I am a

Youth minister.

Partners in mission

For many of you, the job you are given is greater than any one person can accomplish. Middle School, High School, and Confirmation and oh yeah why don't you do something with young adults too. It seems like too much for one person because it is. Likewise it might seem like you are not able to reach every kid in the parish. You offer high quality programming but it seems like it just doesn't appeal to everyone. It doesn't. We need partners in mission and we need a variety of ways to reach out to young people.

Compliment not compete

The Scouting program in a Catholic parish is intended to compliment and assist the work of the Youth Minister, not to compete with the Youth Ministry program. Inevitably there will be schedule conflicts. There is only so much time in a week. It is important to see that the young people who are involved in Scouting within a Catholic context are not being taken away from youth ministry. They're participating in a different form of Youth Ministry.

Here to help

The Scouting program, done well, can be a tremendous asset to your offerings in youth ministry. Sadly Scout leaders are not always aware of their role as one of youth ministry. They are here to help, but perhaps you could likewise help them to see how the work they do is connected to the mission of the parish. Working together, using different tools, you can help young people to achieve their full potential as human beings.