Nativity’s Wonder campaign aims to broaden vibrant youth ministry offerings

Church of the Nativity Parish in Timonium fashions itself as a different kind of Catholic community. From the stylish parish logo on its streamlined website to the vibrant Sunday Masses livestreamed and posted on YouTube, Nativity’s very look reflects its distinctive niche.

Nativity’s current campaign to raise $15 million to build a 17,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art ministry center is a measure of the success of the parish’s approach to ministry to children and teens.

So, too, is the enthusiasm with which one graduating high school senior described his experience as a participant in Nativity’s ministries.

As he heads off to MIT in the fall, James Lukish said he feels prepared and “motivated to continue in the faith. I learned good prayer habits and a tradition of Massgoing that I hope to continue in college.”

The Wonder campaign raised $10.5 million in pledges during its first fundraising phase in Lent, explained Daniel Miller, director of Next Gen, as the religious education and youth ministry program is known.

In a letter to parishioners in early May from Miller and pastor Father Michael White, they said Psalm 78 provided the campaign’s name, from its line “tell the next generation the wonders of the Lord.”

“Wonder is admiration for something unexpected and, often, beautiful,” they wrote. “Wonder lifts our spirit and can be experienced in so many different ways: as monumental as a cathedral, as simple as the touch of a loved one, as spectacular as a sunset, as whimsical as a hot air balloon rising to the clouds.” They mused that Jesus may have intended “for us to recapture the twinkle in our eyes and wonder in our hearts when he instructed us to ‘turn and become like children’” (Mt 18:3).

The new space is intended to provide more appropriate places for participants in its small-group-focused youth programs to meet, Miller told the Catholic Review. The 13 current classrooms in a traditional “Sunday school” design in the 50-year-old building don’t work well for groups of 10-12, the target size for middle- and high school participants, he explained.

“We use every available space,” Miller said. For instance, the high school section this year has 18 small groups, he said. They meet in offices, the chapel and other spaces.

More than 1,000 children and teens attend the Next Gen programs weekly. The plan for the new space is that it will provide room for an additional 3,700 participants over 10 years and 4,500 over 20 years, according to the Wonder online brochure.

The new space also will feature a chapel more suited to small activities such as baptisms, small weddings and daily Mass than the current chapel in a room not designed for that use, Miller said. “We’re really excited about the chapel.”

Miller said the plan is to break ground on the new space in spring of 2027 and move in about 15 months later.

Lukish will graduate this spring from Loyola Blakefield in Towson. His major at MIT will be biology, with an eye toward medical school. At Loyola, he plays on the varsity lacrosse team and will work this summer as an emergency medical technician for a medical transportation company. Those activities, as well as serving in several leadership roles at Loyola and his extensive involvement at Nativity, all helped with his application to MIT, he said.

Lukish said he began participating in the Next Gen program in elementary school, after his family moved to the area. (His parents are Donna and Jeff Lukish.) His path in Next Gen began with the section called Time Travelers, for young elementary students that is held while parents attend Sunday Mass. After being confirmed as a freshman in high school he became an altar server/sacristan and joined the team of student leaders mentoring younger children.

He loved sharing his faith with younger students and helping guide them through confirmation, he said.

Lukish is excited for the new space, “it’s going to be awesome!” The new building “will help keep students more engaged … and we’ll have bigger meeting spaces.”

“What we do is very powerful,” he said. “This will help a lot more students be involved.”

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