The tide is turning and I’m not talking about politics. I’m
talking about the relationship between Young Life and the Catholic Church. From
Oregon to New York, from the Great Lakes to the Rio Grande, Young Life and the
Catholic Church are working together to reach kids. Esteemed ecumenical scholar and University of Notre Dame professor Mark
Noll says, “It has been my privilege to witness
up close the rising tide of cooperation that now links once-separated parts of
the Christian world. Young Life is contributing to that cooperation.” And
nowhere is this more true than Grosse Pointe, MI, a coastal suburban city
outside Detroit.
“We’re partners, not competitors,” exclaimed Murray Sales,
the Young Life committee chair whose passion for ecumenism is infectious. In a
town where Catholics constitute up to half of the population, Young Life Grosse
Pointe is taking its commitment to “every kid” seriously. No less than half of
their committee is Catholic. They’ve asked the local Catholic priest to give a
talk at club this year. And they’re working hard to build a leadership team
that reflects their students. “Having equal representation sets us up to reach
students from every background,” notes Patrick Mollison, the local Young Life
area director. “The ecumenical commitment from the committee has allowed us to
focus on students knowing Christ, and no time is wasted arguing about our
differences.”
Pat’s Christian upbringing sowed the seeds for unity early
on. “Growing up I watched my parents model Christian unity,” he said. His
father a faithful Catholic and his mother a committed Protestant, together they
provided a nurturing, Christ-centered home where Pat’s relationship with Christ
grew. “My parents showed me that when Catholics and Protestants set aside their
differences and focused on the overwhelming unity present in their traditions
that God could do great things.”
And the Catholic community in town is taking note. Sarah
Kaczmarek, the much-loved Catholic youth minister at St. Paul on the Lake
Catholic Church, has found in Young Life not only common ground but friendship.
“As a youth minister my deepest desire is that teens get to know, and fall in
love with Jesus,” Sarah said. “When I saw that Young Life wanted the same thing
for every single young person in Grosse Pointe, it was easy to build a solid
relationship!”
Those solid relationships between Young Life and Catholic
leaders has allowed them to focus their attention on building real
relationships with kids. Sarah went on to say:
Kids
need relationship. First they want relationship with an adult who cares
about them and is concerned about what they're concerned about.
Ultimately, they have a need for Christ. Our job is to build that
relationship first with them and then help them translate that into an
experience of God's love and a relationship with Jesus.
Not in competition. Not in silos. Young Life and the Catholic
Church are called to work together to ensure that every kid has a chance to
know Jesus Christ and follow him. It’s not a pipe dream. It’s a reality. “This
is an enormous blessing for Young Life in Grosse Pointe,” Pat reflects. And
this blessing extends to the Church, Murray Sales explains. “As we have
communicated many times across our Christian community: our ultimate goal at
Young Life is to become irrelevant. We want to reach every kid and introduce
them to Christ, plug them into a loving church community, and watch them grow
in their faith. If we do this successfully, all kids in our community will be
reached and Young Life will know that it has completed its mission.”
Tell me more about this cooperation in Oregon. When I moved out here I was struck with the relatively low level of Catholic involvement in YL, as leaders, staff or committee. I'd love to hear of change on that front!
ReplyDeleteIt's been encouraging Steve. Let me introduce you to Sherri Nee, committee member at YL Portland West and ecumenical bridge-builder who is ushering in a new era of cooperation in Oregon. I'll email you.
DeleteSmall world! I was baptized at St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church! Glad to see good things happening there for God's Kingdom. Praise God!
ReplyDeleteGreat parish. Msgr. Halfpenny is speaking at YL club this semester and Sarah Kaczmarek, the youth minister there, is a powerful force for evangelization and Christian unity. Praise God indeed!
DeleteThis is amazing! Thank you for sharing this with us!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this story, Michael, and for your investment of time there!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome! Glad to hear about God moving through the Grosse Pointe community. Thanks for sharing Michael!
ReplyDeleteHate to throw cold water on a discussion of ecumenical progress, but I think a degree of caution is needed. My niece, who is from a Catholic family, participated in Young Life in high school and has been part of CRU at college. She completed a CRU mission last summer. She has decided to be "baptized" at an evangelical church. Is she free to choose this? Yes, but not without detriment.
ReplyDeleteApparently her Young Life and CRU engagement has prepared her to repudiate her baptism and to forsake her Catholic identity. I do not regard that as ecumenical progress nor as an indicator of the good intentions of Young LIfe and CRU to respect the faith identity of young Catholic participants. I don't say this lightly. I have substantial experience in ecumenical dialogue and relationships and I'm deeply committed to Church unity, but we will never gain unity at the expense of truth. The disrespect of Catholic identity rooted in Baptism is a grave concern. Going forward, if someone asks me about Young Life or CRU for their Catholic youth, I will say, "be extremely careful."
I think it is always wise to explore the attitudes and commitments of Young Life staff (or the staff of any other organization) as they relate to your children. I encourage you to do so! I think you will find that Young Life staff across the country exhibit a generous ecumenical sensitivity and a very collaborative posture with parents. I think you will find staff who honor the Catholic tradition while encouraging these kids to keep growing as disciples of Jesus, as Catholics. I have the privilege of training these staff and explicitly instructing them in this delicate ecumenical endeavor. I would be very surprised to learn that a YL staff person encouraged any Christian to "repudiate their baptism" or "forsake their Catholic identity." This is not what YL is about! First, this directly contradicts the clear training we offer our staff. Second, Young Life's center of gravity is on the long journey of "pre-discipleship," that period before one makes the decision to follow Jesus personally. We don't do baptisms. That is the rightful role of the church. What Young Life does do is help so many young people to internalize their faith, to make it thoroughly their own, to give them genuine encounters with God that strengthen and deepen their faith, and provide a safe place to wrestle through the questions that postmodern life is confronting them with.
DeleteYes, proceed with caution. Ask questions. Ask about how YL staff seek to honor the faith of Catholic teens. This is so important. Don't take it lightly but also don't assume that Young Life is, in any way, neglecting its commitment to respect and honor the Catholic faith. Young Life's collaborative relationship with the Church is so important. We have to be careful and discerning, always, yet I think you will find in Young Life staff true friends in the mission and delightful encouragers to the Catholic faith of young people everywhere.
I'm happy to talk with you personally about this if you wish. Thanks for your honest comments Bill.