Youth ministry expert speaks to priests, ministers on evangelizing to next generation
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
Reaching younger generations may seem like a challenging task in the age of Snapchat, Vines and Twitter.
To see photo gallery on this story, click here.
Knowing the importance of evangelizing to young Catholics, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., welcomed nationally-known youth ministry expert Frank Mercadante to meet with priests and youth ministers of the Diocese.
“The importance of this work cannot be overstated,” the Bishop said following a Priest Study Day hosted Jan. 20 by St. Vincent De Paul Parish, Yardville. “Frank Mercadante has a powerful message about how to reach out to youth and young adults and engage them in the life of the Church.
“I was extremely pleased that we were able to bring Frank here to talk to our priests, who bear a special responsibility in seeing that we have effective ministry with and to the young men and women in our local faith communities.
“I wish that more of our priests were able to attend, but we will be sharing the insight that Mercadante left us with during his visit. There is no question - this is going to be a top priority for the Diocese in the coming years.”
The author of “Positively Dangerous: Live Loud, Be Real, Change the World,” and executive director of Cultivation Ministries, has worked in and written about youth ministry for over 20 years.
Mercandate, who received the National Catholic Youth Ministry Award in Training from the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry in 2008, brings decades of experience in youth ministry to help understand emerging trends. His presentations included suggestions on how to frame the conversation as to how best to “vision” about connecting young people and their families with Christ.
At the Chancery Jan. 19, Mercadante told the roughly 30 attendees gathered about the emerging “Homeland Generation,” the demographic group following the Millennials, living with different threats in their lives. They face a number of concrete threats that have indelibly shaped their view of society and institutions, such as the Sept. 11 attacks, and this new point of view directly affects parenting as well as people’s faith lives.
The following day, in front of a number of priests from across the Diocese, Mercadante explored these themes even more, comparing the “Homeland Generation” to the behaviors and characteristics of previous generations.
“Today’s younger generation needs to choose Church rather than inherit it,” Mercadante said. “For the Generation Xers, the ‘If you build it, they will come’ strategy worked, which is why megachurch Protestant denominations did well. Millennials have seemingly embodied the behavior of ‘If I know you, and you personally invite me, and you remind me the day before and text the day of, I might come.’”
Dan Waddington, pastoral associate in St. Barnabas Parish, Bayville, attended the Jan. 19 evening session was grateful for the opportunity to hear from the author of “Positively Dangerous” in person. “I read the book and I think it speaks profoundly as to how to really reach not just young people, but families in our Church.”
“If there were a Mount Rushmore of youth ministry,” said Rudy Gomez, diocesan coordinator for youth ministry, “Frank Mercadante would be on it.”
Mercandate told the attendees that from a generational perspective, the evidence for the future of youth ministry and an enlivened faith tradition points to working with families as a whole.
Active parents will help foster active youth in the faith, he said, stressing that parents are the primary educators of their children. He shared that two engagement techniques have crossed generations, namely, using personal witness and the importance of serving others.
“Serving others adds to their personal story,” he said. “Doing something as opposed to talking about it. Service is the new face of Evangelization.” Young people get their “truth” from experiences, said Mercadante – “they have become hyper-sensitive to hypocrisy.”
“We learn best by being active as part of a community. We develop discipleship when people feel they are affiliated with the Church,” he said.
The veteran youth minister suggested those serving young people focus on a practical rule of thumb to help guide their work with young people.
He proposed dividing their time up into thirds – one-third focusing on intentionally walking with youth, one-third focusing on the needs of the parents, and the other one-third focusing on training and empowering other committed Catholic adults active in parish life.
Mercadante summed up his presentation with this thought: “We’re all about making disciples. The whole idea is learning to be Christ-like.”
Associate Editor Patrick T. Brown and Diocesan Associate Director of Communications Matthew Greeley contributed to this report.
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Reaching younger generations may seem like a challenging task in the age of Snapchat, Vines and Twitter.
To see photo gallery on this story, click here.
Knowing the importance of evangelizing to young Catholics, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., welcomed nationally-known youth ministry expert Frank Mercadante to meet with priests and youth ministers of the Diocese.
“The importance of this work cannot be overstated,” the Bishop said following a Priest Study Day hosted Jan. 20 by St. Vincent De Paul Parish, Yardville. “Frank Mercadante has a powerful message about how to reach out to youth and young adults and engage them in the life of the Church.
“I was extremely pleased that we were able to bring Frank here to talk to our priests, who bear a special responsibility in seeing that we have effective ministry with and to the young men and women in our local faith communities.
“I wish that more of our priests were able to attend, but we will be sharing the insight that Mercadante left us with during his visit. There is no question - this is going to be a top priority for the Diocese in the coming years.”
The author of “Positively Dangerous: Live Loud, Be Real, Change the World,” and executive director of Cultivation Ministries, has worked in and written about youth ministry for over 20 years.
Mercandate, who received the National Catholic Youth Ministry Award in Training from the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry in 2008, brings decades of experience in youth ministry to help understand emerging trends. His presentations included suggestions on how to frame the conversation as to how best to “vision” about connecting young people and their families with Christ.
At the Chancery Jan. 19, Mercadante told the roughly 30 attendees gathered about the emerging “Homeland Generation,” the demographic group following the Millennials, living with different threats in their lives. They face a number of concrete threats that have indelibly shaped their view of society and institutions, such as the Sept. 11 attacks, and this new point of view directly affects parenting as well as people’s faith lives.
The following day, in front of a number of priests from across the Diocese, Mercadante explored these themes even more, comparing the “Homeland Generation” to the behaviors and characteristics of previous generations.
“Today’s younger generation needs to choose Church rather than inherit it,” Mercadante said. “For the Generation Xers, the ‘If you build it, they will come’ strategy worked, which is why megachurch Protestant denominations did well. Millennials have seemingly embodied the behavior of ‘If I know you, and you personally invite me, and you remind me the day before and text the day of, I might come.’”
Dan Waddington, pastoral associate in St. Barnabas Parish, Bayville, attended the Jan. 19 evening session was grateful for the opportunity to hear from the author of “Positively Dangerous” in person. “I read the book and I think it speaks profoundly as to how to really reach not just young people, but families in our Church.”
“If there were a Mount Rushmore of youth ministry,” said Rudy Gomez, diocesan coordinator for youth ministry, “Frank Mercadante would be on it.”
Mercandate told the attendees that from a generational perspective, the evidence for the future of youth ministry and an enlivened faith tradition points to working with families as a whole.
Active parents will help foster active youth in the faith, he said, stressing that parents are the primary educators of their children. He shared that two engagement techniques have crossed generations, namely, using personal witness and the importance of serving others.
“Serving others adds to their personal story,” he said. “Doing something as opposed to talking about it. Service is the new face of Evangelization.” Young people get their “truth” from experiences, said Mercadante – “they have become hyper-sensitive to hypocrisy.”
“We learn best by being active as part of a community. We develop discipleship when people feel they are affiliated with the Church,” he said.
The veteran youth minister suggested those serving young people focus on a practical rule of thumb to help guide their work with young people.
He proposed dividing their time up into thirds – one-third focusing on intentionally walking with youth, one-third focusing on the needs of the parents, and the other one-third focusing on training and empowering other committed Catholic adults active in parish life.
Mercadante summed up his presentation with this thought: “We’re all about making disciples. The whole idea is learning to be Christ-like.”
Associate Editor Patrick T. Brown and Diocesan Associate Director of Communications Matthew Greeley contributed to this report.
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