Turning Youth Ministry into Apprenticeship in the Christian Life | Bill Maguire | CWR
YDisciple, a new program from the Augustine Institute, takes a fresh approach toward teen ministry—one that is rooted in the parent-child relationship and in family life.
“Our children need sure guidance in the process of growing in responsibility for themselves and others. Christian communities are called to support the educational mission of families. They do this above all by living in fidelity to God’s world, cultivating faith, love and patience. Jesus himself was raised in a family; when he tells us that all who hear the word of God and obey are his brothers and sisters, he reminds us that for all their failings, our families can count on his inspiration and grace in the difficult but rewarding vocation of educating their children.” — Pope Francis, General Audience, March 20, 2015
The Augustine Institute—creators of the widely popular and effective Symbolon faith-formation program for adults—has developed another excellent resource for parishes. This time, with YDisciple, AI offers a dynamic tool for reaching out to teens with the vibrant enthusiasm of the New Evangelization.
Precisely because YDisciple seeks to identify and address effectively the unique needs of teen disciples, it breaks with the current paradigm of all-too-many parish youth ministry programs: namely, that youth ministry should be largely peer-dominated, parent-free zones (for more on the benefits and significant drawbacks of youth ministry as it exists in most parishes, see "Youth ministry today: Its strengths and limitations").
YDisciple: Outreach to youth through parents
The YDisciple handbook begins with quotes from the Catechism and Familiaris Consortio regarding the privileged role of parents and the family in the evangelization and formation of young people. The handbook continues, stating clearly:
Any youth ministry initiative should begin with parents. Parents have the greatest influence in the lives of their teenagers, and they will be held accountable to God for the formation of their children. The role of the parish is to assist parents in fulfilling this responsibility. For this reason, the Church teaches that all pastoral work must take into consideration the pastoral care of the family.
Sean Dalton, director of YDisciple, highlights Pope Francis’ insights concerning the essential role of moms and dads in the religious formation of their children and the vital need for the Church to reevaluate and renew our current (and failing) outreach to young people:
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