Friendship, Not Flash: The Key to Forming Lifelong Catholics

Catholic youth ministries have struggled to retain young believers — but this approach rooted in friendship is changing the game.

Youth ministry doesn’t appear to be working. Catholics who attend youth group are much more likely to leave the faith as adults than to remain Catholic. Almost half of Catholics leave the faith by the time they reach 30, and half of those leave before the age of 18. According to a recent survey, less than a third of those raised Catholic still attend weekly Mass.

This has left parents, pastors and teachers desperately trying to figure out, like Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver, “How do I reach these kids!?” While there are exceptions — many chaplains and ministers doing great work — often the answer seems to be more stylish marketing, more fun activities, more hip youth ministers, more youth conferences and retreats, and more technology. These things have their place. But this is what we’ve been trying for 40 years, and something it still isn’t working. What are we missing?

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