Web Log//

This is the place for a weekly (or monthly) web log written by Doug Tooke (Coordinator of the OYYAM) or one of the four discerned Catholic Youth Coaliton Officers and/or CYC Board members. We will cover such topics as Youth Ministry Training, How can I make my youth group better, and Why is there a penguin on my shirt? Check back here often for updates and fresh blogs for your reading delight.

 

 

 

Why not do Pagan youth ministry? By Doug Tooke

 

 

The word apostle, from the Scripture text which is the Greek "apostolos," literally can be translated "one sent with a message." The root "apo" means “from” and the root "stello" means “to send.”  From a Roman army context, an apostolos would be a courier, a forerunner who brings an order from the general.  Apostasy, on the other hand, stems from the Greek “apostasis.”  Its roots include “apo” meaning “from” or “away” and “stasis” meaning “standing.”  Apostasy is traditionally defined as the formal abandonment or renunciation of one's religion or political beliefs.  So, standing away from something is supposedly quite a bit different from being sent with something.  Or is it?  I’ll tell you what; we will get back to that in a minute.

Twenty-first century teens get introduced to quite a few gods.  In The Godbearing Life (a great book by Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster that you should own, especially if you are a parent but more importantly if you are a youth minister), the authors argue, “Adolescents are looking for a soul-shaking, heart-waking, world-changing God to fall in love with; and if they do not find that God in the Christian Church, they will most certainly settle for lesser gods elsewhere…So will we (P. 9).”   Yes we will, and yes we have.

 

Lesser gods seem to bleed their way into pop culture on a regular basis.  For some teens, they are the technological medium or media that they can’t “live without.”  For some adults, the gods reveal themselves in the form of personal distraction from responsibility towards our kids (namely our jobs) or our spiritual lives (namely our kid’s schedules).  The ancient Greeks would probably love that the pagan gods have found their way into post-modern society.  I had once thought about the “benefits” I would have if I were a youth minister for the church of Apollo (the Greek sun god).  Instead of fundraisers, we could threaten to stop the sunrise if the congregation didn’t pay for our charter bus to the next junior high rally.  Oh, the possibilities! 

Alas, I do not work for Apollo, but for you and the Catholic Church, most importantly, the young Catholic Church.  I work for the God that promises salvation, sustenance, and …wait for it…here it comes…suffering.  I work for a Church that believes in the God that demands apostleship.  See, I told you I would get back to that subject.

We are a Church sent with a message.  We need couriers with courage.  We need energetic forerunners of the Good News.  We need apostles.  I find it curious the difference in the roots of the aforementioned words.  To “stand away” and to “be sent with a message” are different things entirely.  Pop culture sometimes fools our young Church into thinking that it is “standing away” or counter-cultural in the clothes they wear and the piercing that they…er…um…have done in awkward locations.  Maybe this is against the grain, or anti-establishment.  However, most culture-commissioned rebellion is part of an advertising scheme and amateur at best.

 

You want real revolt?  You want to say that you were part of a real flip-upside-down, culture shock agenda?  One word…apostle.    I am serious.  This is not petty rebellion.  This is not the renunciation of religion or political beliefs.  That would be apostasy.   I don’t want the young Church to turn only from pop culture gods and then do nothing.  If you think about it, the opposite of renouncing your religion is really refusing to renounce your religion under any circumstances.  The Church calls that martyrdom.  Is there a purer form of apostleship than that?

My hope is that the young Church makes the turn (stands away) and then embraces the commissioning (or sending forth) of a life filled with challenge. This is the soul-shaking, heart-waking, world-changing God we want them to fall in love with.  I know, tough sell.  That is what makes working in youth ministry all that much more miraculous.  Our teens are doing it.  The young Church is denying earthly pleasures by choosing to embrace ministry opportunities instead of ultra-demanding extra-curricular activity, usually school-related. Pop culture is selling the same false sense of security, except these youth aren’t necessarily buying it.  More and more teens are bending their busy schedules to accommodate Bible study, prayer group, and service opportunities.  They are, in effect, being sent and carrying out the message in the face of immense odds.  And...they are doing it in ways that are creatively leading our Church.

 

So, you can keep your fringe benefits, Apollo, as delightful as sun worship and pagan sacrifice may seem.  I’ll stick with the faith vision that is honest about hurt and suffering.  I will stick with a ministry that continues to promise its young that the journey is a tough one, but the food along the way and the destination make the rewards of this earth seem unfulfilling at best.  I’ll stay with Christ…till the end.  After all, I was sent (like all of us at our baptism), and I sure hope to deliver, the way the young Church has taught me.  See you in the vineyard!

 

                   Peace in Christ,
                   Doug Tooke