Why the shortage of young people at Mass?

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pumpkinbeast said:
If you feel that there are no groups for 20-something Catholics, and that they don’t feel welcome, why don’t you start one, or go out of youor way to make them feel welcome? Something that might help the Church bring young people back is if every person who notices the issue tries to do something, on their own or with others, to help. Those who are putting on programs for those who are engaged, for example, might not have enough time to do the same for 20-somethings. Maybe you’re being called to lend a hand? Just my 2cents. ^^
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You’re right, and my friends did exactly that – for which I’m eternally grateful (they had already started it when I found the group and joined). But that worked for us in one parish in one diocese. I would like to see a more systematic approach in the Church as a whole: our complaint was that, once you graduate from college, there’s not a whole lot out there aimed at young adults, who’re really just expected to fit into the various already-extant groups with the retirees, parents, etc.
 
A lot of people do not take religion seriously until either they have kids or they get old enough where the “last things” come more to the forefront of their minds. In this day and age, people are waiting to marry and/or have kids until later and later and people are also living longer and longer. This leads to an overall higher general age range in church.

Of course, the culture for youth is very godless in general so its easy for young people to fall into that trap as well.
 
Praise God, we have a wonderful youth minister. Lots of high school age kids are in Mass each weekend.

Our son recently left for the Navy, and in his first letter home he mentioned having gone to Mass on Sunday .🙂 He also said to tell everyone he’s praying for them. (I guess he has lots of discomforts he can offer up!)

—KCT
 
I would say it is a combination of the 1) mentality of the parents who promote only a cultural Catholicism of doing the minimum to get the sacraments then “graduate” and also 2) the weak catechisms that are out there that do not teach the core of the faith. This leads to the notion of once a young person gets confirmed, that they are on their own to do as they wish. This seems to be the sterotypical situation at any modern parish. Just look at the CCD numbers of the various grade levels.

Also, there is what I would call the “cringe” factor, especially for young men. Just look at the symbology and phraseology of the typical modern parish. Doesn’t it seem, well um, mostly effeminite? Does anybody else see this too? In trying to be touchy and feely, are we turning off young people who are looking for something more transcendent to balance off the materialism of the modern world.

When I was in college during my early 20’s back in the late 1970’s, I was turned off by the constant theme on campus Masses to be groovy and cool. It almost drove me to indifference. It was only in going to Masses at a strong orthodox, no monkey business, parish back in my hometown to get me back on track to practicing my faith.
 
I think it depends entirely on where you live. We have a lot of college age kids because there is a branch of UT and several other colleges around, and most kids live at home here and go to school, so the still come to church with their family. We also have an apologetics and bible study class aimed at this age which gets a decent attendance, and receive RCIA and Confirmation candidates who obtain their catechesis through campus ministry, but we are the actual parish they belong to.

We also have a lot of new family oriented home construction in a fast growing area, so we have a lot of young couples with children.

One factor I here over and over again is that these families have been to several parishes which are inhospitable to families with babies and toddlers, and so they come here instead. That a church whose official doctrine encourages families to welcome children should be less than welcoming to the actual children that result from this policy is appalling.
 
One of the things that I think is lacking in a lot of parishes is mentoring young people towards involvement…

I grew up with a pastor and pastoral ministers who made me feel wanted at mass every week (by being an altar server, or working with the choir, etc.). And they taught me a lot at the same time.

Likewise, the parish had a tremendous youth minister who brought us together weekly on Sundays just to ‘be’ in a space that was ours…people played basketball, cards, etc.

But we were considered valued members of the community.

That’s where the seeds are sown…you go to college and you want to go to church somewhere because it’s important to do so.

I think the current trend in youth ministry type programs is to make them sort of ‘vocation gardens’…so you take youth to seminaries…or give them abstinence talks, etc.

Those are important things…but if we had more dedicated adults who just wanted junior high and high school age people to have space in the parish and feel like they were NECESSARY to what is going on in it…the other stuff will fall into place around it.
 
In my opinion, there aren’t a great number of young people attending Mass because of the lack of reverence. When I attend a reverent Novus Ordo, or a Traditional Latin Mass, they are full of young people. I am young, and (for me) the greatest turnoff to wanting to attend Mass is the lack of reverence.
 
I’ve actually seen a lot of young people at Mass. All of the Masses on campus are filled, and on the few occasions that I’ve gone to Mass off-campus (at an African-American parish, a Traditional Latin Mass, and a regular Novus Ordo Mass) I’ve seen quite a bit of young people as well. I would agree though that a lot of young people don’t see the importance of going to church, and that there aren’t really a lot of options available for young people (I’ll be honest, when I’m home I don’t go to a parish because they just don’t want somebody who will only be there for a few months and then go back to school).
 
I’m there every Sunday 👋 !

But yeah, in the parishes I go to it’s mostly middle-aged, older people, some young families. Most people I know, RC or not, only went irregularly in their teens, and don’t go at all when on their own. I don’t think attendance is really emphasized, so they only go when it’s convenient. Even though he was a devoted Prot. “Bible thumper” my FH didn’t think it was a big deal if he missed church now and then (once I went with him a few times I couldn’t blame him- LONG!). Now that I’ve got it drilled into him he hardly even misses Mass even though it is hard for him to get there.

Even if kids did grow up going every week, sometimes they choose not to go, prob as a sign of independence (“no one to make me go”).
 
