

Twenty per cent of millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996) responded that they were planning to fast, compared with 10 per cent of boomers (those born between 1957 and 1964).

And increasingly, "fasting" is being adapted for modern times.

What millennials choose to give up aligns with other current movements — environmentalism (going vegan, for example), an awareness of the pitfalls of technology (forgoing social media) and a commitment to social justice causes (volunteering).

For those who did observe Lent, according to the 2014 Barna Group research, giving up social media, phones and video games was especially gaining in popularity For Elizabeth Harper, who is in her 30s and identifies as Catholic, Lent is an opportunity to reflect on "some of the ways I've legitimately sucked as a person and ways I can make the world just a tiny bit better by going through a small, uncomfortable confrontation and correction," she wrote in an email. Continue reading

He understands the problems we're all facing with religious retention in America; now he would like to be pointed to solutions, especially for Millennials and Generation Z.

What ideas or practices are actually "working to mitigate or reverse those trends," and is there solid research about what can help?

His timing is excellent, because this week I interviewed researcher David Kinnaman, who is the president of the Barna Group and the co-author of two prior studies that have been extremely helpful in diagnosing the problems (You Lost Me and UnChristian).

Kinnaman's third book is Faith for Exiles, co-authored with pastor and consultant Mark Matlock.

It takes some of Barna's research and turns it around, focusing not on the characteristics and views of those who have left their churches, but those who have stayed.

First, the bad news

In the years that Barna has been tracking young Christians' engagement with their faith, retention has gotten worse.

In 2011, 59% of young Americans who grew up Christian had stopped attending their churches, but less than a decade later that has inched upward to 64%, or nearly two-thirds.

And in another trend, the percentage who no longer identify as Christian at all—not just that they're not attending church, but that they don't believe—has doubled in that time, from 11% to 22%.

"That corresponds with a trend in our GenZ work where atheism has doubled," says Kinnaman.

Glass-half-full

The rest of Faith for Exiles takes a glass-half-full approach, however, and focuses attention on the most committed disciples, the talented tenth.

According to Barna's research, 10% of young adults who grew up at least nominally Christian are not only still claiming that identity today, but engaging in a warm and vibrant faith that informs their daily decisions.

Kinnaman calls these the "Resilient Disciples."

He also calls them "exiles," but exile here is actually positive.

What the Resilient Disciples are exiled from is the frenetic consumerism and selfishness of American culture in the 21stcentury.

In an image that crops up periodically throughout the book, they are akin to the Bible's Daniel and his friends trying to live out their faith in a foreign environment.

The book calls our own environment "digital Babylon," and it is very different from the "Jerusalem" that American Christians used to inhabit.

Resilient Disciples are caught between cultures but are navigating that dilemma with their faith "firmly planted in the real world."

In fact, Kinnaman says this group actually thrives more in the hostile environment—and that there is a biblical precedent for this crucible effect.

"In the Bible there are times when the people of God who are the center of the story in the scriptures are also at the center of society, like when David was king. And whether they're doing good or not, there's a shared central narrative about how society is supposed to work. But the majority of Christian scriptures are written from and to and about Exiles, which means that they're dealing with the tensions that we're seeing today."

As America shifts from a predominantly Christian identity to a "post-Christian or even post-faith identity," more Christians will have to learn how to live "with that one foot in and one foot out," like Daniel.

With that in mind, Faith for Exiles highlights five characteristics that Resilient Disciples seem to share—and offers advice for pastors and others who want to create the best possible contexts for teenagers and young adults to flourish.

Experience personal intimacy with Jesus

According to the book, America's fixation with individualism has eroded Christians' primary identity as children of God.

Churches that push back on "Brand Jesus," emphasize regular devotional habits, and make heartfelt worship a priority are doing better than those that seek to entertain.

"This generation has a really high sense that they've been marketed to to death," Kinnaman says.

"They have a high regard for authenticity. So the first thing to ask is: what's really going on inside? Just because people are assenting or attending doesn't mean they've made a deep emotional connection to God."

Educate with a purpose

"For faith to be resilient or sticky, it has to connect with the mind," Kinnaman explains.

"The learning reformation is so important."

That doesn't just mean limiting screen time but exposing young people to the deep, challenging reflections of other Christians. It also means preparing Christians for the world as it actually is, instead of pining for Jerusalem and the good old days.

To succeed with that, the book argues that Christians need to rethink the mentality that bigger is better.

The best learning environments might happen in small groups and outside of the church building, in people's homes.

Help young people forge meaningful intergenerational relationships

This is an age when rising numbers of young people report feeling anxious and isolated. It's also an era when traditional sources of authority have less appeal—including churches, which have been scrutinized for their various sex scandals and resistance to social change.

The institution of "the church" is not automatically persuasive to today's young adults.

