3 Mistakes Diocesan Youth Ministers Can’t Afford to Make
Too many dioceses fall into these same traps.
There’s no single formula for successful diocesan youth ministry. But there are few ways that dioceses consistently get in wrong. Three mistakes in particular seem to have a kind of gravitational pull – dioceses fall into them again and gain.
The result? A steady exodus of young people leaving the Church. If we’re serious about reversing that trend, we can’t afford to keeping making these three mistakes.
1. Doing Things Because You’ve Always Done Them
When you started in diocesan youth ministry, you probably inherited a calendar full of longstanding events. If you try to cancel any of them, you’ll soon discover a small but vocal group of critics.
At some point, these initiatives were likely effective. Among those vocal critics, you’ll probably find people whose lives were deeply impacted by the initiative that they’re defending.
But young people change. Every generation is different, and the pandemic and rapid technological advances have only heightened these differences. To effectively meet the needs of each new generation, our ministry needs to adapt.
This isn’t a call to change things just for the sake of doing something new. The mistake isn’t in doing things the way they’ve always been done—it’s in doing them simply because they’ve always been done. Every program should earn its place on the calendar. If an initiative is no longer effective, it’s time for a change.
2. Failure to Measure Success
A few years ago, a diocese I worked in came up with a creative evangelisation project: a mosaic of Jesus’ face, composed of thousands of tiny images of local Catholics, prominently displayed in a nearby mall.
A few weeks after the project, I caught up with one of the organisers. She was telling me how successful the project had been, and I couldn’t help but ask, “How do you know?”
“How many people who saw the image responded to a call to action?” None – because there was no call to action.
“After displaying the image, did you see any meaningful increase in people engaging with their local Catholic church?” No idea.
“What about feedback about the project?” Well, a few well-known Catholics sent in positive remarks, but that was it.
The project had been carried out, but no one knew how successful it had actually been.
To assess whether our ministry is working, we need a clear definition of success—and a way to measure it. Start small: track attendance and the number of people responding to calls to action.
Over time, build on this with qualitative feedback—conversations, focus groups, and testimonies. Ask: What’s working? What isn’t? Why?
Don’t let the delivery of a project be its own marker of success. Measure what matters, and use that data to guide your ministry.
3. Being a Mile Wide but Only An Inch Deep
In diocesan youth ministry, there will never be a shortage of things you could be doing. Youth leader training, regular youth masses, a secondary school leaders programme, monthly young adults’ events, an annual youth camp – the possibilities are endless.
If you try to do it all, you’ll look busy. You’ll feel busy. But you’ll probably end up with a ministry that is a mile wide, but only an inch deep. You’ll be doing lots of stuff with lots of different groups, but none of it will lead to deep, long-lasting change.
Several years ago, the youth ministry team at the Archdiocese of Brisbane realised that they had fallen into this trap. They were spread thin, trying to support youth ministry across 103 parishes. So they decided to pilot a new model: establishing five thriving youth ministries in five parishes over five years. Five years into the project, they’ve successful launched four thriving weekly youth ministries, with plans for me.
I’ve got no doubt that the weekly accompaniment of young people in those four youth ministries will bear far greater fruit than any jam-packed calendar could. That’s what you can achieve with focus: meaningful, lasting impact.
Overcoming These Mistakes
Chances are, your diocese was already making some of these mistakes when you arrived. Your mission isn’t just to avoid these pitfalls – it’s to lead the way out.
Persevere. In my own diocesan ministry, it has taken years to overcome some of these mistakes, and we’re still working on others. But the stakes are too high to give up.
If we’re serious about reversing the trend of young people leaving the Church, we need to think bigger and act bolder. That means embracing new models of ministry, grounding decisions in data, and prioritising deep, lasting change.
We can’t afford to do any less.