This is the second part in a series on developing a spiritual toolbox for youth ministry. The tools in the toolbox would include certain knowledge and skills that would equip teens for life as a Catholic adult. I ran across the list below at The Evangelical Catholic. This is a campus ministry apostolate headquartered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They are dedicated to evangelization and discipleship through one-on-one mentoring and small group Bible study. They have some pretty intriguing ideas!
The list below is like what I’m thinking of for my spiritual toolbox. This is their list of “ten abundant sources of life, which nourish a spirituality that is fully Catholic and fully evangelical.” In essence, this list describes the attributes of a fully Catholic student. What a student in their ministry should be striving to accomplish.
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The Ten Wellsprings of Grace
Interior Conversion
Interior Conversion occurs each time we turn from self will to God’s will. Initial conversion is when one surrenders to God for the first time. Catholic theologians often refer to this as making “the fundamental option.”
Christian Discipleship
To follow Jesus in true discipleship is a costly endeavor, involving self denial in the deepest level of one’s being.
Devotion to the Scriptures
“It is especially necessary that listening to the word of God should become a life-giving encounter, in the ancient and ever valid tradition of lectio divina, which draws from the Biblical text the living word which questions, directs, and shapes our lives” (Novo Millennio Ineunte).
Obedience to Christ through the Church
The various evangelical movements of the Church’s history have a shared experience of testing and trial at the hands of Church authorities. An evangelical Catholic finds God’s presence and guidance in such trials.
Communion of the Saints
We are part of the Body of Christ, which extends back to Christ and the apostles. Together, in heaven and on Earth, we are working for the healing and salvation of the world.
A Sacramental Life
While all the Sacraments are there for us at key moments in our journey, the Eucharistic celebration is the source and summit of an evangelical Catholic life.
A Prayerful Life
God speaks to us in his Word; we speak to him in prayer. To be Christ’s disciple means to follow his example of seeking his Father in prayer. This dialogue of word and prayer is at the heart of a relationship with God.
A Spirit-Filled Life
The Holy Spirit is the great gift of the Father, made possible to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The presence of the Holy Spirit within us is so remarkable that Jesus said it was better that he go so that the Spirit could come.
An Ascetic Life
Asceticism is the practice of self-denial — the training by which our spirit gains mastery over our body and our union with God increases.
A Disciplined Life
To facilitate living the type of spirituality we have outlined, it is helpful to follow a guide, or commitment, for daily living — a practice that has a long and honored place in Catholic spirituality.[/box]
There are elements in here that I definitely want to consider for my toolbox. Most especially the emphasis on conversion, discipleship, Scripture, prayer, the sacramental life, and discipline. There are some things I would change too. I would like my list to be shorter.
The power of this list is that the goals are defined! Will every student live up to this? Perhaps not. But many will strive for it. And, because it’s in writing everyone knows what is expected. The organization’s task to make sure these things are consistently emphasized. You don’t want to have this set of goals posted but never really put them into practice. For this to work, it has to be an active part of the curriculum and talked about regularly. Is what is hanging on the walls actually practiced down the halls? That’s a good question for any ministry.
What do you think of this list? What is good? Would you add anything or take anything away? Do you have concrete goals written out for your ministry? I would love to know!
