Volunteer with Youth Ministry
Middle School Ministry - Edge Core Team
Edge Core Team members help St. Hubert Youth Ministry work toward the vision of having a community of young people continually encountering and being transformed in Jesus’ love for them and who are committed to living out the mission of the Catholic Church. Edge Core Team is a select group of adults which assists the youth minister in relational ministry to the middle schoolers at St. Hubert through Edge Nights, in planning and organizing Edge Nights, and supporting other team members in their service to middle schoolers.
An Edge Core Team member is an adult who is responding to his or her baptismal call to spread the Gospel to all people, specifically the youth, and is a model for teens of faithfulness and trust in God and obedience to the Church. The goal of the role of an Edge Core member is to help lead middle schoolers into a personal and intimate relationship with Christ.
CLICK HERE for More Information
High School Ministry - YDisciple Core Team
YDisciple Core Team members help St. Hubert Youth Ministry work toward the vision of having a community of young people continually encountering and being transformed in Jesus’ love for them and who are committed to living out the mission of the Catholic Church. YDisciple Core Team is a select group of adults which assists the youth minister in relational ministry to the teens at St. Hubert through YDisciple Small Groups (in planning and organizing apprenticeship in the Catholic Life) & events such as Movie Nights in supporting other team members in their service to teens.
A YDisciple Core Team member is an adult who is responding to his or her baptismal call to spread the Gospel to all people, specifically the High School youth, and is a model for teens of faithfulness and trust in God and obedience to the Church. The goal of the role of a YDisciple Core member is to help lead teens into a personal and intimate relationship with Christ by facilitating a small group environment.
CLICK HERE for more information
High School Ministry
We are always looking for more High School Core Team members! High School Core Team members are co-youth ministers who assist the Associate Director of Discipleship – Youth Ministry in planning and executing weekly high school events and leading Discipleship Small Groups.
If you are a faithful Catholic adult who checks the following criteria, High School Core Team may be the right way for you respond to your baptismal call!
Between the ages of 18-118
Obedient to the Church (do not dissent from Church teaching; fidelity to the Magisterium)
Able to go through and pass Safe Environment Training, background check, and sign a Code of Conduct (Essential 3 requirements for working with youth)
Have a love for high schoolers and desire to be a spiritual mentor for them
CLICK HERE for more information
Discipleship Group Leaders
We are in need of faithful, Catholic adults who can build relationships with high schoolers and walk with them in their faith journey. Our Discipleship Groups (D-Groups) consist of five to eight guys or girls of the same age who meet twice per month (or another set regular time decided by the group) with two adult leaders to discuss life, grow in their faith, and seek support for the trials and joys of life together. To be a discipleship group leader means committing to helping form young ones in the faith – a big task, but one not without great joys!
If you are a faithful Catholic adult who checks the following criteria, leading a Discipleship Group may be the right way for you respond to your baptismal call!
Between the ages of 18-118
Obedient to the Church (do not dissent to Church teaching; fidelity to the Magisterium)
Able to go through and pass Safe Environment Training, background check, and sign a Code of Conduct (Essential 3 requirements for working with youth)
Have a love for the youth and desire to be a spiritual mentor for them
Hospitality and Relational Ministry
Are you a behind-the-scenes prayer ninja? Do you have a charism of hospitality? Is chaperoning events and helping with special conferences and retreats your jam? We always need help with food, transportation, and having faithful adults provide their witness of faith at events and authentically loving these youth where they are at. Even if you don’t feel called to commit to a team, we would love to have you involved!
We are also aware that without prayer and our complete surrender and dependence on our Lord, Jesus Christ, we can do nothing. We have a team called our “Hospitality Task Force” who intentionally pray for all the youth in our programs by name on a weekly basis. If you love intercessory prayer and the next generation of the Church even more, consider joining the group!
Common Misconceptions about Volunteering with Youth Ministry
You must be a young adult
You must know everything about the Catholic faith
You must be a perfect example of a Christian
You must be a captivating communicator
You must be a crazy extrovert or ‘life of the party’
You must have plenty of free time
You must be totally in tune with popular culture
You must have kids of your own
You must be a single person without kids of your own
You must have previous experience in youth ministry
The kind of adults the youth need in their lives
Love God and live for Christ
Love youth and be interested in their lives
Take the initiative to get to know them
Pray for our youth
Are authentic
Say encouraging things and are patient
Believe in young people
Laugh and know how to have fun
Share God’s love through personal experiences
Are consistent with their attendance
Love being Catholic
A great reminder
“Today Christ is asking each of you the same question: do you love Me? He is not asking you whether you know how to speak to crowds, whether you can direct an organization or manage an estate. He is asking you to love Him. All the rest will ensue.” – Saint John Paul the Great
Some more truth to answer common objections to the invitation…
“I’m not a young adult, so I probably won’t be able to relate with the youth at all…”
This can be true and will disable you from ministering to middle schoolers and high schoolers BUT only if you let it. Like any conversation or relationship, finding things in common is a great start. Sometimes, especially in working with different age groups than yourself, this can be difficult, but if you’ve ever talked to someone a different age than you, you know what to do. Be interested in them and they will be interested in you. The following saying rings true in youth ministry maybe more than all other areas “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” If we genuinely recognize the people in front of us as sons and daughters of God, it won’t matter if we’re aware of social media trends or what pop songs are in the Top 100, it will matter that they remember the encounters that have with us as ones where they felt seen, known, and loved.
“I don’t have a loud, boisterous personality. I’m not the ‘life of the party’ so would the youth even care to have me around?”
The youth we minister to have as many different personality types, interests, and experiences as they come! We need a team of diverse personalities in adult volunteers to be able to connect with their young counterparts. Imagine that shy teen who is just hoping there is an adult at the event who knows how to interact with them without overwhelming them. They are praying for you to say ‘yes’ to being in their corner!
“I don’t know everything about the Catholic faith. What if I lead them astray or are unable to answer their questions?”
You do not need to have read every papal encyclical, account of the lives of the saints, major theological works, or even every entire book of the Bible to be a witness of faith to the youth. They do not need Scott Hahn to lead their small group or chat them up at an event. They need you and the you who is striving to continually be formed in the faith themselves and fall deeper in love with God. It is necessary for you to know the basic tenets of your faith and to be practicing the faith (fulfilling your Sunday and Holy Days Mass obligation, getting to Confession once a year, receiving the Eucharist at least once a year around Easter, helping provide for the needs of the Church), but you do not need to be a saint already to join us in the mission.
In regard to possibly leading the youth astray, know that teaching the faith to anyone is a huge opportunity to bring them either closer to the truth or farther away from it. Know that you do not need to know the all the answers, but you do need to know how to ask for help. The beauty of our faith is that Jesus tells us he is “the way, the truth, and the life” so even if we do not know an answer, we can find it. The Catechism, the Bible, other youth ministry volunteers, and the staff of St. Hubert are your companions on this journey (for your personal formation too!). It is a great witness to the youth in showing them that if they don’t know an answer, they can find it too!
A more serious note: we never want to make up an answer to a question on the faith that we don’t know or, even worse, intentionally contradict the Church’s teachings because we may not agree with them or fully understand them. Jesus’ words are “Whichever one of you causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea” (Mark 9:42). “Yikes” in response to that would be the greatest understatement of all time. Be comfortable with not being able to a question in the moment and waiting to get an answer.