Serving the servants
Diocese works to quell youth ministry burnout, turnover

By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
April 19, 2007

Many parish youth ministers don’t stay on the job for more than two years,  according to the Office of Youth and Young Adut Evangelization.

That means teenagers often spend more time in high school than their coordinators spend forming them in Christ.

Low youth minister retention rates present an ongoing challenge to the Phoenix Diocese. Bill Marcotte, director of diocesan youth and young adult ministry, is striving to overcome that problem through practical support and spiritual empowerment.

“It’s a major miss,” Marcotte said of the turnover. “It’s terrible for any youth desiring to be connected. It’s terrible for parents desiring their teens to be ministered to.”

Of the diocese’s 92 parishes, 67 have part-time or full-time youth ministers, 32 of whom are new this year. Volunteers guide youth at an additional six parishes, leaving 19 without any specific youth outreach.

“The good news, though, is that… there are more of you in this diocese than in most dioceses in the country,” Marcotte told more than 50 youth ministers during an April 3 gathering at the Diocesan Pastoral Center.

But the bad news is that many of these ministers will be gone by 2009 due to burnout or parishes not seeing the position as a profession, Marcotte said.

Weary servants

“We tend to put people in youth ministry and almost treat them like a lone ranger. ‘You deal with youth, the rest of us can’t. That’s your gift, so you do it,’” explained Lee Nagel, a founding board member of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry.

“So we don’t even give them a sense that you can come, ask for some help.”

Nagel said teenagers’ needs and expectations also wear on ministers.

Marcotte also noted many ministers juggle religious education with other duties, such as planning retreats, coordinating core leaders or preparing teens for confirmation.

“Sometimes they think it’s up to them that a conversion takes place,” Marcotte said of the ministers. “It’s up to God that a conversion takes place — and at His pace. All they’re there to do is to be an instrument.”

Julie Wollschlager, a volunteer Life Teen youth minister at St. Jerome Parish, has been that instrument for four years and has supported youth ministry in some capacity for 22 years. She considers conversion the greatest reward.

Wollschlager said she can sense when a St. Jerome’s teen recognizes the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

“When it finally comes together for them, that’s what it’s all about,” she said.

Despite this reward, Wollschlager still encounters challenges.

“I can’t explain it. You just have to listen,” she said, because that’s all they want sometimes.

Making the time to listen or aid in crisis means that youth ministers may often put in late hours.

Anthony Gleich, coordinator of youth ministry at St. Mary Parish in Chandler, puts in 50 hours each week to stay on top of things. Gleich is in his first year at the parish and his third year in the ministry. Burnout hasn’t happened for him yet.

“I can’t say that it never will,” he admitted.

“I think another thing that leads to burnout is a lack of being led by the Holy Spirit,” Marcotte told his youth ministers. A disciplined prayer life can lead to greater reliance on the Holy Spirit, he said.

Nagel said that youth ministers’ own spiritual growth is crucial to their success.

“You have to provide yourself some balance in terms of what you do,” he said. “If you’re not going to take care of yourself, then you’re not going to be of any help to care for anybody else.”

Effect on youth

A youth minister’s top priority is caring for dozens, if not hundreds, of teens and leading them closer to Christ. The ministers say seeing that connection with Christ is the most rewarding part of their jobs.

Gleich finds himself sharing in the excitement of St. Mary’s teens when they are filled with the Holy Spirit and have a new purpose.

The trouble is, Marcotte said, it can take up to three years to win the right to truly be heard by a young person. Yet longevity for a youth minister at one parish is at best two years. This can leave teens feeling disconnected, he said.

Nagel agrees that continuity is best for passing along a message, but noted a resiliency among youth.

“When they find people who care about them, that’s what’s most important. So even if they’re new, it’s helpful,” Nagel said.

Richard Brown, director and president of the Phoenix-based Center for Effective Ministry, agrees. He likened the high turnover of youth ministers to a high school setting.

Teens may only have a teacher for a semester, yet that can be long enough to have a profound impact, Brown said.

“I think it’s hard though to work on a person’s spiritual development if the person who is in charge keeps changing,” Nagel added.

Parish, diocesan support

Marcotte said he’s developing plans for how the Phoenix Diocese empowers youth leaders, providing for more support from their respective parishes, hopefully lowering the turnover rate.

Marcotte hopes to offer new resource material based on Church documents by September. It will include a step-by-step guide of how to prioritize evangelization and catechesis, in addition to an implementation manual.

Parish leaders need to treat youth ministry as a profession, Marcotte said. Many view it as a stepping-stone to a career rather than a calling.

Those in charge of teen outreach are typically in their 20s and 30s. Some leave the profession when they discover they can’t support a family on that salary.

“I believe the pastors have got to see the value in their youth ministers desiring to get married and have a family and to own a home. Salaries need to be adjusted for the ones that desire this,” Marcotte said.

“Anything a pastor can do to show personal and ministerial support to what a youth minister is doing is a big deal,” Marcotte said.

Having the pastor look out for his well-being was the biggest help during his seven years as youth minister at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Tempe.

Marcotte plans to continue hosting retreats for the youth ministers to ensure they’re not overworked.

Brown also considers parish pastors as one of the strongest forces for strengthening a ministry. Pastors can market the ministry from the pulpit, he said, which can lead to parent and other adults volunteering to help prepare for and clean up after youth meetings.

It can also help form an advisory board of parents who support the youth minister with ideas.

Gleich has already formed parent and teen councils at St. Mary Parish in Chandler.

“Family is an important part of teen formation,” he said.

Marcotte and Nagel both recommend youth ministers have a spiritual advisor for professional and personal development.

“If all of who you are is wrapped up in youth ministry,” Marcotte said, “then you’re going to burn out.”