Dear Parents,
I know we don’t get to talk all that much, what with busy schedules and running around trying to live life. However, I sincerely cherish the moments that I do get to spend with you. I love seeing you in carline, at Mass, on the field for sports, etc. You have made me feel every much a part of your family in the short time that I have been here at St. Paul’s. I have to hand it to you, as I watch you navigate life, juggling 5 different peoples schedules on a daily basis, I realize that parenting in this day and age has become anything but easy. You have to navigate so much in this world as you raise your family. From the positive and negative impacts of social media, friends, school, sports etc.; you are trying to form your children into the great adults you know they are capable of being and I know some days you feel like you are winning the battle and on other nights it leaves you absolutely exhausted; some days, feeling utterly defeated. I want you to know from one youth minister to another, that you are not alone in this, that you can do this and that YOU are the most important piece to this whole puzzle.
Yes you read that correctly, “from one youth minister to another”. You see, while I may be your child’s youth minister here at St. Paul’s, I am not the only youth minister your child has or even needs. YOU are every much the youth minister as me, and to be honest with you, at the end of the day, its YOU that they need.
Research shows that the number one reason a child keeps the faith into adulthood is directly correlated to the importance of faith in the lives of a child’s parents. Only one percent of teens ages 15-17 whose parent’s attached little importance to that of practicing their faith were highly religious in their mid-20s. In contrast, 82 percent of children whose parents talked about faith at home attached great importance to their beliefs and were active members in their faith in adulthood. (National Study of Youth and Religion). While other factors such as clergy, youth ministers etc have an impact on a child as they develop their faith, all pale in comparison to the impact a parent’s faith has on their child.
The reality is that you are the most important youth minister your child will ever have. Your faith life, apart from anyone else's, sets the tone for the faith life of your child and from one youth minister to another, your children need to hear your story. They need to hear about your relationship with Christ. They need to see that going to Mass and engaging in our faith life takes priority over any other commitment we may have. They need to see how Mass is as important as breathing is to you, because it is there that you enter into an encounter with our God. That in tough times it is Christ you turn to for guidance. It is in those moments of sharing your faith, allowing your children to enter into your personal relationship with the Lord, that they themselves will encounter God.
Your children on a daily basis are being inundated with opinions on what they should do and think and the one opinion that matters the most, and has the greatest potential to influence them is YOURS. While I may not be a parent yet, I can tell you from interacting with your teens that they care what you think and they model what you do. When you baptized your child you desired Heaven for your child. I desire to assist you in that endeavor. Your witness of your faith is an integral component to what I do here at St. Paul’s. It is your faith that leads your children to Christ. It is your faith that will guide your children through those Church or youth room doors for Mass and youth group and what will support them as they head into college. I will leave you with this quote from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:
“ Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy.”
Let us share our experience of love that brings us great grace and joy with our children today.
From one Youth Minister to Another,
Audrey