Hi. I’m not sure if anyone is familiar with an evangelization program called Alpha, but in a nutshell, it’s a basic Christianity course that was designed to evangelize to the unchurched or those who have left the church. It was developed in the Anglican church, but many Catholic churches have embraced it because it’s a very effective tool for evangilization. I can attest that it’s a powerful program, as the Lord used it to bring me home to the Catholic Church.
Anyway, after participating in the program (and experiencing a major conversion) the Chairperson at my church asked me and another woman to start an Alpha for Youth program. At first we were very hesitant, but agreed to give it a try. We’re in our third year and everyone who participates, teens and volunteers alike thoroughly enjoy it!
So what’s the problem, you ask? Well, we get little or no support from the pastors of our church and there are some individuals who are in positions of authority who don’t think a Catholic Church should be running a program developed in an Anglican church. None of them have been through the program themselves and the program doesn’t teach anything that is contrary to the teachings of the Church–it’s BASIC Christianity and teaches people about Jesus and how to have a relationship with him (prayer, reading the bible, going to church, evangelizing, etc.), the Trinity, and the Holy Spirit.
After putting so much time, effort, and money into this program, and knowing how affective it is, it’s frustrating me that our parish priests don’t show any interest & don’t support our efforts in any way (other than just allowing us to run the programs).
Recently, we had two new parishioners start a high school youth group and because our Church has always had a hard time getting the youth engaged, our pastor has assigned their group an assistant pastors to help them get things going. We were told that both assistant pastors where in charge of helping to get the youth more engaged, but neither of them show any interest in our program (we welcome middle and high school students). When the assistant pastors first came to our church, we offered to present the program to them so they would know what it’s all about, but we never heard back.
I met with our pastor about a month ago and he genuinly seemed supportive and had some great ideas for us to try to attract more teens (it’s SO hard to get them to come to our program, but once they do, they have a blast and invite their friends). Because we need live presenters and don’t yet have older teens or college students to do the presentations, I asked him if we could get seminarians to help out. He said he would see what he could do, but hasn’t made the call yet and now he seems to be avoiding me.
I’m so incredibly frustrated, but am not sure how to proceed. There is so much I’m really not understanding and am becoming quite angry and bitter, which I don’t want to do! I can honestly say that I can understand why people leave the Catholic Church. The beurocracy, politics, and lack of support for those who just want to bring people to Christ is so frustrating. I’ve read the bible and my Catholic church doesn’t resemble the early Christian church at all…there is no evanelization and the Holy Spirit is stiffled.
After running our program on Sunday nights for the first two years successfully, we had to move to Friday nights this year because the Sr. Youth Group wanted to run their program on Sundays. Well, Friday nights have proved to be the death of our Alpha program. The youth program has just two new middle schoolers, with six volunteers coming back from last year to help… Even with the teens who are coming, we are running into many conflicts (dances, sport events, etc.). The sad part is that the Sr. Youth Group only got one new participant and many of the ones from last year moved over from our program.
I’m really not sure what to do…do I try to find another Catholic church with a more supportive priest…do I try to talk with my pastor again, even though he only ever gives me lip service? HELP! I don’t understand why they can’t see the value in the Alpha program (for youth, adults, and families) or at the very least appreciate our efforts…
::::SIGH:::: well, at the very least, it feels good to vent.
