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Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 7, 2006

Detroit – With youth ministry identified as the "highest priority" of the Archdiocese of Detroit, as it looks to the future in its new strategic plan, the program at St. Colette Parish in Livonia is being cited as a model by archdiocesan officials.

The program is a "best practices" example that other parishes might emulate, Lory McGlinnen, associate director of the archdiocesan Department of Parish Life and Services, said following the March 29 press conference that announced results of the Together in Faith planning process.

Not that every parish should try to do exactly what they are doing at St. Colette, said Laura Piccone Hanchon, the parish's youth ministry coordinator for the past 12 years. "Make sure you know what the needs of the teens in your parish are – they might be different in an urban or a rural parish," she advised in a March 30 telephone interview from Anaheim, Calif., where she was attending a national Catholic religious education conference.

FYI A podcast of the March 29 press conference is available at www.aodonline.org. In addition, a 30-minute condensed version will be cable cast on CTND, the Catholic cable channel, at: Monday, April 10, 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 11, 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 13, 11 a.m.

St. Colette's youth group for high school-aged teens (grades 9-12) meets Monday nights throughout the school year, but there are usually also one or two other group activities for teens each week.

Last week, for example, the parish's teens engaged in a service project on Saturday – a scavenger hunt for non-perishable food items – to benefit Gleaners Community Food Bank.

Last Sunday, they took part in their first Teen Café, an afternoon faith exploration series at the parish's youth center. With flavored coffees and smoothies available in a coffee-house atmosphere, Deacon Gary Pardo engaged teens in an informal discussion about values and decisions.

During the year parish teens also take part in service projects outside the parish, such as volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, Hanchon said.

Some high-school students at St. Colette Parish in Livonia listen to a talk on righteousness and the way people justify decisions at the first of the parish's Teen Café series last Sunday.

And, whether or not they are involved in the organized youth activities, teens also have other opportunities to be involved in the parish – by being altar servers, lectors, teaching religious education, or helping with various parish projects.

One way or another, about a third of the parish's high school-aged teens are active, besides attending Mass, Hanchon said, adding that only a certain percentage of young people will ever get involved no matter what a parish does.

But the programs are in place, the invitation is there, and – a point she said is very important – the message that teens are valued and welcomed is made known. One of the two big bulletin boards inside the entrance to the church is devoted to youth ministry news, as well as holding pamphlets about issues and questions teens might be concerned about.

"It has to be obvious that the adults in the community are there for the young people, and that the young people sense that feeling. Every single ninth- to 12th-grader in the parish gets a birthday card from a caring adult," Hanchon said.

And the pastor needs to be supportive of the program: "Our pastor, Fr. Henry Roodbeen, and the parish leadership have been very supportive," she said.

Hanchon was active with the youth group at St. Colette when she was in high school, and now she can point to one of the members of the youth group after she became youth ministry coordinator who serves in the same role at another parish – Mary Buckley at St. John Neumann Parish in Canton Township.

Her advice to youth ministry coordinators in other parishes?

• "Be patient, and if Plan A doesn't work, be willing to go all the way through Plan Z."
• "If you don't enjoy it, get out of it, because it's something you have to have a passion for."
• "Be sure you've assessed the needs of the youth in your community, and rally the adults of your parish around the youth ministry program."