A Catholic Youth Ministry Blog - -

o Thursday, December 20, 2007
TRADITION
    Meanwhile, US News & World Report indicates that "Something curious is happening in the wide world of faith, something that defies easy explanation or quantification. More substantial than a trend but less organized than a movement, it has to do more with how people practice their religion than with what they believe, though people caught up in this change often find that their beliefs are influenced, if not subtly altered, by the changes in their practice.
    Put simply, the development is a return to tradition and orthodoxy, to past practices, observances, and customary ways of worshiping. But it is not simply a return to the past—at least not in all cases. Even while drawing on deep traditional resources, many participants are creating something new within the old forms. They are engaging in what Penn State sociologist of religion Roger Finke calls "innovative returns to tradition." Read more   here.
LESS MEANINGFUL
    Meanwhile, over in Ireland, a study is conducted regarding religious knowledge. The punch-line: While the overall figures were not good, the drop in knowledge demonstrated by the poll, showed “that the Christian faith is becoming less meaningful to those under 25 years of age”. Older people of faith need to “seriously consider how they are passing on what they know to future generations."
2007'S BLOG SWEET SIXTEEN ** TOLD 'YA SO **
    A year-end blog retrospective. This was posted October 28, When the Pope's trip was announced, it had affirmed what was foretold on this site on July 17. When the trip was announced on November 12, it seems as if we got it right. On April 19, 2008, there will be a "youth event" at St. Joseph Seminary (Dunwoodie) in Yonkers. oh, yeah, and if your were thinking that you can have a papal visit without a logo - - you're right. It came out yesterday
On September 22, I blogged about the Pope's upcoming US tour and made an argument as to why there would be an event that was aimed at young people. After a conversation with some episcopal leadership (September 26), I back-tracked on that possibility. Now, recent hints are that it might occur in New York. I'm still watching for it!!!

o Wednesday, December 19, 2007
DOES THE POPE NEED AN EXTREME MAKE-OVER?
    Noted director Franco Zeffirelli thinks so and he's willing to help. Read more here
NOT PACHELBEL
    The original plan for today was to post this youtube that riffs all over Pachelbel's Canon. But, a friend of the blog sent this one to me at the last minute. . . Doesn't all Christmas music begin to mesh together about this time of the season?? That seems to be the case in this a'cappella celebration.
2007'S BLOG SWEET SIXTEEN ** YOUTH MINISTRY FUTURE **
   A year-end blog retrospective. These were the blog entries of October 10 and 18. This actually started on Marko's site. It's a long post and I included the follow-up posting as well. After delivering the closing keynote at three national youth workers' conventions, he wrote me this kind and encouraging note: Loved using “communion” as one of my “values” for youth ministry 3.0 (our preferred future) in my closing talk at NYWC! Thanks for that. I described it as better than community, since it implies Christ in the midst of our community. And I combined it with “mission” as a two-fer set of preferred values, that we’re a “communional” and “missional”. Thanks for that great input.
    Marko posted this question in his own site:
  "help me think about this.
i’m working on my closing general session talk for the national youth workers conventions (first one is in san diego, next week!). and i’ve decided to talk about youth ministry: past, present and future. i’m hoping this will be an affirmation of how the collective of youth workers have reflected culture in good ways and bad ways as we try to live out our calling with teenagers, as well as a vision-y nudge toward our collective need for change.
   i’m trying to find a few words to best describe a preferred future, and would love thoughts from anyone.
   i have a handful of variables i’m using to describe where we’ve been, where we are, and where i hope we can go. but i’m having trouble landing on a few important words for the future:
   First question: if youth ministry past was “proclamation-driven”, and youth ministry present is “program-driven”, what’s our hopeful ‘driver’ in the future? my first thought was to say “kingdom-driven”. but that’s SO broad, and requires quite a bit of theological unpacking to be meaningful. i am considering “missionally-driven”, which also requires some unpacking (i’m not talking about taking missions trips, but about helping teenagers live into our present calling to be active participants in god’s kingdom work, here and now, with the assumption that that ‘practice’ will form a lifetime of praxisy faith that will sustain them long after they’re in youth group). ooh, maybe “praxis-driven”? ha, look at me, using all P-words. rick warren would be proud.
   Second question: if youth ministry past was focused around key themes of EVANGELISM and CORRECTION, and youth ministry present is focused around key themes of DISCIPLESHIP and POSITIVE PEER GROUP, then what would be the key themes of this preferred future? a brainstorm of some of the word-themes i’m considering: COMMUNITY, MISSION, KINGDOM, JOURNEY, CALLING, HOLISTIC, FLUID. i want to be careful not to merely use buzz words, which some of these could easily be.
   whatcha think?
My posted response:
   Marko- Here’s my take (for what it is worth)
   FIRST: Youth Ministry future shall no longer be “-driven” but claim the driver’s seat.
   Specifically, it is time to drive the church into her/our future. We have the message (proclamation), we’ve programmed the message (even with intentional purpose, greetings Rick Warren), but has the message been transformative? I know that we all might be weary of Barna’s and Soul-Searching’s challenges regarding our ministry, but……
   The proclamation and the program of youth ministry need to be our entire churches. It’s gonna hurt the ears of those ecumenically minded and especially sound dissonant coming from a YS stage, but perhaps now is the time to stick inside our own walls of doctrinal faith, and begin to transmit to “spiritual but not religious” young people and adults alike the message, values, theology, and the uniqueness of being Lutheran, Baptist, Mormon, Evangelical Methodist, or Roman Catholic.
    SECOND: The word, therefore, is communion.
    The theme is what brings and keeps us together, what feeds us, and how do we image Christ throughout the world, both individually as well as corporately (as church.)
    As potentially divisive as the first answer just sounded, we can only come to a greater appreciation of each other after having fully owned what is ours. Our societal discomfort with the seemingly extreme nature of Islam is that we no longer have sense in our mainstream faith the radical nature of Catholicism or the reformative nature of Protestant churches.
     We’ve been attempting to impact the head (cognitive), hearts (affective), and hands (behavioral) of young people. Perhaps it is time to begin to aim towards their feet - - - giving them a (spiritual) home in which to attain maturity in faith, to which to call upon throughout their lives, and from which to “go out and make disciples of the nations.
** FOLLOW-UP: YOUTH MINISTRY FUTURE **
    (See Wednesday, Oct. 10) So, I made the posting (second one up) and it largely went ignored amongst a very active response to Marko's request. That is until Marko weighed in later in the day. He made some clarifying comments about that which most everyone was talking about and then concluded with: i’m very intrigued by scott miller’s comments. COMMUNION is a great word and could embody much of what i’m thinking. It was a fascinating moment- a combination of pride head-rush as well as a, dude, I've gotta figure this out some more.