What is convincing is relationship.

In Barna's research, Resilient Disciples were significantly more likely than other respondents to say that when they were young they had close personal friends in their congregations who were adults.

That pattern of close relationships continues with them today: 88% agree that "the church is a place where I feel I belong," and 85% that "there is someone in my life who encourages me to grow spiritually."

Meaningful relationships are founded on congregations being honest about when things aren't working at church, and listening to young adults about their doubts and questions.

One success story in the book is of a youth group in which the pastor spent a year notplanning activities or programs and instead just listened to youth, which no topic off the table.

The group began to grow through these frank discussions, and most of its members are still active Christians today, in their late 20s.

Train young adults about vocation

The research shows that young adults are keenly interested in how their faith might be relevant to their work.

More than 9 in 10 Resilient Disciples want to use their unique talents to honor God, and nearly that number say God designs each person with a unique calling for their lives.

Yet churches often let them down by not helping them to discern their calling, or vocation.

Baby Boomers unwittingly contribute to this by slapping down young people's ambitions and pounding the drum of their own generation's pay-your-dues philosophy, or criticizing young adults for being "entitled" if they crave meaningful work beyond a paycheck.

Churches that are doing well with young people help them to discover what God created them to do in life, and give them tools to succeed at it. Because many young adults are delaying marriage and children, most spend their 20s focusing on work.

This is an opportunity for churches to teaching about "vocational discipleship," which is approaching work through the lens of an active, growing faith.

Promote countercultural mission

"Living differently from cultural norms is a change worth making," says Kinnaman. Resilient Disciples "expect that God is real and will answer prayer," and are committed to serving others, even in a me-first society.

Churches that encourage young Christians to bless the lives of others and "take epic risks" to live out their faith—whether that's in the form of a mission trip to the other side of the world or simply offering a gentle pushback to today's pervasive "you be you" mentality—are making a connection.

As well, churches that not only encourage young people to confess their sins, but that are willing to confess their sins to young people, offer what the book calls "realistic hope."

Kinnaman feels that despite the small percentage of young adults who are in the Resilient Disciple category, "the future's in good hands when it comes to the resilient faith of the next generation of Christians."

• Jana Riess is a senior columnist at RNS and author of many books. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

Having tried to live as a Catholic campus minister and as a lesbian woman, my authentic self, piece by piece, slowly broke apart.

I was asked to hide, to "be discreet" about my same-sex marriage, and later was offered a severance package with an agreement to remain silent about the discrimination that I felt took place.

I was shocked and couldn't help but feel shame and unworthiness.

At first, I thought I could be an "undercover Catholic," sacrificing myself for the good of my students.

As a liturgist, I wanted to give them the experience of a radically loving and accepting church — the church I desired, but didn't experience.

Being asked to discreetly hide my most authentic human relationship wounded me more deeply than I could have ever imagined.

Falling short

I lived as a Catholic my entire life — born, raised, educated from kindergarten to master's degree.

My entire career was in the church.

It was all I knew; it framed how I saw the world and how I made decisions. I followed the rules. I lived understanding the shame of sin and strove for perfection because, after all, we are supposed to be like Jesus.

I always fell short, and who else could I blame but myself?

I believed even illogical teachings because I was told "it's a mystery."

So, even in times of questioning, the fear of discovering the shocking truth always forced me back to submissive belief.

But deep inside my heart, I knew something wasn't right.

As I studied and completed my master's degree in theology, it became clearer that the institutional church so many of us have experienced was built for power and control.

It is based on the ideas of a few at the expense of many, with resistance to growth, transformation, and change within itself.

I looked at my 8-year-old niece's religion lesson about sin and repentance and thought:

"No wonder we are so fearful to leave, no wonder we don't question or trust our own intuition.

"Every choice and thought has been made for us and indoctrinated since childhood.

"No wonder we struggle with self-worth and self-esteem.

"No wonder so many of us feel we must not be good enough for God to give us the life we desire.

"Worst of all, no wonder many of us start thinking we are inherently bad or unlovable."

I know this to be true after nine years of working with college students — many different people from many different places with similar stories of pain and struggles with self-worth.

It's my story, too.

Born in 1983, I am on the cusp of being both a Millennial and a Gen-Xer.

I guess I am also a member of what Benedictine Sr Joan Chittister has termed the Catholic "in-between generation."

Former Catholics: 12.8% of young adults

A recent survey conducted by St. Mary's Press and the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate found that approximately 12.8 percent of young adults in the U.S. ages 18-25 are former Catholics, and I can only anticipate that number growing.

Millennials are aware of the hypocrisy as well as the harm the church is doing to its own members in losing sight of Jesus' Gospel message of love.

"Could the institutional church be wrong? Could it actually be doing harm?"

