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By Diane Ney
Washington Window
Vol. 74, No. 2, February 2005
Paul Canady is the Diocese of Washington's deputy for youth ministry. Here, he speaks about his ministry to the young people of the diocese with writer Diane Ney.
What makes someone suited to youth ministry?
First of all, you have to have a love of young people. You really have to be willing to work with them and love their way of looking at the world, the way they live their lives, their enthusiasm, their skepticism, the honesty with which they ask questions. (I hate it that we lose that as we grow up.) You need a love of young people and seeing them nurtured in the church and want to be a part of that. You definitely have to have a sense of humor. It's hard to be in youth ministry and be uptight. You have to be willing to learn. The people who are best in youth ministry are the ones who don't believe that they're right all the time. They are the ones who are eager to accompany young people down the path of Christ and are open to discovering Christ again and again as they walk along that path. Not the ones who come in saying, "I know everything and now I'm going to teach you."
Or who say, "There's only one way to look at this?"
That's right. People who say, "There's only one way to do this and it's my way" are not necessarily the people you want in youth ministry. To me it's much more thrilling and hopeful when I see a young person truly begin to claim their faith as their own, not because someone told them what to believe but because various events and people along the way have led them to that point. At that point, it becomes their own faith and their own following of Christ, rather than just mom and dad's faith.
Would you explain the function of the Committee on Youth?
The Committee on Youth is made up of 13 young people, two from each region plus two at-large young people, as well as myself, the adult chair of the committee and two other adults. That committee is the core leadership of youth ministry in the diocese. They organize two retreats a year, plus the cathedral lock-in, plus a couple of other special events. In October, for instance, we did five different service projects throughout the diocese, all at parishes that needed some work to be done.
We all hear how hugely successful the cathedral lock-ins are.
The cathedral lock-in has been around for a long, long time. When I came on board, there were two lock-ins a year, one for middle school and one for high school. And we realized that the committee and I were putting as much energy into doing a 14-hour event as we would for a full weekend event. We needed a better return on our energy, so I made the decision to do a combined lock-in. This last lock-in we had about 285 people, which was the most controlled chaos I've ever been a part of! It starts about 6:30 p.m. with pizza and dinner, some singing and program time and then we do games that include everybody and then we also break people into smaller groups. We have a tower climb and a Eucharist.
And this is a chance for young people to talk about spiritual issues?
It is, but you know I tell people they come for the fun and we give them Jesus because we have a captive audience. The young people really respond to it. The theme for the last lock-in was "Change is Going to Come" and we talked about the fact that life doesn't stay the same. One of the young people from the Committee on Youth talked about some changes being good as you get older, such as you get a driver's license, but some changes may not be so good, such as parents getting divorced or a grandparent dying. But through all that change the one constant is God in our life and the only thing God wants to change is to have our relationship with him strengthen.
Most youth leaders work on the parish level, is that right?
Yes, some are volunteers, some are paid staff, some are full-time, some are part-time. They work independently within their parishes. I'm a resource if they need it, and I'll help them troubleshoot. Rarely do they have an issue with programs. It's more of a problem with personalities among the kids or when they want to take their youth ministry to the next level. That's my favorite, because that's the sign of a growing parish and a growing youth ministry. I'll say, "That's great! I'll be there in 15 minutes. You're two hours away? No problem, I'll be there in 15 minutes." Because that's exciting.
What programs do you have coming up?
The high school retreat at Camp Letts near Annapolis is coming up in March. In May we have the middle school retreat. This year's theme is "Who's Got Your Back?" We're going to talk about relationships and loyalty. I think it's important for young people who are forced by society to grow up so fast to just get away, to go off to a quiet place and hang out and just be. We play a lot of goofy games and have fun. And we also pray a lot and we talk a lot about God. So, it gets back to the honesty. You have to be ready to talk to the kid who says, "I'm having a problem with God right now" and accept that honesty.
So, how would you define what you do? What is youth ministry?
Well, it's definitely an active verb. It's the art and love of working with young people and seeing them nurtured in Christ. You don't have to sit with a 'youth group' on Sunday night and talk about God and watch a movie to be a youth minister. It just takes someone who's willing to walk along the path with them. And if there's someone who's interested in doing that, they can find information on our Web site, www.edow.org. And there's also a lot of terrific information there about our programs and about working with young people in the parishes.
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