Parishes encouraged to see youth as 'investment'

6-15-03
by Brian Olszewski
Northwest Indiana Catholic

His title is director of youth/young adult ministry for the Diocese of Gary, but Kevin Driscoll will be an “investment advisor” — advising and leading the diocese and its parishes in how to invest in its youth.

Using the image of a giant cathedral, Driscoll noted that youth ministry is a “long-term investment” for the Church.

“If we don’t invest in young people, no one will be in that cathedral 30, 40 years from now,” he said.

Driscoll, 30, will begin his work Monday, June 16. The youth minister position had been vacant since June 2002. Frank Zolvinski, the diocese’s director of religious education, had been overseeing youth ministry concerns until a new director was hired.

The associate director for the Office for Youth and Young Adults of the Diocese of Palm Beach, Fla., since 1999, Driscoll said that youth ministry is more than a formal program.

“The broader definition (of youth ministry) is a parish community in a youth-friendly environment,” he said.

A 1995 graduate of Illinois State University with a degree in communications/broadcasting, Driscoll was youth minister at St. Walter Parish, Roselle, Ill., from 1996-1998. Following a year of work for Clear Channel Radio, he went to work for the Diocese of Palm Beach.

Driscoll does not gauge effectiveness in youth ministry by how many people show up for a meeting.

“The definition of successful youth ministry is not counting heads but in how many lives are touched,” he said.

Driscoll prescribes that parishes take a holistic approach to the youth in the communities.

“We must minister to the whole person,” he said. “We must let them know that the Church is there for them.”

That ministry goes beyond an event or program.

“They need to be moved spiritually and emotionally,” he said.

Driscoll does not use a one-size-fits-all approach when advising parishes on how to reach youth.

“Each parish setting is different, and each demands a careful and responsible evaluation of which strategies will be most effective in reaching that community’s young Church,” he said

Calling today’s youth a “discriminating generation,” Driscoll said, “If we don’t convince them now, they’ll go elsewhere, and we can’t assume they’ll come back.”

Noting that Jesus “never discriminated according to age,” Driscoll said the Church “must give youth opportunities to grow in faith.”

Driscoll, who grew up in Oswego, Ill., said that the adage “Faith cannot be taught, only caught” holds true in working with youth.

“If young people are to be truly connected, to be a person of Christ, they need to experience faith,” he said. “We must make it real, applicable, applied in life right now. Today.”

The former public address announcer for the St. Lucie Mets said that youth ministry should be viewed as “alongside” not “to.”

“As a faith community, we can’t sit back and complain about youth. We must be an integral part of their lives,” he said.

Driscoll said that youth should have a voice in the operation of their parishes, including places in liturgical ministries and on the pastoral council.

“Young people have to feel welcome and important,” he said.

Married, and the father of an 18-month-old son, Driscoll doesn’t waver in his enthusiasm for youth and his ministry to/with them.

“When our faith becomes youth-friendly and makes a concerted effort to welcome God’s young people with open arms, I believe strongly that what we can offer a young person is more real than anything else they’ve ever experienced,” he said.

Any person wishing to contact Kevin about Youth and/or Young Adult ministry may contact him at . He will also be available at the Pastoral Center in Merrillville, 219-769-9292.