Being an Effective Teen Catechist Today
Every catechist should be as familiar as possible with recent sociological studies done on the religiosity of youth and young adults. These studies can help our approach to catechesis be more effective in both theoretical and practical ways, as this article will discuss. There is a growing number of studies and books associated with them, but there are two in particular that I would suggest as particularly important.
First, a team of sociologists led by Dr. Christian Smith conducted a study begun in 2001 called the National Study of Youth and Religion. In the 2012 book associated with the study, Young Catholic America: Emerging Adults, In, Out of, and Gone from the Church, Christian Smith, Kyle Longest, Jonathan Hill, and Kari Christofferson found that there are three key factors that contribute to “Catholic teenagers maintaining or achieving a high level of religious commitment as they become adults” (Young Catholic America, 17). These three keys will be the focus of this article.
Second, Dr. Christian Smith also led a study on American religious parents between 2014 and 2015. The book associated with this study, Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation, was published in 2021. Though this book is based on interviews of parents from many different religious backgrounds, it offers very helpful insights into the mentality of how today’s parents see their role in handing down their religious beliefs and practices to their children. This is extremely important, as “myriad studies show that, beyond a doubt, the parents of American youth play the leading role in shaping the character of their religious and spiritual lives, even well after they leave home and often for the rest of their lives” (Handing Down the Faith, 1-2). The three keys to be discussed reinforce the important role of parents, and therefore the necessity of keeping parents as much as youth in mind when designing and implementing catechetical programs.
In discussing these three keys, I will share the approach I used to implement them when working as a Youth Minister for several parishes. I will also highlight how the three keys are mutually implicated and reinforcing. Designing curriculum and planning individual sessions should, therefore, keep this in mind.
1. Teens must have strong relationships with religiously committed family and friends. Of these relationships, parent/child relationships weigh most heavily. As a way of strengthening parents’ understanding of the faith while simultaneously providing an opportunity for parents and teens to discuss the material being covered, many programs require parents to attend formation sessions with students. However, sometimes this leaves parents feeling belittled, as many may have already been through catechesis. For this reason, in the parishes I worked in, we set up a parallel schedule for parents, allowing them to be exposed to the same topic, but at a higher level.
We also incorporated “family nights” into the curriculum. These “family nights” gave families an opportunity to learn about and discuss the faith together. An added benefit was the natural community building aspect of these nights, as families with children of similar ages were able to interact with one another and have organically developing conversations about Christian family life. This is an important added benefit for two reasons.
First, parents are ultimately the ones who decide how a family prioritizes their time. Important to keep in mind here is that parents are no less influenced by those around them than are youth. Thus, it is of the utmost importance that opportunities are provided for parents to spend time and interact with parents who see Christian formation as important for their children, as this can potentially give parents the courage to prioritize their faith life when other activities threaten to take time away, be it sports or any other myriad of activities. Second, building a culture that gives serious consideration to the role of faith in family life takes a community. For example, it was not that long ago that Sundays and Wednesday evenings were off limits to youth sports leagues, as Sunday were days when families worshipped and Wednesdays were often faith formation nights. Extra curricular organizations decidedly no longer feel the pressure to work around these weekly faith-based events. Only parents can turn back the tide here, as only they can determine whether or not their children will participate in these activities on Sunday, and/or Wednesday evenings and nights. We can see how these two reasons are mutually influencing. If parents spend time with other adults who prioritize the faith, it is more likely that they will push back against extra-curricular schedules that encroach on time devoted to learning about and practicing the faith.
2. Students that engage in various religious behaviors and practices with consistency as teenagers are more likely to be engaged as young adults. Opportunities for students to engage in such activities can be incorporated into the curriculum as standalone sessions, but time and space can also be made within individual sessions. For example, one of our “family night” sessions was a teaching Mass. In our time and place when Mass attendance is plummeting, it is very beneficial to simply provide a time for families to attend Mass together that is built-in to the religious formation schedule. However, catechists and directors of religious education should not see a teaching Mass as irrelevant or unnecessary for parents. In my experience, after teaching masses where parents were present, many parents commented on how much of what they heard were things they had forgotten or never heard before.
With respect to making time within individual sessions, when students were learning about the Eucharist, we made time for Eucharistic adoration. When discussing the sacrament of penance, priests were available to hear confessions. Likewise, when the topic of prayer was discussed, time was allotted for the students to be led in prayer such as lectio divina or Ignatian contemplation.
Building activities that are central for living out the Catholic faith to its fullest into the curriculum for the year and individual sessions, I would suggest, has a twofold outcome. First, by immediately having the opportunity to put what they are learning into practice, students see the concrete importance of what they are learning. It is therefore far less likely to be seen as irrelevant to their daily life. Second, because students are practicing what they are learning they learn at a greater depth. The very experience of what is being discussed leads more easily to understanding, opening up space for a deeper instruction and discussion on any given topic.
3. Teenagers who internalize Catholic beliefs are more likely to become highly religious emerging adults. In Catechesi Tradendae, St. John Paul II teaches that we must maintain the integrity of content when presenting the faith since much of the beauty of Catholicism is found in its depth and detail (CT, 30). It’s important for teens to experience this beauty for themselves. For this reason, our sessions emphasized detailed yet dynamic topical presentations. We offered seminars as opposed to lectures, enabling students to ask questions, speak freely, and interact with one another.
In an anonymous survey conducted at the end of the year, 90 percent of the students said they preferred this type of format as opposed to more activity-based sessions. This last bit of information is especially telling, and it should be attended to very seriously and carefully. Catholic youth are hungry for the beauty and the truth of the faith, and I would suggest parents are, as well. Many very well-intentioned Directors of Religious Education and catechists operated under the assumption that in order for students to remain engaged in catechesis it must be structured differently than the classroom setting they already spend roughly eight hours a day in. The result is that activities are designed with the intention of making learning the faith fun. However well intentioned these efforts are, this sends a clear message to the students, learning about the faith is not as serious as learning about math, science, or any other subject they learn in school. This is decidedly not the desired outcome for catechesis.
Taking this third key seriously, therefore, entails a twofold demand. First, a change in mentality is required on the part of catechists if we are to see a change in mentality among the youth. Catechists need to see instruction in the faith as even more important than school education. Second, catechists need to be better equipped to present and lead discussions on the faith. This demands better training for catechists than is currently generally available. But it also demands that parish pastors and directors of religious education prioritize high quality training for their catechists. And, perhaps most difficult, the ability and willingness to structure catechetical programs creatively if a sufficient number of qualified catechists or individuals willing to receive the requisite training do not volunteer. In my own experience, this meant teaching most of the sessions for three grades simultaneously myself, while having parents function as teaching assistants to lead organized small group discussions.
Keeping these three keys in focus while designing the curriculum for the year and individual sessions had good results. To be sure, they are not always easy to implement. And the sacrifice in time and effort entailed ultimately calls for catechists who see a relationship with Jesus as the key to a fully flourishing human life, and are thus willing to imitate His self-giving love and give of themselves for the sake of our youth.
