Connections

From the Executive Director
By Bob McCarty

“Love Builds Bridges”

Have you ever watched early adolescents and even some older teenagers on a school playground, at a parish event, or at a diocesan conference? Their tendency is to gather in smaller groups, based on any number of criteria, including school attended, grade in school, favorite music, sports played, neighborhood, interests or hobbies, or even style of dress. Part of this is developmental. As adolescents move through the process of establishing their personal identity, they define who they are by associating with similar teens, and sometimes by disassociating with those who are different. Forming tight cliques, though it reinforces one's identity, limits the potential for personal growth because it narrows the possibilities for authentic relationships, communication, and interactions. And it creates gaps in the community.

Increasingly it appears that our society is filled with similar gaps. The national presidential campaign highlighted significant polarization among voters, even dividing the country into red and blue states. Much time was spent in describing the various voter blocks, including the “soccer moms” turned “security moms,” the “pro-choice and pro-life” voters, the “new seniors at AARP,” and the “gun owners’ block.” The tendency was to define people in terms of single issues or concerns.

Defining groups in such narrow terms leads to exclusion—“you are not in our group”—and a failure to recognize the unique gifts, perspectives, and concerns of those we consider different from us. A short stroll through both our national and global history easily highlights the disastrous results of excluding ethnic, cultural, gender, and religious communities. Racism, sexism, ageism, and other expressions of injustice result from such exclusion.

Our church has had a similar experience. We have divided the church into liberal or conservative camps, progressive or traditional blocks, and the far right and the radical left. Some claim to be “orthodox,” implying that others surely are deficient, but not able to define exactly their criteria for “orthodox.” Or, as the tee shirt states, “we are 100% Catholic,” reminiscent of a similar claim that led to quite a debate between Peter and Paul. We are Catholics United for the Faith and we are Call to Action. And somewhere in between, we are the Voice of the Faithful. If, as has been suggested, the church is in an identity crisis, the tendency is to identify who we are in contrast with who we are not. More exclusion.

Are we guilty of the same in youth ministry?

We can certainly fall into the trap of defining our ministry by a particular model. “We don’t do youth ministry, we do CYO . . . or we are a Life Teen parish . . . or we do TEC or SEARCH or NET.” Or the reverse, “We use a comprehensive model, so we don’t use (fill in the blank) materials.” Another version, “we do youth ministry, we don’t do catechesis or religious education.” Such fragmentation can only harm our ministry.

The field of Catholic youth ministry has come of age, as evidenced by National Certification Standards, ministry formation programs, catechetical and program resources, and a shared vision. We need to move beyond our ministerial ‘adolescence,’ bridge the gaps that impede our work, and acknowledge and call forth the gifts that diverse groups bring to the church. And why? Because we love the young church, and echoing the theme of NCCYM, love builds bridges.