CHARLOTTE — Ministry to teenagers and young people is typically a hands-on, in-person outreach. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Diocese of Charlotte’s Youth Ministry has taken its work into the digital space – and the effort has had unexpected benefits.
Of particular note is the Diocesan Youth Advisory Council, a group of high school students and adult mentors. It has launched virtual meetings to continue its work promoting and developing plans for youth ministry in the diocese and the annual Diocesan Youth Conference. With its shift to virtual meetings, the DYAC had to cancel all of its events and was left unable to recruit members from in-person parish visits. But online meetings lend themselves to a greater ease in attendance because DYAC members are no longer limited by driving distances or meeting room sizes.
Inspired by the potential upsides, Paul Kotlowski, diocesan youth ministry director, reached out to pastors and youth ministers and encouraged them to invite their young people to consider joining the DYAC. The effort resulted in gaining new DYAC members.
Sixteen youth and their adult mentors met last month during a video conference session, covering topics such as exploring possible themes for the 44th annual Diocesan Youth Conference, the challenges that the pandemic has brought for young people, and ways the group could address those challenges.
Kotlowski said the video meetings will continue for the foreseeable future.
“Although we hope to be able to host an actual gathering in 2021,” he noted, “we’re not certain that we will be able to do so, as there are so many yet-to-be realized answers to questions such as: Will there be a viable vaccine? Will our event venue be open and able to accommodate us? Will people be comfortable at large gatherings?”
Libby Obermiller, a senior at Christ the King High School and member of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, is a member of the DYAC. She has been involved in youth ministry since the sixth grade and has served on the DYAC since her junior year.
“DYAC has had a very positive impact on my faith. It has allowed me to grow closer to God with other high school students who share the same desires and values as me and who challenge me to become the best version of myself,” Obermiller said. “I am hoping that, through my participation in DYAC, I will not only be able to share my love of the Catholic faith with my friends and peers but also help others to grow in their faith.”
John Sentilles, a junior in high school and parishioner of Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury, has served on the DYAC for two years.
“For me, it definitely deepens my faith and opens me up to how other people my age see the modern world through the Church,” Sentilles said. “Hopefully, I can in some way inspire at least one person to seek a relationship with God.”
Sentilles said he looks forward to a time when he and his fellow youth ministry participants can reconnect more in person.
“Once it is safe to go back to activities within your parish, there is no reason to not participate, even if you feel like you don’t need the Church in any way right now,” he emphasized. “We all need to get back out into a normal setting around friends, or people you might befriend after this quarantine, to be in the same headspace we were before, because nothing is normal right now.”
Kotlowski said he sees one of the silver linings in all of this “is that the pandemic is forcing us to consider ways and means to better use available technology, which will allow us to better reach our youth and expand our reach by creating events that are potentially in-person and virtual simultaneously.”
—SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter