"If we do not see the parish as a center of evangelization and apostolic formation, we are denying priest and their pastoral collaborators one of the great, abiding joys of ministry and one of the most powerful protections against cynicism and burnout."
Sherry Weddell, "Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path yo Knowing and Following Jesus"
THE PROBLEM:In Everett Fritz's book, "The Art of Forming Young Disciples: Why Youth Ministries Aren't Working and What to do About It", he does a great job laying out the overwhelming statistics of young people (18-29 years old) leaving the Catholic Church. In which he then poses the question: Why is the Church failing to make young disciples?
"If we are losing our young people in the Church today, it isn't due to a lack of effort. Nor is it due to a lack of good resources and programs...Lack of effort is not the problem. (pg. 14)" So, what is? Taking a parish perspective, Fritz argues that it is because, as parishes, we are not meeting the basic needs of the young people. The need to be understood, to feel like they belong, to be transparent, to think critically about the faith, and to be guided by trusted adults in their life. Therefore, until a parish can intentionally invest into creating a youth ministry that addresses the needs of young people, the parish itself will remain uninspired and hemorrhaging the potential of lifelong disciples. 
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OUR SOLUTION:At Our Lady Star of the Sea and Holy Trinity Catholic Churches, we look to form a team of young adults who commit to a year of investing into the parish life. Their goal is to enrich the parish community culture by witnessing authentic faith, building a lifelong disciples through parish's youth and young adult ministries, and evangelizing to the greater Bremerton/Seattle communities.
Parish Missionary Interns assist with youth and young adult ministries, attend school lunches and after-school activities, host middle and high school retreats, meet with students one-on-one, and form discipleship groups. |
Do you want to transform parish life?
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FOLLOW the Missionaries on INSTAGRAM: @starmissionaries
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