Parish Outreach to Teens – Pete Ries, St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and St. John Church and Student Center

Missing the teens in your parish?  Consider this outreach and evangelization opportunity:

1. Put together a list of all the high school age youth in the parish. This can be done by using the confirmation lists from the previous four years plus reading the parish registration lists to include any teens born within a particular four year time-frame. Get volunteers to assist with this step.

2. Look at the list of teens from the previous year to identify the regular or semi-regular attendees at youth group/high school faith formation. Contact one of the regular or semi-regular attendees to ask which three teens on the larger list that they know, esp. among the uninvolved teens.

3. Call all four teens and invite them to meet as a group for an hour at a neighborhood fast food place, paying for the drinks. (Make sure to speak to one of the parents first to get permission for their teen to participate). Tell them about the other group members coming and invite the teen to bring one friend if they wish.

4. At the restaurant gathering, ask: a) The participating teens: What do you like about the youth group/faith formation gatherings/activities; b) The non-participating teens: What kind of activities and topics would you be interested in? When are you available to participate? What one question about God or the Catholic Church or your faith would you like to ask about right now?

5. If you do this outreach as school lets out for the summer, consider planning a brief, four week series for teens in mid-July or earlier. This way the teens who are contacted through this process do not need to wait 3-4 months for concrete opportunities responding to their interests.

6. If you meet with just one group each day, you will meet with 20 teens each week. Two groups each day is already 40 teens each week.

7. Keep a record of who participates and who does not. Consider using a standard form to record the teen’s responses to the questions asked.

8. You can consider beginning with the seniors and work down to the younger teens. Or the other way around!   Where do you most need to begin?

9. Don’t forget a follow-up phone call or e-mail (copying the parent,) thanking that teen for their participation, inviting them to follow-up parish teen sessions, and asking God’s blessing on their summer activities.

What is the faith dimension in all this? Certainly we build relationships within and between members of the Body of Christ. And the teens can pray together if you simply begin each group gathering with a short, conversational prayer.  And, of course, the discussion itself is not only a sharing of faith, it is a chance for all attending to evangelize and be evangelized!