What proportion of time should be dedicated to games/fun/socialization in comparison to learning/discussion time? Also, how do you set out the meetings i.e. begin with socialization, or break it up in intervals, etc.
Given your recommendations, I will work to encourage the Parish to employ a Youth Minister.
On the subject, what is the approximate budget for the salary of a part-time (2-3 days a week) youth minister?
Start with a sign in process, let them visit, greet each other, Catholic Praise music playing.
After opening prayer, announce the theme for the night…welcome newcomers, congratulate birthday kids. Have a brief (no more than 8-10 min) ice breaker game that is somehow related to the theme. For ex: getting to know God…use a game that has them asking each other identifying questions while blindfolded. Give them 5 mins. Then remove blindfolds and ask them to identify who they were paired with.
Move to the teaching. Start with a Bible passage that exemplified what you’re teaching. Teach, using the appropriate catechism references and personal experience to illustrate your point. Ask pre-prepared questions. Break into small groups and ask questions that go deeper. Encourage them to share, let them drive this part. Answer their questions frankly.
Let them know you can be trusted. Take their questions seriously. In the rare event that you don’t have an answer, tell them you will get the answer form the priest and let the whole group know next week. No names necessary. Don’t put anyone on the spot.
Come back together for the large group and do a brain break (find these online…2 minute quirky exercises to loosen people up. Have another adult reinforce and build on the first 10-12 minutes lesson. Break for some sort of snack, again with music playing so they can visit with each other. They need a chance to let out their energy and chat. Come back together with some kind of handout which summarizes what you’re trying to teach for the evening, and ask them to write on index cards something they got out of the discussion that they may want to meditate on during the week.
Gather somewhere prayerful (around the Baptismal font, in the pews of the church, in the chapel, a prayer garden) and take prayer intentions from the individuals present, and lead them in prayer. Tell them about a particular saint that applies to the lesson, maybe with a takeaway such as a holy card (bought or home made in the office on cardstock) that they can take home to remember the night. Tell them you are happy they came…and you look forward to interacting with them next week. Tell them you will pray for them. Assure them of your prayers. We do a small drawing of the name of everyone registered. Even if they are not there, when I draw a name, they will tell their friend “you should have been there! She gave a Starbucks gift card…she gave a saint bracelet…she gave a cd!” They will let their friends know they missed something cool. I keep drawing names until someone wins. Sometimes it’s candy. Or a goofy cap. Or a harmonica. Bubbles. Anything. A pretty journal. A coke!
At appropriate times during the year, review confession procedures, what the Triduum is about, invite them to someone’s sibling’s baptism,. remind them of an elderly person in the parish that needs their prayers or their lawn raked. Have service projects planned every 4 weeks. have a point system. Attendance counts for a point. Service counts for 3 points.
Winning a small group challenge counts for 2 points per person. At the end of the semester, the small group with the most point goes bowling and pizza or a movie together. Whatever you can swing. Boys especially love this kind of competition. Paintball. Yeah.
Salary? Wow. Depends on your area. Where we are a part time youth minister is about 15-18 grand. Low, I know, but many people do it as a second job. Hardly anyone makes a living in parishes. Unless the parish is huge.
You’ll need a meeting place with areas where you can bust out into small groups, or go outside in small groups. You’ll need a good sound system, and preferably a microphone for when the group gets big. You’ll need to design and give them tee shirts, so that when they perform service for the parish, the people will see where their donation dollars went and understand the youth group is invested in the parish. If you can’t afford the tees. ask the businessmen of the parish to take out ads on the back of the shirts to cover the cost.
Hope this helps.
Clare
Plus lends an informal atmosphere that can spark conversation “Oh I hate anchovies.” “Me too!” before you know it there’s some life in the room. I think it’s not for nothing Jesus chose the sharing of food as one of his greatest sacraments.
I especially like the idea of getting the youth involved in the planning of each meeting.