REBUILDING YOUTH MINISTRY: TEN PRACTICAL STRATEGIES FOR CATHOLIC PARISHES

Christopher Wesley, director of student ministry at Church of the Nativity in Timonium, Maryland—the Catholic parish at the center of the bestselling book "Rebuilt"—has doubled teen participation in his programs and tripled the number of adult volunteers who work with youth. In "Rebuilding Youth Ministry," Wesley presents ten indispensable strategies for creating successful youth programs where teens feel connected, stay involved, and grow in faith. In "Rebuilding Youth Ministry," Christopher Wesley coaches fellow Catholic leaders how to overcome common hurdles of ministering to young people. Wesley shares how he faced feelings of complacency, underestimated youth, and entertained rather than ministered in his own parish. Wesley built a distinctive program based on small group faith formation and sustained with the assistance of more than sixty volunteer adult mentors. Adopting a tone and structure similar to the bestselling books "Rebuilt" and "Tools for Rebuilding," Wesley lays out ten strategies that helped grow participation in his high school program from nine teens to ninety and the middle school program from forty teens to eighty-five. His insider tips include: Think More Than Pizza; Think Small Groups and Mentors; Take Back Confirmation; Go Beyond the Youth Room; Accept That It's Messy; Keep Asking Questions; and Keep Growing.