I’ve searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees.

(G. K. Chesterton)

Football is a mistake.  It combines two of the worst things about American life.  It is violence punctuated by committee meetings. 

(George Will)

If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be “meetings.

(Dave Barry)

Good News!  We remain a people of hope!

Despite recent postings regarding the “Nones” and concerns regarding if Newsweek ever did a cover story on us, we remain reminded that we are yet still on our way.

This is how the Holy Father stated it in yesterday’s papal audience (h/t Rocco) – -

“At this point maybe it’s useful to say that even today exist visions by which the history of the church in the second millennium was one of permanent decline; some see this decline beginning shortly after the New Testament. In reality, “Opera Christi non deficiunt, sed proficiunt,” the work of Christ never recedes, but progresses. What would the church be without the new spirituality of the Cistercians, the Franciscans and Dominicans, the spirituality of St Teresa of Avila and St John of the Cross, and so forth? Even today merits this affirmation: “Opera Christi non deficiunt, sed proficiunt,” they work continues. St Bonaventure teaches us both a necessary, even severe, discernment in sober realism and an opening to the new charisms given by Christ, in the Holy Spirit, to his church. And while this idea of decline repeats itself, there’s also the opposite idea, this “spiritualistic utopianism,” that is likewise repeated.

Or as the theologian Tim Allen once said, “Never Give Up, Never Surrender.”

If ritual or liturgy is to maintain meaning from one generation to another, the balance between rhythm and content must constantly be adjusted. By rhythm, they mean that it recurs in the same or nearly the same form with some regularity. As an example, they refer to the Second Vatican Council prescribing the use of the vernacular for Mass. The content of the ritual had been preserved but the change remained controversial; some found the vernacular Mass less satisfying. “Virtually all rituals must maintain this delicate balance, between permanence and impermanence,” they write.

Therefore, as we all move closer towards the implementation towards the latest edition of the Roman Missal, we have our work cut out for us in addressing all the generations. FDLC will be offering a workshops for priests and diocesan leadership towards this effort.

This blog has a tell.

A tell in poker is a subtle but detectable change in a player’s behavior or demeanor that gives clues to that player’s assessment of his hand.

Every now and then I’ll review the whole page of the most recent ten postings on the blog.  When half or more of the postings has embedded video in it, it is usually an indicator that I have not developed a fair amount of advance content in the queue. 

Yep… still is!

The percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians has dropped dramatically over the past two decades, and those who do are increasingly identifying themselves without traditional denomination labels.

The faithful have scattered out of their traditional bases: The Bible Belt is less Baptist. The Rust Belt is less Catholic. And everywhere, more people are exploring spiritual frontiers—or falling off the faith map completely.

The third largest “faith” group now are the “Nones,” those who do not affiliate with a denomination.  And, as the culture becomes to more hostile to religious beliefs, we seem to be “losing our home court advantage.” 

Ed Stetzer, who is a major player with the Southern Baptist and is featured in this report from Knoxville’s  WKRN News 2 recently shared this news report.  It’s 11minutes but worth the view.

I know that this is the second day in a row of less than uplifting news, but . . .

Not so much news today.  More like editorial.

In this week’s edition of Newsweek, the cover stories take on the state of education.  And, we in youth ministry must be attuned to what is being said.  As a profession, we are “lumped in” to the education field, so much so that often our salary base guidelines are the equivalents of local teachers’ salaries.

So, it is worth both reading Why We Must Fire Bad Teachers as well as reading between the lines as well: “Yet in recent years researchers have discovered something that may seem obvious, but for many reasons was overlooked or denied. What really makes a difference, what matters more than the class size or the textbook, the teaching method or the technology, or even the curriculum, is the quality of the teacher.” 

It is entirely possible that soon as a church that we are about to begin to question the quality of our pastoral ministers serving young people.  And, we will potentially default into a defensive position, such as “The problem is not the teachers, went the thinking—it’s the parents (or absence of parents); it’s society with all its distractions and pathologies; it’s the kids themselves. Not much can be done, really, except to keep the assembly line moving through “social promotion,” regardless of academic performance, and hope the students graduate.” Really, we who share in the responsibility “to empower young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today” can neither pass the buck on our responsibilities nor settle for processing kids through their high school years and/or sacramental preparation.

And, then, you’ve got to wonder about our own preparation for ministry.  In a related article, Blackboard Jungle, this comes under examination: “Now when you talk to new teachers. . . their biggest complaint is that no one teaches them how to control a classroom. For the small fortune they spend to get a teaching degree, they get plenty of pedagogy (‘Reflections on Learning’ is a typical course name), which they generally don’t use. But their professors never seem to get around to teaching ‘Keeping Kids Under Control 101.’” And so, we need to take a look around… (and just sticking with the goals of Catholic youth ministry) How well do we equip ourselves as well as parents and adults to care for, love and disciple our young people?  How we do we empower and equip parish communities (not isolated youth groups or teen masses) to be settings for young people to fully and freely participate as they aspire towards the adventure of faith? Are we directing our efforts to a common denominator making everything comfy and safe for the kids (and ourselves) or are we fostering, promoting, demanding total personal and spiritual growth of each young person? 

If Newsweek did a cover story on us today, how would we fare?

In light of our own local activity regarding the state of education, these are the things that have been on my mind recently… and, perhaps, should be on yours as well.

I’ve been into a few books lately, trying to read them all at once.

This list includes a contribution from one of my daily blog reads, Seth Godin, who wrote Linchpin.

A linchpin is somebody in an organization who is indispensable, who cannot be replaced—her role is just far too unique and valuable. Seth, who writes for the business and management crowd, contends that to not be a linchpin these days is economic and career suicide.

Look around, youth ministry crowd.  This is our moment.  We need to be linchpins for the church… right now!

Trees and bushes, Lord. We await the evidence of the green springtime of New Life. We pray that we will not be consumed by the fires of Your Word. Cultivate the holy grounds around us with living waters from a spiritual rock that is You.

Lord, we pray that we might be fruitful in our mission, Your mission. We seek that you be pleased and not strike us down but remain in hope.

You are both abounding in kindness and merciful. You are the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. You are the I AM who has sent us forth to assure that Your name forever be remembered through all generations.

This week, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien announced plans to revitalize Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The plan, detailed in a new report entitled, “Preserving the Tradition, Transforming the Future: The Rebirth of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore,”  is a culmination of more than 12 months of analysis and input from 1,500 individuals. The report announces the consolidation 13 schools, the creation of several new academic programs and initiatives, the enhancement of educator professional development, and the initiation of a new model for how Catholic schools are governed… and the promise that if a student was displaced in these moves that there was a seat waiting for them in a list of nearby “receiving schools.”

It offers the promises of resurrection and new life and new ways of living out the mission.  In the middle of a long Lent, it is the promise of Easter.  All that being said, it has also been a Good Friday experience for the staffs and students and alumni of 13 schools.  Your prayers are invited for all.