By: Jay Sorgi
Oakland’s coordinator of youth and young adult ministries sees interpersonal connection becoming increasingly important
“Contact, connect, care and challenge.”
For years in his work at Holy Spirit Parish in Fremont, Joseph Nufable led his catechists and peer leaders to focus on what he called the four Cs of youth ministry – a deeply relational paradigm.
Now as coordinator of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Oakland, Nufable says even as youth conferences, retreats, sacramental preparation and catechetical teaching all have their place in youth ministry, fostering trustworthy relationships is becoming increasingly important in the effort to bring Christ to young people.
“We can’t get to that place of challenging them with a gospel unless we’ve made a really human, authentic encounter,” Nufable says.
“With young people, especially as a whole generation, we have to be willing to do that.”
The University of San Francisco graduate is in his fifth year in the role, and he sees that the recent growth in the Catholic Church, and how it’s trending right now, in popular culture, offer the Church an opportunity to more effectively reach young people.
“I see there’s a lot of good soil,” he says. “I think, for the most part, a lot of the U.S. Church has made good pivots, good adaptations.”
“YLS [Youth Leadership Summit] made me realize this wasn’t just an ‘era’ or a ‘phase’ – I really want to commit to building up my faith and help others on that path as well.”
–Azul A., Most Holy Rosary
He sees the church engaging in a pivot away from a more corporate form of engaging young people.
“For the most part, a lot of the U.S. Catholic Church has been trying to mimic the Protestant church in the sense of ‘Let’s get these mega youth groups, and gather a bunch of kids, stuff them with pizza, do a bunch of icebreakers, and they’ll stick around,’” he said.
“There was a lot of goodness to that, but I think it was entire generations, or at least a whole generation, that just missed the Gospel, that did not have an opportunity for a personal conversion.”
He explains that powerful, charismatic faith experiences such as the Steubenville Youth Conference still have their place in offering encounters with Jesus and the Eucharist.
But Nufable says that much of the leadership of Pope Francis has led to a philosophical shift in how many in Catholic youth ministry are seeing youth as a culture to evangelize – especially in innovating how ministers accompany individual young peoples’ journeys.
“YLS [Youth Leadership Summit] taught me that I have the skills and strengths to do something for my church in terms of leading others. I always thought that I’m too small or young to do anything impactful for my church, but after YLS I realize that I have a lot to offer for my parish.”
–Yesenia C., Queen of All Saints
“[They are] hearing the wisdom from Pope Francis of really seeing young people as protagonists, where young people aren’t just attending church, but they could be active members of the body of Christ. A lot of that language [involves] accompaniment, and listening to young people so that we could hear the signs of the times, so we could be more precise and accurate as we preach the Gospel to young people, to their culture.”
Much of ministry often involves guiding people into spaces where they can feel less distracted and more able to see how God is communicating to them. In a technology and social media culture with nearly unlimited ability for surface-level connections, Nufable says it’s often harder to get young people to encounter more deeply.
“What technology did to us and the way we relate, we have the illusion that having more contacts makes us more connected. That’s not necessarily true. How do you kind of help young people heal from these mentalities or these perspectives?” he says.
“How do we meet them, even in that place of the difficulty with intimacy, to walk with them to that place where they are comfortable with the human connection, and then developing the human connection? That’s super crucial, especially with young people.”
That’s where, Nufable says, the skill sets of relationality and mentorship play a critical role.
I have never felt closer to God than I did at YLS, mostly because I saw God in every single person … I have friends who sharpen me as iron sharpens iron. I am no longer alone, but I have a faithful, God-loving community.
–Ava P., St. Joan of Arc
“If I want to serve young people, I have to be willing to grow as a person and be willing to understand what their experiences are – and be willing to go through the formation that’s necessary,” he says.
“What is a young person facing? What are their needs? How can we help the adults who have said yes to the call to serve young people adapt to those needs? I guess it’s always been the conversation, but a lot of it now has been what discipleship looks like with a young person.”
Nufable says that connection and relational ministry doesn’t replace the bedrocks of Catholic teaching, but they are a critical vehicle to help young people understand and accept them.
“You’ll hear Bishop [Michael] Barber, SJ, talk about this a lot. He wants good catechesis and good evangelization in the parish,” Nufable says.
“Have they really taken a look at God’s love in their life? Have they looked at where in their life they need Jesus to save? Having those conversations in a way where there’s question and dialogue, where you could put at the center the biggest questions of the human heart, have the opportunity to hear what the young person has to say, then propose what the Church has been saying and how that relates. Then see where they are open for more exploration of the faith.”