To Youth Ministers, RCIA, etc: any advice?

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ShowerOfRoses

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Hi, I’m currently at the end of my senior year in high school… so of course, I’m trying to figure out what to study in college and all that jazz. I posted a prayer request yesterday. I’m going to Franciscan University of Steubenville, in case you’d like to know (honestly, I think I just like saying that 🙂 ).

Anyways, I was thinking about possibly getting involved in youth ministry, RCIA, religious education, or the like after college. Steubenville has majors in catechetics and of course, theology, which both are looking pretty good to me. However, I’m wondering: will I be able to find a job after college? I know that if it’s God’s will, everything will work out. But that is one of my concerns. Also, I of course want to figure out if I’d be good at this kind of ministry. Does anyone have any experiences to share about how you were able to discern for any of these types of ministries? Or any advice about those areas in general? Any words of wisdom would be greatly, greatly appreciated. :tiphat:
 
you are discerning your gifts, vocation and career. Focus on a good undergraduate education at a solid Catholic school, and Steubenville would be my first choice, and get help there deciding on your career and what you need to achieve it. They have an excellent placement office, as most colleges do, but be very realistic about the career, its opportunities, pay scales, etc. Go on the bishops website and you can read the guidelines for DREs and Youth Ministers, which are just that, guidelines, not rules. Group magazine is evangelical in focus, but does surveys each year that compare YM positions nationwide as far as salary, duties etc., in they include Catholics in that survey, so it does give a realistic view.

First discern your vocation, then your career in light of your vocation and gifts. If your vocation is marriage you have to be realistic about what the demands on you will be for that state in life. The college is the best source for career planning advice. Yes there are jobs out there, no they do not all pay enough to support a family.
 
Thanks for the advice. 🙂 I’m going to a “University Day” in June, where I’ll talk with a counselor and schedule for classes. I just want to get as informed as I can beforehand… I’ll keep discerning as well.

Anyone else have thoughts?
 
Roses;

Just FYI, other than at the Diocescan level, most of these things are run by volunteers.

The person in charge at our Diocese also has a number of other responsibilities - her job title is " Director of Liturgy and Adult Formation."

I have no idea what she gets paid - I suspect it’s not a whole lot.
 
First, let me tell you that you made an excellent choice in Franciscan! I went there so I may be a little bit biased 😉

As far as the youth ministry program and the catechetics program, they are top-notch. The professors are world-renowned, and you will learn alot! I studied computer science there, but I also took some theology classes which were amazing.

As far as the placement office, it is not very helpful. I got a very nice job right out of college, but I did all the work myself, they had absolutely no connections in my field (makes some sense, because there were only 4 computer science grads in my class). They helped me with my resume, but I ended up doing the whole job search process (including rewriting my resume) on my own because they didn’t provide much useful assistance. They do have some connections relating to youth ministry and religious education, so that is an advantage over most colleges.

That being said, everything else about Franciscan is great! My fiance is a youth minister, who I met in college. She got to study from such great theologians as Dr. Scott Hahn, Dr. Regis Martin, Dr. Alan Schrek, and Dr. Mark Miravalle. Bob Rice teaches there now too. Besides that, you will make friendships that will last a lifetime. People at Franciscan are different than at most other colleges. They will be genuine friends because they share your beliefs in God and they will encourage you in the faith.

Most graduates of the theology department get jobs such as Youth Minister, Director of Religious Education (DRE), or Religion Teacher at a Catholic high school. Many do not get a job right away, however. Whatever you do, make sure you don’t just get a theology degree. Get a degree in Catechetics or Youth ministry, or get a theology degree with another major.

There is a running joke that a theology major and a medium sized pizza have one thing in common: neither can feed a family of four.

My fiance found a youth ministry job right out of college, but she had connections (she baby-sat Scott Hahn’s kids when she was in high school, and the job she got is at my parish)👍

Being a youth minister or a DRE is tough. I have to be honest with you. There is a lot of resistance to solid Catholic teaching out there in most parishes. People will attack you if you teach the truth. Parents will complain when you tell their kids that homosexuality is disordered, or that contraception is wrong, etc. My fiance works long hours for moderate pay. She can pay her bills, but she doesn’t have much left over. She sometimes even considers quitting, but she is very determined, and she knows that it is a spiritual battle. I don’t tell you this to frighten you out of serving God in one of these area, but so that you know what to expect.

That is what is ahead of you if you decide to be a youth minister, dre, or religion teacher. Don’t let this get you down, however. It is work done for the glory of God. Your reward will come when you get to heaven and Jesus tells you: “Well done my good and faithful servant.” You will have a bigger positive impact on the lives of these children than some of their parents will.

Sorry I wrote so much, but I thought since I have recent experiences that relate so closely to your situation that you might find this information useful. God bless you in your decisions and congratulations on choosing the best University in the world!!! 👍
 
ShowerOfRoses, the first thing is to evaluate what gifts and talents you have. I have four grown children and we carefully guided them according to their natural inclinations. Ask yourself what most excites you? The idea of teaching? Serving others? In what capacity? Are you good at organizing things and events? Write down a list of your strengths and weaknesses. You may be surprised by what you see and may even see a clear indicator for your future.
If you don’t, don’t worry. Starting college is the main thing and for the first couple of years you may find yourself developing new interests that will contribute to a future career.
 
Thanks to everybody for all of your advice… sorry it’s taken me so long to reply.

catholicmessage: Don’t apologize for the long message, thank you, it was great! It’s always so reassuring to hear such good stuff about Steubenville, especially after relatives telling me not to go there and such. Thanks for the insight. Also, I probably don’t know what I’d be getting myself into, but I’m not all that worried about the resistance to true Catholic teachings. I’m probably just naiive about it all, but I think it would be awesome to defend the faith!

RWMorris: That’s actually one of the things that I was thinking about one day. I was doing something for my youth group, I forget what at the moment, but I remember thinking, wouldn’t it be awesome to do these kind of things every day? Thanks for the advice… I’ll have to start making a list.
 
ShowerOfRoses said:
Hi, I’m currently at the end of my senior year in high school… so of course, I’m trying to figure out what to study in college and all that jazz. I posted a prayer request yesterday. I’m going to Franciscan University of Steubenville, in case you’d like to know (honestly, I think I just like saying that 🙂 ).

Anyways, I was thinking about possibly getting involved in youth ministry, RCIA, religious education, or the like after college. Steubenville has majors in catechetics and of course, theology, which both are looking pretty good to me. However, I’m wondering: will I be able to find a job after college? I know that if it’s God’s will, everything will work out. But that is one of my concerns. Also, I of course want to figure out if I’d be good at this kind of ministry. Does anyone have any experiences to share about how you were able to discern for any of these types of ministries? Or any advice about those areas in general? Any words of wisdom would be greatly, greatly appreciated. :tiphat:
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Words of wisdom here 🙂 If you want to hear God laugh just tell Him your plans 🙂

In other words, go to Steubenville and take your classes and follow the Lord. He will direct your paths in ways that you cannot even imagine 👍

God bless ya,

Kevin
 
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