Three Steps to Easy Catholic Youth Ministry
Food
All regular Sunday meetings should have food. I always get pizza and drinks. If its a special event I buy cookies or other foods to go with the event. If I am just meeting some teens for an extra night during the week I do not have food.
When the teens are socializing and eating that is when you walk around and hand out prayer cards, miraculous medals, and talk to them one on one.
Fun
I have fun that when youth group is fun it opens up their hearts for Christ. As St. Ignatius said, “Go in through their door and leave through Christ.” Youth group should be a place for the youth to make friends, enjoy themselves at Church, and the fun should help keep them coming back.
Here are a list of my staple games that I use on a regular basis
- Wiffel Ball
- Frisbee
- Shurades
- Pictionary
- Who’s line is it anyway
- Egg Toss or anything to do with eggs
- Two-legged races
- Scavenger hunts (use digital cameras)
- Indoor soccer and basketball
- Dodgeball
- Dance Competition to a popular song
- Psychologist
**These games will be referenced later in the plans.
Faith
The faith aspect is like getting a shot of heavy immunization really fast. Since you probably only have 5-15 minutes with a large group of teens in the course of the night it is best to go deep with the material you cover. This is not school, but a relational ministry. The topics that have gone over the best with my youth are the Eucharist, Mary, and the Saints.
I have found short commercials are easy to prepare and simple to digest for the youth. However, there are times when longer presentations are necessary and work well.
Non-Catholics
In my youth groups in the past we have attracted many teens who are not Catholic, but want to become Catholic. This is a great opportunity to bring people into the faith and it requires a solid plan. Prepare yourself for an RCIA program for teens. Chances are that if you send them to the regular RCIA program they might just leave because they feel uncomfortable or a little scared. This is why Faith is such an important element to the youth group because young people will be Catholic and know Jesus.
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