The Youth Ministry Volunteer

I had the privilege of speaking to youth ministers and youth ministry volunteers from the Archdiocese of Denver this last Saturday. I always love speaking to those involved in youth work because I think it is the ministry that offers the greatest amount of immediate success and failure.

It is the roller coaster that makes me realize the Body of Christ is beautiful and rich and poor and needy.

I am always in awe of those that give and tithe of their time to be involved in youth ministry. They are literally given an impossible task with no money to do something that no one will ever be happy with. Their success is judged by things that are never scriptural and their true success will never be seen until long after they have finished their immediate role.

We live in a time in the Church when youth ministry is so difficult. Given the amount of scandal that has occured in the last decade, the protection of youth is at an all time high and those that want to be involved in youth are often seen with a somewhat sceptical eye.

Yet it is the youth ministers that parents run to when they do not know what to do about a teenagers that has run off the rails.

It is the youth minister that we run to when it seems that there is no other resort, that our teenagers seem to have abandoned God.

In a very real way we are all youth ministers.

We all have a responsibility to the youth of our parish, of our community, that we encounter in our lives.

In a world that has replaced real relationships with digital ones, that has made it easy for us to utilize the digital babysitter to make sure that our teens are not running rampant, there are the group of people that sacrifice their physical, financial, and emotional well being to build real relationships with teenagers.

It is the youth ministers.

The ones on the front lines.

To those of you who are involved in youth ministry, thank you.

For those of you that are thinking about getting involved in youth ministry, your wait is over.

The time is now.

You are needed.

I want to thank everyone in the Archdiocese of Denver for having me this last weekend. It was great meeting everyone from Chris, to Matt, to Tammy, to Stephania, and to Ascension Press for their sponsorship of the EQUIPP conference. To John and Devin for the ride and the conversation and to Jim and the ImpactCenter for your example.

You are a light.