An Institutional and Status Analysis of Youth Ministry1 in the Archdiocese of Detroit
Journal Title: Religions - Year 2016, Vol 7, Issue 5
Abstract
This study finds that a weak institutional infrastructure of youth and young adult (YYA) ministry exists in the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit (AOD). This helps to explain why there is a disconnect between the Archdiocese proclaiming YYA ministry as a top priority since 1995 and youth ministers self-reporting that they feel like second-class citizens. Moreover, this disconnect is occurring in an increasingly social context in which the current generations of young Catholics are participating less in their faith than previous generations. Interviews with 44 youth ministers and 12 pastors reveal details of this disconnect between archdiocesan policy which states YYA ministry is a top priority and the practices of the archdiocese which indicate otherwise. Youth ministers are marginalized workers who feel insecure about their employment, causing many to obtain second jobs or routinely search for better employment. The sociology of organization literature, particularly the concepts of decoupling and social status are discussed to help explain this disconnect. Data are interpreted and the conclusions made that ecclesial officials take youth ministry for granted and that a weak institutional infrastructure of youth ministry continues in the AOD.
Authors and Affiliations
Michael McCallion, John Ligas and George Seroka
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP25545
- DOI https://doi.org/10.3390/rel7050048
- Views 295
- Downloads 7
Bickmann, Claudia. “The Idea of a Highest Divine Principle— Founding Reason and Spirituality. A Necessary Concept of a Comparative Philosophy?” Religions 3 (2012): 1025–40
The author wishes to add the following correction to her paper published in Religions [1]: Reference [28] on pages 1035 and 1040 should be [27] and the citation to [27] on p. 1035 should be removed. The author apologiz...
Characteristics of Extraordinary Religious Phenomena Accompanying the Christian Religious Experience—Reflection
This paper presents an attempt to discuss in more detail the question of understanding of religious experience in the context of the Christian religion, as well as to show the characteristic extraordinary religious exp...
Redeeming Emotion-Focused Therapy: A Christian Analysis of Its Worldview, Epistemology, and Emphasis
While emotion-focused therapy (EFT) offers clinically useful information to Christian practitioners, its underlying worldview, epistemology, and emphasis present challenges for Christian therapists. This article advoca...
The Intersectionality of Religion and Social Welfare: Historical Development of Richmond’s Nonprofit Health and Human Services
Studying the intersectionality of religion and social welfare in Richmond, Virginia requires going back to the beginning of the Virginia colony. In the crucible of the colony, the religious and social welfare functions...
Sincere Performance in Pentecostal Megachurch Music
Drawing on the work of Webb Keane and Joel Robbins in the anthropology of Christianity, furnished with the influential work of Charles Hirschkind in the anthropology of Islam, and the ethnographic studies of Tom Wagner...