By Julie Godfrey Miller
Catholic Herald
Adults learn ministry to millennium generation
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At the Empowering Adults Institute, participants in a small group exercise identify perceptions, both positive and negative, that people have about youth. Gail Lebrande, a religious education teacher at Holy Trinity in Haugen, lists the responses from her group on a flip chart. (Photo by Julie Godfrey Miller) |
RICE LAKE --Religious educators, youth ministers and teachers from all parts of the diocese came together at the WITC Conference Center Sept. 21 and 22 to learn about ministering to today's youth -- the millennium generation.
The workshop, Empowering Adults for Ministry with a New Generation of Catholic Youth, was facilitated by Ann Marie Eckert and Joe Gall of the Center for Ministry Development, an independent nonprofit organization.
In Saturday's general session, participants discussed the differences between the current generation of youth and their predecessors and how ministry should change because of those differences. Eckert said the millennium generation, the children of the baby boomers, have been made to feel important since birth. They feel the world revolves around them. As a result, they are empowered adventures and very self-reliant. They are also interested in service and are hungry for the transcendent and hungry to belong.
Gall explained that educators used sports, teddy bears and other "back door" means to get the previous generation to hear the religious message. With their hunger for God, this generation doesn't need that. They want to know about God and their interest often results in the youth bringing adults in their lives to God.
Over the two days of the conference, participants were also able to attend four of six workshop sessions on topics such as relating to youth, building community with youth and sharing faith with youth.
In one of the workshops, Praying with Youth, Eckert discussed different ways to pray and the various elements of prayer. She described the four movements of prayer: gather, listen, respond and send forth. The participants broke into small groups and developed a youth prayer service including each of the parts.
The workshop Keys to Successful Youth Programs was facilitated by Gall. He helped the group gain "tools for their toolbox" to develop programs that take the characteristics of the millennium generation into account.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2002