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MINISTRY AND MILLENNIALS: Can the Catholic Church keep young people from passing it by?


ByAmanda Tulolo '19
(magazine article)

     This source examines the struggles that the Catholic Church has in attracting young people to participate. 74% of Catholics who leave the church “do so between the ages of 10 and 20”.  One possible reason for this is the fact that many feel unwelcome or uninvited, as one 24 year old stated that “[he] can no longer count the number of churches [he had] walked in and out of without none saying hello and asking what [his] name was, or if [he] was new”.  To combat this issue, programs and events geared specifically towards the youth in the community.  These efforts include creating a World Youth Day, holding teen Masses, youth retreats, or fun outings in a church group.  One youth minister at a parish in Connecticut took a group of young people and several priests and bishops to a Major League Baseball Game in New York City, saying that “[their] goal is to make [them]selves a bit vulnerable, by putting [them]selves out there in situations where you wouldn’t expect to see the church”.  While these events are created with the intention of attracting the youth to participate in the church, it “set[s] them apart from the rest of the parish environment,” as they have their own separate ministry.  
     Fuller Youth Institute, which trains youth ministers, “refers to this [separation of the youth from the whole church] as the ‘kids’ table’ model of youth ministry”.  This becomes a greater problem once the youth graduate high school and there is no longer a “kids’ table”.  As a result, they do not feel a part of the community “because [no one] really showed them how to be a part of the bigger church”.  Therefore, the church has the difficult task of balancing fun events to keep the youth interested with ways “to help [them] build an ongoing relationship with God and a relationship to the church that sustains them” beyond their youth. 
     This article criticizes the efforts that have been made to get younger people involved with the Church.  It makes sense for Davis to make the argument that youth groups and ministries are not helping solve the issue, as many complain that they do not feel welcomed within the church.  In the “Reports from the Small Group Discussions on the III Part of the ‘Instrumentum Laboris’”, the Church encourages pastors to prioritize the youth ministry programs and take time to make improvements and develop them.  However, Davis completely contradicts the idea that youth programs are benefitting those in it.  The information that Davis writes in this article gives explanation and reason as to why so many young people feel that they are not welcomed in the church community. 


Davis, Zac. "MINISTRY AND MILLENNIALS: Can the Catholic Church keep young people 
from passing it by?" America, 30 Oct. 2017, p. 18+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, 
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A514406534/OVIC?u=lac57609&sid=OVIC&xid=af9c9315.



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