I go every sunday, and am the only one who goes every Sunday. My Mom goes some Sundays, but only like twice a month. I’m almost twenty and I go. I go, because I love Christ, not just because it’s a mortal sin to miss mass without a valid excuse.
 
Its a curse (remember the Covenant!) because most of their parents are using contraception. The second fruit of contraception is disobedient children.
 
Not where I go…

The parish i attend at college has a “special” Mass for college students (well, more of a time suggested for college students to go to Mass), and there are at least 20-30 students from my school (an engineering school, no less!). Our numbers have been increasing as the year goes on, and I have found that even just asking a Catholic (that didn’t previously go to Mass), to attend Mass with us always gets them to come along…

At my home parish… a different story… I don’t see any of the poorly catechised (i was through the program, so i know… haha) teens in confirmation class there…
 
I’m 21 and one of my favorite parts of my week is going to mass not only on Sunday’s but daily mass as well. I’ve said before on here that sometimes I feel like I’m the only young person at mass, but it depends on which one I go to. I do agree that there aren’t that many 20 something people going to mass but there are some of us out there! 😃
 
buzzcut said:
One thing I notice … there are hardly any 20-somethings in most of the parishes I’ve been to Mass at.

If there are no young people at Mass in the first place, it’s not surprising there are so few vocations.

Why don’t they come?
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Please, if you have the chance, listen to one of Fr. Franks (Priest for Life) homilies. In the USA only, over 4,000 babies a day are aborted. 70 percent of Catholic families practice ABC. We will soon run out of babies and the 20 - 30 group.
 
CRW said:
Please, if you have the chance, listen to one of Fr. Franks (Priest for Life) homilies. In the USA only, over 4,000 babies a day are aborted. 70 percent of Catholic families practice ABC. We will soon run out of babies and the 20 - 30 group.
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That is not why there is a shortage of that age group at Mass. There are many other facters besides abortion- that certainly isn’t the main one.

It is because people do not know their faith, are not challenged to live it every day, are not taught to fall in love with God- and are not taught properly what love is.

on a side note…(totally random)…I glad when the phrase “young people” when used to describe teenagers and those in their 20’s goes out of style (it sounds a little too much like Sesame Street to me).
 
m134e5 said:
That is not why there is a shortage of that age group at Mass. There are many other facters besides abortion- that certainly isn’t the main one.

It is because people do not know their faith, are not challenged to live it every day, are not taught to fall in love with God- and are not taught properly what love is.

on a side note…(totally random)…I glad when the phrase “young people” when used to describe teenagers and those in their 20’s goes out of style (it sounds a little too much like Sesame Street to me).
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That may be true but when you have a 2.07 birthrate in the USA, it reduces the numbers available; especially when you know that only a certain percent of those that are born will be raised Christain.
 
My parish has a lot of young people attending Mass. In fact, I’m so use to it, that it’s a bit shocking when I visit other parishes, and notice the lack of young people.

I think that a sense of community as a child is growing up, has a lot to do with it. I live in a small town with a small parish.
The community aspect is deeper than the city I grew up in.

Jim
 
I think part of it is sort of a gap in the ministries of parishes.

Most parishes have a plan in place for reaching the school age youth. They have plans for married couples, families with children, and even the elderly.

However, for someone in their twenties, particularly single, there isn’t really a place they fit in. There are very few ministries targeted at young adults in parishes. There are also very few social opportunities within a parish for those in this age range.

However, part of the reason for this is the low level of involvement by this demographic. It is sort of a self-destructive cycle.

I can say from personal experience that at least at my home parish, people like me are quite overlooked. It is difficult to say if this causes the very low mass attendance by people in my demographic, or if the low participation causes us to be overlooked.
 
Because priests have been ORDERED to preach in their homilies and to NOT teach. Teaching, they have been told, belongs in the classroom and in seminars … NOT in the pulpit.

So, people at Mass leave the Mass not actually knowing anything more than when they arrived.

Homilies are the same sort of stuff, week after week. Repetitions about love.

But no new information or knowledge. Nothing about John 6.

I was blessed to have Catholic grammar school and high school where religion was taught … even though the formal religious ed stopped there. For decades I kind of wandered in a knowledge-starved environment until I literally stumbled over a serialized version of Karl Keating’s book “Catholicism & Fundamentalism” and started buying and reading from the booklist that Karl sent me.

If people are ignorant of even the basics of Catholicism and of the structure of the Mass, how can they have any idea of what is going on and why they should be there?
 
InTheWilderness said:
I think part of it is sort of a gap in the ministries of parishes.

Most parishes have a plan in place for reaching the school age youth. They have plans for married couples, families with children, and even the elderly.

However, for someone in their twenties, particularly single, there isn’t really a place they fit in. There are very few ministries targeted at young adults in parishes. There are also very few social opportunities within a parish for those in this age range.

However, part of the reason for this is the low level of involvement by this demographic. It is sort of a self-destructive cycle.

I can say from personal experience that at least at my home parish, people like me are quite overlooked. It is difficult to say if this causes the very low mass attendance by people in my demographic, or if the low participation causes us to be overlooked.
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For young(and ‘not so young’) professionals and college level students, Opus Dei has a very strong doctrinal formation program for them. The formation can range from light recollection sessions to heavy theology classes, depending how deep one wants to go.
They are organized in some cities and have built designated ‘centers’ for this purpose. A short ‘google’ will provide information on the entire Opus Dei organization or the nearest ‘center’ in a particular city.
 
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