Marc,nnI’m giving a talk on a retreat this weekend where I am trying to give the guys some concrete direction for continuing their journey post-retreat. I plan to talk about it in terms of “Discipleship” – what does it mean to follow Christ? What I don’t like about the list above is that almost all of it is focused on what to DO – “To be a disciple you must do these 10 things!” I want to get away from the “do-this” approach, and yet recognize the need for concrete tools.nnI plan to approach this talk by using another EC concept – “The heart and habits of discipleship.” In essence, what is the heart of discipleship, and what are the habits that these attitudes foster? I narrowed my list down to three:nnHEART-ATTITUDE: CONVICTIONnA firm conviction about who Christ is and his trustworthiness. In essence, faith.nCORRESPONDING HABIT: OBEDIENCEnOne who holds this conviction will naturally submit to Christ in obedience.nnHEART-ATTITUDE: HUNGERnOne has a spiritual hunger to grow closer to the Lord.nCORRESPONDING HABIT: DEVOTIONnYou could put the 10 Wellsprings of Grace here as ways in which one could feed his hunger, but what is most important is the habit of pursuing a deeper relationship with the Lord. nnHEART-ATTITUDE: MISSIONnOne is eager to share the Good News with others both in word and deed.nCORRESPONDING HABIT: RADICAL AVAILABILITY TO HOLY SPIRITnOne develops a habit of responding the the Spirit’s prompting by taking advantage of opportunities to share Christ with others.nnIt may be that you are really just looking for specifics in the “HUNGER/DEVOTION” category, but I’m always hesitant to address the “what-to-do” outside of the larger context of discipleship.n
That’s awesome that you’re doing post-retreat follow up! Fantastic! nnThat’s funny that you’re getting away from the “do this” approach. I’m starting to get more into it! 😉 I love the idea of “heart attitudes.” But aren’t the “habits” still calling people to do something? In essence we have to motivate people to take some action. It’s like sales, once you’ve changed their minds, you need a “call to action” don’t you? Otherwise they won’t do anything. In the long run, isn’t training in godliness all about adopting spiritual disciplines and created new habits in life. I mean, the habits of the heart are implemented through practice. nnHowever, I do see your point. The beginning of the whole thing is less about what you do for God but how much you receive from God. He’s the initiator, and all the faith and the habits flow from union with him. I like the list though. Simple, straightforward, only 3. That’s good. I’m also wondering how to get people motivated to get the 3 attitudes in the first place if they have nothing.
“Is what is hanging on the walls actually practiced down the halls?” – good question. I always hope that students will be truly effected and touched by what they encounter. nI’ll look at this list and try to respond later with more specifics.
Thanks William!
Hey Marc,rnrnSorry I’ve taken so long to respond. I certainly have been enjoying your posts, and they get me thinking!rnrnRegarding the list, I agree it’s too long and somewhat vague, especially for teens. I do like the concrete, to-do lists…although I understand (I think) where jschuster is coming from…don’t want to fool ourselves into thinking we can “earn” our way into heaven…rnrn’Love what Roy Petitfils said about creating THINKERS instead of just cramming facts into their heads…how does one do that? Concerning youth I think we have to pose certain things to them as Jesus-Rabbi would…in questions. Get them thinking how they would answer and why, then propose, this is how the Church answers that question.rnrnFYI – in planning for youth group activities, we use the basic format from Life Teen. Whatever your opinion about Life Teen, their basic structure makes sense to me – social, spiritual/catechetical, issue, service. We plan a semester at a time, loosely rotating the focus on these four aspects. Service can be a challenge to do monthly, but we try to do some service-oriented activity once or twice a month. Of course there is always prayer at every youth group but when I say the “night” is spiritual/catechetical that means things like Lectio Divina, The Teen Timeline Bible Studies, TOB for teens, DTS-type of night, Adoration/Confessions, etc. Our issue nights are sometimes questions the youth submit (anonymously), or guest speakers on specific topics…I’d like to see more apologetics happen here and addressing current events, too (ie here’s what happened in the news, here’s what the Church has to say about it…)rnrnI told Mark about your blog, and asked what he might add. He’s teaching Confirmation (jr high) again (after a ‘sabbatical’) and mentioned that he’s incorporating the four levels of happiness (body, mind & will, heart, soul). Our culture is so emotive, and I think he’s really reaching these kids, and teaching them to go beyond emotions. The following site offers free books, including one about the four levels of happiness. http://www.amm.org/chss.htm (The Search for Happiness). rnrnOkay, so there is my two cents worth of random thoughts on youth ministry…’Will pray for your youth group to go well tonight! God bless.