Pope Francis: Let Them Lead EVERYWHERE

This guest post (the third in a four-part series) was written by Craig Gould, Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministries in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He is also a member of the Young Life Catholic Relations national board.

'Popular' leaders, then, are those able to make everyone, including the poor, the vulnerable, the frail and the wounded, part of the forward march of youth. They do not shun or fear those young people who have experienced hurt or borne the weight of the cross. (Christ is Alive!, paragraph 231)

In the last blog, Pope Francis: Let Them Lead WITH You, I wrote that Pope Francis’ call to ministry leaders was to accompany young people as they lead. In this post, I want to focus on his even more radical vision for young people—that they would lead everywhere. 

There was a common strategy that was used to train me when I was learning to do youth ministry. It was believed that if you got the most popular kid to be active in the ministry, he or she would soon bring lots of other youth. It was purposeful, it was deliberate, sometimes it was successful, but it was elitist.

It was also not scriptural. If Paul and the Holy Spirit are to be consulted, “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong” (1 Corinthians 1:27). Yet there I was trying to woo the captain of whatever team was in season, believing this to be the best strategy. It would take me a long time to realize that no one would have made Peter captain of anything. Or that Jesus’ tactics would have been criticized the minute he began with Matthew the tax collector.

In youth ministry the temptation is to gradually build up young leaders until we can hand over new levels of responsibility to them when they are ready. Pope Francis isn’t buying our perfectly scripted plan. He’s concerned because when we construct those processes, we are doing so with the intention of creating leaders who will perpetuate us and our programs. And when we do that, we’ve effectively created an exclusionary practice.

I believe the Holy Spirit is using Pope Francis to call us further out of our posture of superiority. How many times have I heard someone from the church or from Young Life complain because a young person didn’t prioritize youth group, or Campaigners, or club—as if their faithfulness to the gospel was measured on the scales of activity that we created? God’s vision for them is bigger than this, and our participation in His kingdom must be bigger as well.

The way I was initially trained had me excluding some students as I went after the popular kid. And it led me toward a rotten internal philosophy where I believed that by building a relationship with the popular kid I could somehow make him “mine,” and he would be an ambassador to draw kids to my (fill in the self-important event here). The Holy Spirit has always been too wild for that kind of manipulation. I am thankful that though it’s taken me a while to grasp it, Jesus has been patient with me.

How patient will young people be with us if we continue to try to fit them into tight windows where only a few will lead?
Where have young people shown incredible leadership outside of official church ministry?
How do I imagine growing the gifts of a young person outside of my structures for discipleship?
What gifts of leadership do we celebrate in young people?
Do we reserve congratulations only for a select few young leaders? 

Pope Francis: Let Them Lead WITH You

This guest post (the second in a four-part series) was written by Craig Gould, Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministries in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He is also a member of the Young Life Catholic Relations national board.

The community has an important role in the accompaniment of young people; it should feel collectively responsible for accepting, motivating, encouraging and challenging them. All should regard young people with understanding, appreciation and affection, and avoid constantly judging them or demanding of them a perfection beyond their years. (Christ is Alive!,  paragraph 243)

In the first blog, Pope Francis on Youth Ministry: Let Them Lead, I wrote that Pope Francis’ call to ministry leaders was to let young people be protagonists and people of action. In this post, I want to draw our attention to one of his favorite ideas: Everyone, especially teens, should be accompanied.

My first time leading a group of teens was as a Young Life volunteer leader taking a group of high school guys to summer camp. At 11 pm at night, when we were supposed to be settling, we were still making lots of noise—so much so that a leader from above us came to the door to ask us to quiet down. I’ll never forget when I opened the door and the other leader took one look at 19-year-old me, looked around the room, and asked, “Hey, where’s your leader?”

The other thing I won’t forget was how my mentor, John Grothjan (Gro), showed me how to build relationships with youth—how to pray for them before we spent time together, pray for them silently while we were hanging out, and then pray for them after they had gone home. I learned to always take a notebook to talks to capture what the speaker said so I could bring it back to the small group cabin time later. I could even compare notes with Gro, who after 20 years of doing youth ministry still brought a notebook himself because leaders model leadership. He taught me to show up to the high school graduation and pray over every kid who walked across that stage. One last shot to do my part to put them at the feet of Jesus.

Letting young people lead doesn’t mean abandoning them. Youth ministers know this, Young Life staff know this, but it’s the larger community that sometimes forgets. We have to teach other adults how to walk with young people. As advocates for young people, we’ll have to step into the uncomfortable position of talking to the adults who don’t treat them well.

Yet just as I get comfortable as the ultimate defender of young people, Pope Francis also reminds me:

“A mentor should therefore nurture the seeds of faith in young people, without expecting to immediately see the fruits of the work of the Holy Spirit.” (Christ is Alive!, paragraph 246)

Here’s a list of people who love this young person more or just as much as I do:

the God who created them,
the parents raising them,
the family who cares for them,
friends who know them,
and teachers, coaches, other adults who invested in them.

I want this young person to know Christ, I believe God called me to share the gospel, but I’m not the only working of the Holy Spirit.

So if I’m called to serve youth, but also called with others, how do I: 

Make sure I’m lifting them up in every victory and standing with them in every defeat?

Work with other adults to accompany them—or do I see them as “mine”?

Celebrate what else God is doing in their life beyond the role God has for me?

Share with other adults, in particular their parents, the joys and concerns I see in them?

Accompaniment is hard, but I suppose Jesus feels the same about me, and the Incarnation happened anyway. Thanks be to God!