Before we talk — your vision for your young people

1What is your pastor's vision for your young people?

A sentence or two is plenty. If your parish has a written pastoral plan, a mission statement, or something your pastor keeps returning to, we'd love to hear about it.

I'm not sure yet — I need to ask

It's really helpful to know that. Print this page. Take these questions to your pastor and come to our conversation with his thoughts rather than a guess, so we can spend our time together in the most helpful way possible.

2What is the most important thing your youth ministry is trying to accomplish this year?

3Based on that, who would you most want to form first?

• Our core team and adult volunteers
• Our teens
• Our Confirmation candidates

4Is this tied to something already happening?

• Confirmation preparation
• The start of a new program year
• A retreat, mission, or summer trip
• A new pastor, or a change in leadership
• Nothing in particular — this is something we want to do

5Who else has to say yes to this?

• I can decide to move forward on this myself
• My pastor will need to approve it
• My DRE or director of faith formation
• It has to come out of a budget someone else controls

6Has your youth ministry tried anything like this before?

Gifts inventories, personality tests, leadership tracks, service placement. What happened, and where did it fall short? There is no wrong answer here — knowing what has already been tried helps us make helpful and relevant suggestions.

7A year from now, what would you like to be different?

Describe it concretely. What would you see on a Sunday night, or hear from a parent, that you do not see or hear now?