Youth Ministry

"This is what is needed: A Church for young people, which will know how to speak to their heart and enkindle, comfort, and inspire enthusiasm in it with the joy of the Gospel and strength of the Eucharist; a Church which will know how to invite and to welcome the person who seeks a purpose for which to commit his whole existence; a Church which is not afraid to require much, after having been given much; which does not fear asking from young people the effort of a noble and authentic adventure, such as that of the following of the Gospel." - Pope John Paul II 1995

Mission Statement

The mission of St. John the Evangelist Youth Ministry is to help our teens to place Jesus Christ at the center of their lives.

We are committed to leading them to develop a great love for our Lord and to appreciate His special Presence in the Eucharist, the Source and the Summit of their lives as Catholics. We aim to help them to contemplate and understand what a great gift we have been given. Jesus Christ is the Vine, we are the branches; without Him, we can do nothing but wither and die. We want to our teens to focus on Him, and we will strive to lead our teens to Him. He and He alone is the reason for our ministry with our teens. We will help our teens develop a øChrist-centered vision. It is a call to empower (our) young people for the mission they have been given by the Lord Jesus.     RTV /USCCB

Goals

At this stage of history, the liberating message of the Gospel has been put into your hands. And the mission of proclaiming it to the ends of the earth is now passing to your generation, the young Church. We pray with the whole Church that we can meet the challenge of providing coming generations with reasons for living and hoping."

- Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day 1993

We are totally committed to the three fundamental goals of all Catholic Youth Ministry as established by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops:

1. To empower our teens to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today.
2. To draw our teens to responsible participation in the life, mission, and work of the faith community.
3. To foster the personal and spiritual growth of each of our teens.

RTV/ USCCB

Components of a Comprehensive Ministry

Young people, Christ needs you to enlighten the world and to show it the Path to Life. Place your intelligence, your talents your enthusiasm, your compassion and your fortitude at the service of life. The The Church needs your energies, your enthusiasm, your youthful ideals in orders to make the Gospel of Life penetrate the fabric of society, transforming people's hearts and the Structures of society in order to create a civilization of true justice and love.

- Pope John Paul II

Ministry with adolescents utilizes each of the Church's ministries ¨advocacy, catechesis, community life, evangelization, justice, and service, leadership development, pastoral care, prayer and worship¨ in an integrated approach to achieve the three goals for ministry.

- RTV

The Ministry of Advocacy includes:

• Affirming and protecting the sanctity of human life as a gift from God and building societal respect for those who most need protection and support ¨ the unborn, the poor, the disadvantaged, the sick and the elderly.
• Empowering young people by giving them a voice and calling them to responsibility and accountability around the issues that affect them and their future.

The Ministry of Catechesis includes:

• Helping adolescents develop a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and the Christian community and increase their knowledge of the core content of the Catholic Faith.
• Engaging adolescents in the learning process by incorporating a variety of learning methods and activities through which adolescents can explore and learn important religious concepts of the Scriptures and Catholic Faith.
• Helps teens to integrate knowledge of their Catholic Faith with the development of practical skills for living the Catholic Faith in today�s world.

The Ministry of Community Life includes:

• Creating an environment characterized by gospel values that nurtures meaningful relationships among young people and between adolescents and adults.
• Developing the friendship making and friendship-maintaining skills of young people grounded in Christian values.
• Engaging adolescents in the life, activities and ministries of the parish in meaningful and age-appropriate ways.

The Ministry of Evangelization includes:

• Proclaiming Jesus Christ and the Good News so that young people will come to see in Jesus and his message a response to their hungers and a way to live.
• Reaching out to young people by meeting them in their various life situations, building relationships, providing healing care and concern, offering a genuine response to their hungers and needs and inviting them into a relationship with Jesus and the Christian community.
• Challenging young people to follow Jesus in a life of discipleship ¨ shaping their lives in the vision, values, and teachings of Jesus and living his mission in their daily lives through witness and service.
• Calling young people to be evangelizers of other young people, their families and the community.

The Ministry of Justice and Service includes:

• Engaging young people in discovering the call to justice and service in the Scriptures, in the life of Jesus, and in Catholic social teachings.
• Incorporating doing the right thing with attention to why and how we do what we do. We must implement the four elements guide adolescents in moving from awareness to action on issues of justice.
1. Involvement
2. Exploration
3. Reflection
4. Action

The Ministry of Leadership Development includes:

• Utilizing adult and adolescent leaders in a variety of leadership roles necessary for comprehensive ministry.
• Empowering all young people for leadership and ministry with their peers, in school, parishes and civic communities, by affirming their gifts, equipping them with skills for leadership and ministry, and by placing them in leadership roles or giving them leadership opportunities where they can make a difference.

The Ministry of Pastoral Care includes:

• Guiding young people in making important life decisions.
• Fostering the spiritual development of young people and the healthy integration of their sexuality and spirituality.
• Providing programs and resources for parent education and skills for effective parenting that incorporates understandings of adolescent development and family life cycle tasks.
• Collaborating with the wider community in providing direct aid to youth-at-risk in the form of programs, services and counseling.

The Ministry of Praise and Worship includes:

• Promoting the authentic participation of youth in liturgy.
• Providing opportunities for creative prayer with adolescents in peer, family and intergenerational settings.
• Promoting opportunities for communal prayer. The liturgy of the hours, liturgies of Reconciliation and healing, ethnic rituals and celebrations and other ritual devotions.
• Promoting effective preaching of the Word.
• Allowing the music and songs express the vitality of young people.
• Providing adolescents with effective and intentional catechesis for liturgy, worship and the sacraments. Young people are catechized by their participation in the liturgy; therefore, care must be taken to ensure that their experiences lead them to greater faith.