Archdiocese of Baltimore forming ‘lab’ for youth-led ministry

Pope Francis was fond of calling young people protagonists and “spectators of the future.” He even used that term for infants he baptized.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Office of Family, Youth and Young Adults likes that term, too. That’s why it’s establishing the Archdiocesan Youth Missionary Protagonism Lab (AYMP Lab) to reverse the disturbing trend of disaffiliation among young people.

They’re trying to get young people back to church not only at Mass, but to full participation in parish organizations and activities, and eager to be a part of leadership. And that means a lot of listening.

“One element we’ve noticed is that older models of ministry with youths are no longer bearing the fruit they once did,” Rena Black, the coordinator for missionary discipleship in the office, which is part of the archdiocesan Institute for Evangelization. “We need to reimagine ministry with youths for the Generation Alpha era and beyond.”

Inspiration comes not only from the words of the pope, but also from the example of the late Mark D. Pacione, a nationally respected leader in youth and young adult ministry in the archdiocese. The lab is funded by the foundation established in Pacione’s name after his death in 2014.

Pacione, Black said, “always insisted (that) young people are not just the church of tomorrow, but the young church of today,” just as Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “Christus Vivit” describes young people as “the now of God.”

So, how will the lab work? What’s the goal?

“We really want to engage with the energy and unique perspectives that our young people bring to the table,” Black said. “Often, we plan programs and events for teens, but we really need to be planning with them.”

And this means knowing when to get out of the way.

“We’ve wrestled with a counterintuitive problem. Even though the adult advisers believe strongly in empowering youths, we kept trying to control or curate the Holy Spirit-driven protagonism of the young council representatives.”

The antidote: “Ground the work … in the lived reality of its young representatives. We began to offer the youths tools and accompaniment to discern their community’s needs and design a sustainable, Christ-centered response.”

“The young people in the Archdiocese of Baltimore are just as capable of transforming their parishes and communities,” she added. “AYMP Lab is one way to lift up the agency of our young people for the benefit of the whole church.”

To apply, a team of two to four young people ask a Catholic adult or two to be a mentor. They identify a host parish where the pastor agrees to endorse their application.

The application is online: tinyurl.com/AYMPLab2025 

The team, Black said, “doesn’t have to already know what local initiative they’d like to do. The most important qualifier is willingness to engage in the process.”

There is also an emphasis on “missionary creativity.”

“We are so pleased that Archbishop (William E.) Lori highlighted the necessity of missionary creativity in his recent pastoral letter ‘A Light Brightly Visible 3.0.’ We see missionary creativity in action all across the archdiocese right now – on parish staffs, on Seek the City transition teams, on college campuses, in our schools, our prisons and our Scouting and sports ministries,” Black said. 

In late fall, the teams can apply for a micro-grant of a few hundred dollars “to help implement the first iteration of their initiative,” Black said. “These initiatives will focus on one or more of the key dimensions of robust faith formation: community building, formal catechesis, transformative liturgy and prayer, and meaningful service.”

Most of the AYMP Lab gatherings will be virtual, Black said, “since we hope to engage young people from all across the archdiocese.” But there will also be an in-person day retreat and a closing liturgy to “anchor the process in prayer, self-reflection, and community.”

“Youths see things differently,” she observed. “They notice possibilities that adults don’t. They ask questions that adults have learned not to ask. With the help of the guardrails the AYMP Lab directors and local mentors provide, we expect that we will see initiatives emerge that bring the Gospel to the world in new ways, with new methods and – most of all – new zeal.”

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