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How do you create a roadmap to discipleship within your Youth Group?
• Cast a vision - Share your vision of your youth ministry program with your parish. This happens at the pulpit but also by creating marketing pieces (banner and logo branding, bulletin inserts etc.) to announce and engage your youth ministry program beyond just Sunday. Will your youth ministry program be catechetical for middle school/high school (which replaces the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD)) or will you continue with your current Religious Education program and add youth group as another activity?- Life teen is a program that can be utilized as a catechetical model or simply a more structured faith building approach to a youth group.
- Formed.org has youth programs including Y Disciple that can be incorporated into youth nights with parishes using traditional or nontraditional catechetical models for religious education. Utilizing Formed.org in your parish overall also allows you to have a resource connected to other ministries in your parish including parents at home.
Whether you choose a traditional or nontraditional catechetical model, a clear vision should be planned and designed to form youth on the path to discipleship.
• Craft a clear path to discipleship - While we need to provide a roadmap to discipleship for our youth, we also need to ensure we are creating a roadmap for our youth ministers, volunteers, and parents as well. Invite/create your leadership team and provide consistent formation and community within the group. Alpha, The 99, and Ananias Training, are programs that walk with your leadership team and volunteers.
• Mobilize Leaders – Share the vision of the parish youth program with your leadership team. Determine a reasonable kick-off date and work with your leaders to host Q&A sessions with your parish community leading up to and after your kick-off to give your parish, parents, and youth the opportunities to ask questions with those who will be involved in the ministry. Make sure the focus is always geared toward the ways that all involved (priest, youth minister, volunteers, and parents) will be leading the kids closer to a personal walk with Jesus Christ. This means lesson planning and formation of the team called to do the work.
• Align Everything - Whether using the traditional or nontraditional catechetical model, we need to intentionally invite our teens and parents into discipleship. Engaging a parent discipleship team can help empower those teen and parents to invite other parents into relationship and how to best encounter Jesus more personally for themselves and in their homes. Every person in the parish involved, whether a participant, volunteer, or leader, should have a clear understanding of the purpose and vision on how being involved is setting them on the path to deeper discipleship with Christ.
We have also created a PowerPoint explaining the roadmaps and the language used that we invite you to look over.
Roadmap to Discipleship PowerPoint