designing adolescent & emerging adult faith formation for
TRANSCRIPT
Designing Adolescent
& Emerging Adult Faith Formation
for the Post-Pandemic World
Sarah Jarzembowski
Consultant for Ministry with Young Adults
ADOLESCENT
AGE RANGE 10-17 (US)
• Early Adolescents: 10 -13
• Middle Adolescents: 13-17
• Older Adolescents (a.k.a.)
Younger Adults: 18-24
GROWTH PHASES
• Early: abstract thought
intellectual interests
• Middle: meaning making
moral reasoning
• Older: gain firm sense of identity
strategy for the future (delayed
gratification)
YOUNG ADULT
AGE RANGE
• USCCB: 18-39
• Collegiate age Young Adult: 18-24
• Young Adult: 25 – 39
COMMONALITIES
• Transitions
• First time experiences
• Making their life their own
• Making their faith their own
A ministry of ministries
ASPECTS OF MINISTRIES WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
RENEWING THE VISION OF YOUTH MINISTRY
• Advocacy
• Catechesis
• Community Life
• Evangelization
• Justice and Service
• Leadership Development
• Pastoral Care
• Prayer and Worship
EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT
• Appropriating the Faith
• Forming the Christian Conscience
• Educating for Justice
• Facilitating Personal
Development
• Developing Leaders for the
Future
SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE LIGHT
• Developing Personal Identity
• Developing Relationships
• Developing a Meaning of Work
• Developing a Spiritual Life
The Synod on Young People, the Faith,
and Vocational Discernment
The Synodal Journey
A global process begun in the wake of the Second
Vatican Council, engaging key pastoral concerns.
1. Papal Announcement
2. Diocesan Consultation
3. Vatican Compilation
4. Episcopal Conversation
5. Apostolic Exhortation
SYNOD FINDINGS
VOCATION
• Help them see their
vocation: single, married,
religious...
• Vocation to Work
• To be for others
• Respond to our Baptismal
call
PASTORAL CARE
• Reach out to young people
• Journey with young people
in their growth
• Create a sense of
Belonging
• Gathered Spaces
• Non-gathered Spaces
DISCERNMENT
• Formation of Conscience
• Recognize God’s work in daily life
• Discovering personal Charisms
• Discovering personal Apostolate
• Need for Accompaniment
• Need for Listening
we can learn from one another (CV 199)
• Address the “authenticity gap”
• Greater intergenerational dialogue, mentors
• Accompaniment through transition moments, mental
health issues, uncertainty, and fear
• Even active young people struggle with Church
• Expand ministries, especially with young adults
• Embrace our complexity and diversity
preliminary final report from 2017-2020
National Dialogue initiative © 2020
CHRISTUS VIVIT
#257
To respond to our vocation, we
need to foster and develop all
that we are.
SYNOD RESOURCES
USCCB
• Website
• Webinars
• Continuing
conversations
• https://www.usccb.org
/topics/youth-and-
young-adult-ministries
VATICAN
• Preparatory
Document
• Pre-Synod Document
• Final Synod Document
• Christus Vivit
• Vatican.va
NATIONAL DIALOGUE
• Resources for your
own synodal process
• https://nationaldialog
ue.info/
DIRECTORY FOR
CATECHESIS#254
In addition to the organic and
structured catechetical programs,
catechesis should also be
valued when it is carried out in
a casual manner in the life of
environments of young people:
school, university, cultural and
recreational associations.
STYLES OF FORMATION
STRUCTURED
➢ PREP – RE formation –
Catholic School
➢ Youth Ministry
➢ Retreat Opportunities
➢ Sacramental Preparation
➢ Theology-on-Tap
➢ Alpha or ChristLife
➢ Scope and Sequence
ORGANIC
Flows from the needs of the
people…
➢ Appropriation of the faith
➢ Topics for conversation
➢ Civic activity
➢ Local community
➢ Life Stage
CASUAL
School activities:
➢ Sports
➢ Theater and the Arts
Social activity:
➢ Hiking and sports leagues
➢ Cooking, Learning
experiences
QUESTIONS?COMMENTS?
