Mass exodus of youths from Catholic Church
In our society for one to claim to be a Christian it’s sometimes difficult unless you mention the name of your church and whether you have been baptised. I remember when I was still very young, mother used to force me to go for bible classes so that I could get baptised. I never really understood the whole purpose behind the bible classes until one day she tried to explain to me that if you want to be a Christian you have to be baptised and in order to be baptised I had to learn the bible and learn the Lord’s Prayer and other stuff. I received the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion when I was still a teenager. This is the normal trend if are raised in the Catholic Church.
My biggest concern with my church is this mass exodus of youths from the Catholic Church. After chatting to some of my friends from various churches I got some fascinating facts about the way in which Catholics, Pentecostals and other different Christian denominations are going about in their day to day sessions of praising the Lord. I have always wondered why most youths now prefer the Pentecostal Church to Catholic Church? A friend of mine highlighted that maybe its about youth coming of age and having the freedom to choose which church to go to and sometimes not feeling connected to their faith in the Catholic Church. A friend of mine later said the reason he decided to go to a Pentecostal Church was because of the space created for youths to express themselves freely, which he never experienced during the times he was a Catholic.
I had the opportunity to attended a revival session at one of the Pentecostal churches in my neighbourhood and I noticed how youths could lead in a praise and worship session. This is something that I rarely see in the Catholic Church. I ended up having a question in my mind whether its time the Catholic Church reformed to meet the needs of the young generation. Its good to carry your prayer book, hymn book and your bible with you to church but when it becomes the norm to recite prayers each and every Sunday and having the same person leading prayer sessions, I find it a bit worrying for the young and energetic.
Tuesday, June 7th 2011 at 11:29 am
I agree that the youth should be given a chance to also preach
Tuesday, June 7th 2011 at 1:17 pm
I like the observation on the youth leaving the Catholic Church.I appreciate the fact that churches should be ‘democratic’ in giving the youth the platform to preach and express themselves among other things.I think the Catholic Church has been very vocal in emphasising the respect of human rights including freedom of expression and it is the common mission of the church that humanity is respected in the eyes of both men and God for we are created in the image of our creator ,God.All the same ,the parishes should encourage youth to participate in all activities as they are the future leaders and priest of tomorrow.
On another note, the youth in the Catholic church have numerous programmes that cater for both their spiritual and social needs and that address the challenges they face in present day.Those in the tertiary institutions have the National Movement of Catholic Students in every university and colleges,in schools there are groups like the Christian Life Community ,YCS,only to mention a few.The core objectives of such groups is to form the youth into better individuals who have self respect ,serve God in various ways and to fulfill the purpose of our creation here on earth.In business today , incubents from Catholic mission schools are a preference as they are said to have the virtues of honesty,intergrity etc…which are now rare to get as the youth are absorbed with activities that are not valuable to the purpose of creation.
Tuesday, June 7th 2011 at 2:07 pm
Some of these thingsdont generalise u trigger nhindi yemago. Those bible studies your mom wanted you to are attend are catechism lessons, to make you understand catholism. Had u understood those lessons, u wud appreciate and undestand y Catholics are rigid in the celebration of Mass. During Christ days they are other things he wouldnt ask his displicles to do so is in Mass. Youth can introduce the celebrant of Mass, Read that day’s bible readings, sing in the choir, do bidding prayers, make announcement at the end of Mass BUT the Gospel reading and homily thus for the Priest, Consecration just like Jesus broke the bread on all occations in the bible thus for the priest to do and no Catholic would dare do that thus only if you understand whats involved. Catholics have many other christian activities all is welcomed to take a leading role.
In 33 AD Catholic church was founded by God in the person of Jesus Christ. Our Lord named Peter the future of His Church when He said to Him “Thou art Peter(Rock) and upon this rock i will build MY CHURCH I will give you the keys of the Kindom of Heaven (Mathew 16:19) thus all we are simply trying to live by (who are we to make changes to what the Lord had said)
Tuesday, June 7th 2011 at 3:57 pm
I agree with elizabeth in many of the instances but in reality the Catholic Church has on been vocal against human rights abuses in as far as those that are not Catholics are concerned… Worldwode Catholics have committed serious crimes against humanity. Its fine as long as you are Catholic nobody says anything…If the church is serious about homosexuality then the priests who abuse young boys should be excomunicated! We can go on and on but for me these issues are fundamental.
Secondly the participation of the youth is important everywhere and they try to cater for this. I will not dwell on it. The only problem that I have is when the bishops do not engage the youth in dialogue…they see themselves as closer to God and the gods of the church and do not allow themselves to admit that they are human.
Ultimately going to church is unlike going to a club but to seek a relationship with God, there are many ways that make some people comfortable. It is up to individuals to be true to themselves. Some people feel the Catholic way of prayer in silence and praying the rosary is old fashioned and they would rather play the guitar…well its their definition of prayer…but ultimately we all have a responsibility to serve our purpose of creation.
Wednesday, June 8th 2011 at 10:41 am
This very true, but its not only the catholic church experiencing this. most mainline church are now stagnat or decreasing in numbers. maybe they should allow some changes in such churches so as to accomodate the youths. after all there is freedom of worship. the other problem is that mainline churches are traditional and stiff, they do not want their traditions to be distorted or embrace the dynamics of churches. in my church if the youths want to suggest some changes they are told that, its not Methodism (hachisi chiHwisiri). this Mass Exodus would be less if some churches took the time to embrace change