o Tuesday, December 18, 2007
BLOG CELEBRATIONS
    Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of when the term "weblog" was coined. This site is almost three-and-a-half years old and; yesterday, it was fortunate enough to be referred to, by Dave Hartline of The Catholic Report, as "the definitive (Catholic) Youth Ministry blog." Cool. Thanks, Dave! Juggling Elephants Hardcover Book
JUGGLING ELEPHANTS
    "May all your days be circus days." Business and Management books have moved into the land of parables. I recently bought this book while Christmas shopping; it was a fast and entertaining read. Basically, we are the ringmasters of our own circuses, its our responsibly to get our acts together, and we can only be in one ring (work/relationship/self) at a time. I feel as if I've been doing slightly better about this since October's Resolution and the silence of early November . . . Meanwhile, another intermission is coming at week's end - - pass the cotton candy, please!
2007'S BLOG SWEET SIXTEEN ** PERSONAL UPDATE II: RESOLUTION **
    A year-end blog retrospective. A personal posting from October 6: So, the fall really became about computer crashes and personal crashes, pacing and health, and biting my tongue.
   This blog has been in existence for over three years… but it really kicked it up a notch in with the 2007 new year. Part of that was:
Ø       a resolution/ commitment to post on a daily basis
Ø       a resolution/ commitment to podcast on a weekly basis.
   Since then, I’ve added little series of posts like on Confirmation and “the States of Youth Ministry.” And then, in another level of insanity, I started to attempt to slideshare “First Up” webinars each month.
   I remember when I was posting three or four items daily in February. People were impressed with the output then, wondering where I found the time to do it.
   This bad boy has been built up to level that, while I truly believe serves the field of Catholic youth ministry, is no longer serving me and my life. Blogging is a form of a spiritual practice for me, but c’mon… moderation in all things.
   The move from offices to cubicles has demanded restructuring my work life and patterns. There has been considerable tossing of the clutter surrounding me. YOU, dear reader, are not a part of that clutter. However, how I continue to minister within this venue needs some restructuring- - -
   So, new resolutions:
Ø       While I will attempt to continue to post daily, there are no apologies (to self or virtual community) for not doing so.
Ø       The transfer from office space to cubicle living must impact “Inside the Youth Ministers’ Studio.” I can no longer close the door, put the phone on the intercom, and record a interview. I now have four work mates that are less than eight feet away without walls and doors. Any future interviews will be done face-to-face. Since we don’t have folks visiting our diocese every week…. the weekly Wednesday schedule of the podcast, which has been difficult to maintain for the past months, is also discontinued. You’ll get them as I get them.
Ø       “First Up”…. What…..? Are you kidding me? What was I thinking? I have enough 'live' presentations (in the diocese as well as three outside the diocese in the next two months) to prepare, let alone attempting to set up power point and audio for a monthly schedule of presentations…. This doesn’t mean I won’t continue to do them…, but just when I have the moment, time, and intention.
    Whew! Don’t know about you, but some self-imposed weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
    Meanwhile, might I invite your prayer support for all of us in Catholic youth ministry? May we each continue to establish good boundaries, clear that which clutters our lives, and seek to be more effective on our ministries. AMEN.