DIRECTORY FOR
CATECHESIS#75
At the center of every process of catechesis
is the living encounter with Christ…
Communion with Christ is the center of the
Christian life, and as a result the center of
catechetical action. Catechesis is oriented
toward forming persons who get to know
Jesus Christ and his Gospel of liberating
salvation even better; who live a profound
encounter with him and who choose his own
way of life and his very sentiments, striving to
realize, in the historical situation in which they
live the mission of Christ, which is the
proclamation of the kingdom of God.
DIRECTORY FOR
CATECHESIS#76
The encounter with Christ involves the
person in his totality: heart, mind, senses. It
does not concern only the mind, but also the
body and above all the heart. In this sense
catechesis, which helps in the internalization of
the faith and thereby makes an irreplaceable
contribution to the encounter with Christ, is not
alone in fostering the pursuit of this goal. It is
joined in this by the other dimensions of the
life of faith: in liturgical-sacramental
experiences, in affective relationships, in
community life and the service of one’s
brothers, something essential in fact takes
place for the birth of then new man and for the
personal spiritual transformation.
ONE GOAL, MANY METHODS & MEDIA
Goal
Program Activity
Resource
Program Activity
ResourceProgram Activity
Resource
LEARNING STYLES
HYBRID LEARNING
➢ON YOUR OWN
➢SMALL GROUP
➢LARGE GROUP
➢ONLINE
➢VIDEO/AUDIO
➢IN-PERSON
EMBRACING HOLISTIC FORMATION
Intergenerational
Family
Peers or
Life Stage
PROGRAMMING MODELS
Gathered Programming
(church, retreat center, small group homes,
etc)
Hybrid Programming
Gathered & Online
Online Programming
(individuals, families, friends,
small groups)
Synchronous and Asynchronous
DIVERSE RELIGIOUS PATHS
Not Spiritual, Not Religious
Unaffiliated
Spiritual but Not Religious
Uninvolved
Moderate Faith Practice & Occasional
Engagement
Occasionals
Vibrant Faith & Engagement at
the Center of Life
Actives
CALENDAR THEMESSEPT-DEC
• Back to School
• College Connections
• National Catholic
Youth Conference
• All Saints/All Souls
• Christ the King 11-21
• Thanksgiving
• Our Lady Guadalupe
• Advent - Christmas
JAN - APRIL
• New Year – Renewal
• Day of Service (MLK
Jr. Day)
• March for Life
Respect Life
• Valentine’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day
• Ash Wednesday Lent
• Holy Week - Easter
MAY-AUG
• Easter/Divine Mercy
• Mother’s/Father’s Day
• Memorial Day/July4
• National Prayer for
Vocations
• May Crowning
• Theology–on–Tap
• Summer Sports
EVANGELIIGAUDIUM
#223
Time is greater than space…
This principle enables us to work
slowly but surely, without being
obsessed with immediate results. It
helps us patiently to endure
difficult and adverse situations, or
inevitable changes in our plans. It
invites us to accept the tension
between fullness and limitation,
and to give a priority to time…
HYBRID OPPORTUNITIES
QUARTERLY
• In person gathering
• Intergenerational
Opportunity
• Archdiocesan
Activities
• Parish Activities
• Civic Activities in the
Community
MONTHLY
• Theme/Topic for focus
• Service at Home
• Podcast or Video
• Online Small Group
• Invitation to new
participation
WEEKLY• Online resources website
• Online Small Group
• Online Prayer
• Email – include links to videos,
podcasts, weekly Mass
readings, questions for
reflection
• Text updates as appropriate
• Invitation to Leadership
CHRISTUS VIVIT#67
Anyone called to be a parent,
pastor or guide to young people
must have the farsightedness to
appreciate the little flame that
continues to burn, the fragile reed
that is shaken but not broken (cf IS
42:3). The ability to discern
pathways where others only see
walls, to recognize potential
where others see only peril.
QUESTIONS?COMMENTS?
CHRISTUS VIVIT#67
That is how God the Father sees
things; he knows how to cherish and
nurture seeds of goodness sown in
the hearts of the young. Each young
person’s heart should thus be
considered “holy ground,” a bearer
of seeds of divine life, before which
we must “take off our shoes” in
order to draw near and enter more
deeply into the Mystery.”
