Youth Ministry

September 2023 click here

Mission:
Committing ourselves to our Parish Missions statement, Seton Parish Strives to ignite in our youth a fiery love, deep and lasting, for Jesus Christ, a love that overcomes modernism and secular society. To walk with teens as Christ did the Apostles, modeling, teaching and guiding how to discern Christ's mission for individuals and how to carry out that mission through evangelization, accompaniment and prayer. Helping teens to understand to “Be who you are called to be and you will set the world ablaze!" (Catherine of Siena)
Motto:
Racing for Christ… Raising saints! Vision: A healthy, well attended YM program in which teenagers are in love with Christ, courageous among secular society, and willing to go out of comfort zones in order to better serve Jesus Christ. The majority of Catholic teenagers, from our parish community, who know the roots, richness, and truth of the Catholic faith and are willing to live it, defend it and love it.
Aim:
Joining our hands with the parents, we plant the seeds and continue to grow and prune their children's faith in order to better prepare them to embrace the truths of the Catholic Church and hear and accept the gospel as teenagers and young adults.
Objectives:
• Inspire, teach, model Catholic Discipleship
• To teach students the importance of a daily prayer life and how to get into the discipline of exercising this practice.
• To dialogue about difficult topics and guide students toward truth and understanding while practicing patience, empathy and charity.
• To bring Christ to teens through worship, study and prayer
• To gain an understanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ through community and charity.
• To bring Christ to our community and to other communities through our teen involvement.

For more information contact Trinity Semler at tsemler@setoncatholics.org

The Catholic bishops of the United States defined Catholic youth ministry in the 1997 document Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry (RTV). This document, printed in both English and Spanish, provides a structure for the ministry as well as a language, theology, and pastoral approach for responding to the personal and spiritual needs of today’s adolescents. The church must become the traveling companion of young people—and that is what we mean by youth ministry. If, indeed, “it takes an entire village to raise a child,” then it certainly takes an entire church to journey with young people as they grapple with the Good News and respond in discipleship.

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops, in their 1997 document, Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry, identified three goals and eight components which provide direction for this ministry.

GOAL 1 – EMPOWERMENT

The first goal of youth ministry is “to empower young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today.” (RTV 9). Young people are “searching for a noble adventure”, a compelling and challenging vision of life, and a cause worth their commitment. They hunger to hear the Good News that finds response in discipleship. As their companions on this spiritual journey, some of the ways the Church fulfills this first goal of youth ministry is by …

• Proclaiming the Good News of Jesus through witness and word to young people.
• Enabling young people to live as disciples through their involvement in service, ministry, and leadership opportunities.
• Providing young people the faith skills for discipleship.

GOAL 2 – PARTICIPATION

The second goal is “to draw young people to responsible participation in the life, mission, and work of the Catholic faith community.” (RTV 11). Young people have a hunger for connection, to be in relationship, and to belong. Family, peers, school, youth serving organizations, and church are primary connections for young people. Some of the ways the church fulfills this second goal of youth ministry is by …

• Being a ‘youth friendly’ community that welcomes young people, values their participation, and calls forth their gifts.
• Integrating young people into the liturgical, pastoral, and ministerial life of the parish community.
• Creating opportunities for young people to enter into healthy relationships of trust and respect with their peers and with adults.
• Promoting Catholic identity and religious literacy through programs of adolescent catechesis.

GOAL 3 – GROWTH

The third goal of youth ministry is “to foster the total personal and spiritual growth of each young person.” (RTV 15). Adolescence is an important time for mental, spiritual, social, and physical growth. Their experiences and relationships greatly influence their healthy and positive development. The Church strives to surround young people with the best possible external scaffolds—networks of caring relationships of family, school, peers, and other adults—while young people are developing their internal psychological and spiritual backbone—their values, life skills, commitments, and moral compass. The church fulfills this third goal of youth ministry by…

• Enabling young people to develop a personal relationship with Jesus.
• Actively supporting positive youth development and fostering healthy values and life skills.
• Supporting families of young people by providing resources, programs, and services.
• Providing opportunities to experience and express caring, service, and compassion for others.