Defining concept of youth ministry

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
Sept. 13, 2007

Youth ministry is synonymous with adolescent catechesis.

Jessica La Fleur Malm, director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Sioux City, said, "Anything you do with kids in youth ministry should include adolescent catechesis in some way, shape or form. Youth ministry needs to be more than fun and games. It is more than fun and games."

Right now youth ministry is moving away from youth groups, which are generally known for being more of the fun and games.

"You are a member of a youth group," said La Fleur. "Whereas, with youth ministry every teenager in the parish is experiencing and should be experiencing youth ministry. Whether or not they attend a gathering on Sunday nights, they should be a part of some form of youth ministry."

She explained that youth group gatherings on Sunday or Wednesday nights should now be called youth ministry gatherings.

"Religious education for youth should be seen as youth ministry," said La Fleur. "When youth participate in Mass along with adults, that is a form of youth ministry. Youth should not be separate from the adults but side by side."

Everything from a volleyball match or bowling to Bible study and going to NCYC, World Youth Day or the Steubenville conference should be considered part of youth ministry.

"When we are going on our trips, there should be part of it that is catechetical - some form of learning that comes from that," she said. "Sometimes it is very specific - learning about the importance of the Eucharist, what the transubstantiation really means and how we can be changed by that."

Other times the catechesis will be less specific. For example, it could be learning that a person's community is a place where they can worship Jesus or that they can share their faith with their peers.

"It is a wide range, but everything we do should include some form of learning," said La Fleur.

The learning moments should be intentional and straightforward but not in someone's face saying, "Now is the learning part." There could be comments on what could be learned as the moment happens.

"Let's say we just went bowling and we had a really great time. The learning that comes from that - as general and watered down as it might seem - is that the kids learn that they can be together and have fun as a community outside of their church," she said.

If there is something that is working in youth ministry, it will lead to more and more.

"When we start to see youth ministry as bigger, it will actually become bigger," said La Fleur. "It is like when you think, I don't do that much for service. Then I think about the things I actually do and I recognize them as being service. I see that I do a lot and then I start doing more."

As the idea of youth ministry grows, there will be more and more opportunities for adolescent catechesis.