I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.

I wrestled with these questions for years, ashamed to talk about it because I was a campus minister.

I also knew the answers the church would give; I was taught and trained to give them.

Those answers didn't work anymore. We needed new questions. Continue reading

• Image: MySpace

But when I looked around at my friends, all in a public school in South Florida, I saw something very different: everyone was hungry for success, and so eager to go to college.

I didn't see peers that were lazy, entitled and narcissistic. I saw people who were entrepreneurial, incredibly philanthropic, very liberal and really hard-working.

So at 16, I created a radio show called Teen Talk Live—think The View gone Millennial—and pitched it to Clear Channel Radio in South Florida.

Other opportunities grew from there.

• When I was 18, my mom and I put together our first family mission trip on behalf of feminine hygiene care.
• We went to Nairobi, Kenya for almost three weeks and distributed hundreds of thousands of feminine hygiene products to women in need, which was coupled by an educational effort about the menstrual cycle.
• I put together a four-part docu-series, and then U by Kotex tapped me to be their Millennial spokesperson.

That led me into the branding world.

I loved the impact that working with brands has when I talk about how to market to Millennials, trying to get people to understand what makes this generation tick.

Millennials are the generation of the future. And we are also here and now.

We are the largest population in the United States. Companies have to revamp what worked 10 years ago, because it's not going to work today or tomorrow.

There is no one-size-fits-all description for the Millennial woman.

Old, cookie-cutter descriptions of men and women's roles no longer apply.

Millennial women get to pursue whatever passion or desire they want, because we have the means to do so today.

Thanks to technology we have a lot more resources to take advantage of.

The Millennial woman is more confident than ever, and she has more of a voice than she ever did have in the past.

We have more of the determination to be entrepreneurial because we have cheerleaders, too.

There are no longer taboos about women working, and we have more supporters.

We're experiencing a resurgence of the feminist movement in our own time.

It's not necessarily taking off our bras and rallying down the streets, but it is being led by women like Sophia Amoruso, author of #GIRLBOSS and founder of the Nasty Gal clothing Empire.

People like Beyonce, Sheryl Sandberg and Hillary Clinton are totally breaking down gender barriers.

Those are the women that are really inspiring the Millennial woman.

The ultimate Millennial woman doesn't let her gender hold her back whatsoever.

She's badass.

How Millennial women are redefining motherhood, continue reading

- Chelsea Korst is a TV and radio host, host of the #MillennialTalk Twitter chat, and a Millennial branding expert who helps companies understand the lifestyle and values of our generation.

In the United States alone, they number more than 78 million, even larger than the seemingly ubiquitous Boomers.

They are the Millennials.

They are changing our nation, our world, and our churches.

For the purpose of today's post, I want to focus on changes they are already bringing to our local churches.

I have the benefit of a large research project on the Millennials, plus the ongoing conversations I have with members of this generation.

And I have spoken with countless leaders in churches about their experiences with Millennials.

Keep in mind that the birth years of the Millennials: 1980 to 2000.

So the oldest member of this generation is 34, while the youngest is only 14.

But their impact is already noticeable, and it will be for years to come.

Here are ten ways they are shaping local congregations today:

1. More of them are attracted to smaller venues. They are thus one of the reasons for the incredible growth in the multi-venue model of churches and the growth of new churches. Leaders of smaller churches should be encouraged by this trend as well.
2. They see culture as something to influence, rather than an enemy to denounce. Many Millennials truly have a missionary mindset. They are turned off by those who constantly rail against people.
3. They like to cooperate with others. They do not view other churches and Christian organizations as competitors. They are attracted to congregations that are working with other congregations.
4. They abhor worship wars. I have a previous post on this topic called "What Worship Style Attracts the Millennials?"
5. They love churches that love their communities. One of the first questions a Millennial will ask a church leader is, "What is the church doing to influence, impact, and minister to the community?"
6. They are attracted to churches that emphasize groups. The Millennials want to be a part of a congregation that has healthy small groups, Sunday school classes, home groups, or other groups.
7. They want to be trained on their schedule. The Millennials truly desire training. But they are accustomed to having that training available when they are able to hear it or view it. Such is the reason that many churches are going to video training while having "live" worship services and small groups.
8. They will question almost everything. This generation will want to know why a church does what it does. The most unacceptable answer is, "We have always done it this way."
9. They are slow to join, and slow to leave. Church leaders are often frustrated that a Millennial takes so long to commit to a local congregation. But they are intentional and thorough. Once they commit to a church, they are less likely to leave, especially over petty issues.
10. They want to be involved. If a church does not have an intentional plan to get Millennials involved in ministry quickly, they will not reach Millennials. Continue reading

Sources

• Thom S Rainer
• Image: Central Piedmont Community College