Traditional forms of youth ministry are losing their effectiveness. Attendance numbers at weekly worship are down across the board, and anecdotally, pastors, youth ministers and campus ministers are almost universally reporting greater difficulty in accessing and engaging Gen Z. Currently, 40% of 13- to 25-year-olds claim no religious affiliation or institutional trust in religion, continuing Read more
The youth ministry is an important feature of the Church and the real meaning of “synodality” is well understood by young people, Pope Francis says. Young people have lessons they could teach the Church about synodality, Pope Francis says. “They have asked us in a thousand ways to walk alongside them — not behind them Read more
The leaders of a California evangelical megachurch are under fire for bungling the church’s response to a youth ministry volunteer’s confession that he was attracted to minors. The Menlo Church volunteer in question first told Senior Pastor John Ortberg about his feelings two years ago, though congregants weren’t officially notified about the situation until January. Read more
The NZ Catholic Bishops Conference (NZCBC) is seeking nominations for the 2020 Delargey Awards, which recognise significant and outstanding contributions to Catholic youth ministry in Aotearoa New Zealand. Begun in 2008, the biannual awards are named in honour of Cardinal Reginald Delargey (1914-79), a former Bishop of Auckland and Archbishop of Wellington who was noted Read more
In the central rotunda of Keating Hall on the campus of Fordham University, there is a unique statue that is often overlooked by the the busy students and faculty who walk by on the way to class. The statue depicts Jesus at 18, the average age of an incoming college student. According to Aloysius Hogan, Read more
Organisers of an annual youth conference in Brisbane faced an unusual challenge… too many people wanted to come. The four-day event is getting so big might “soon outgrow” present its venue. The conference took place 22 to 25 September. It drew more than 1600 registered participants, a marked increase on last year’s event. The travelled Read more
What will future Catholic Ministry look like as our priests age and numbers of priests diminish? In today’s faster paced world, are those un-ordained people living their faith and ministering to others as an integral part of who they are, their work, and their daily interactions with others becoming the new ‘priests’? Andrea O’Hagan and Read more
The diocese of Palmerston North is looking for a Te Ahi Kaa/Young Adult Ministry Coordinator. The coordinator will have live-in oversight of Te Ahi Kaa,— a community of 4 young adults (students or workers) committed to a year of service, prayer, hospitality and formation of themselves and other young people. The team of youth ministers will be Read more
Not too long ago, I was asked to put together a list of what makes successful youth ministries successful. As I was thinking about this, I found myself almost immediately coming up with a list of the opposite. I could readily come up with a list of traits that contributed to unsuccessful youth ministries. I Read more
A common activity in youth work is to use the day’s newspapers to help start a discussion with young people. I can only imagine the apprehension of any church youth leaders using this activity last Wednesday. The Daily Mail headline, ‘Minister: My fear for boys warped by porn’ could have produced a rather uncomfortable conversation. Read more