Other Dimensions
Another dimension of this formation puzzle exists with those who offer their time to form the young people – the catechists and program leaders. There is a wide discrepancy among these various formators of faith. While some see this role as a higher calling to pass on the faith to the next generation, many are busy volunteers with little or no training, who have not been well formed themselves, which only serves to perpetuate the cycle of inarticulation and lack of clarity around the Catholic identity that the young person is being taught. In addition, many adult catechists are not updated as to the current cultural milieu that makes up the adolescent world. It is a rapidly changing, technically challenging environment to comprehend that can overwhelm most adults to the point that connecting and relating to teens at their level becomes an anxiety ridden experience that some feel is better left up to others. The problem is that the Church is not preparing or calling forth these “others” and the pool of experienced and well-formed catechists for teenagers is shrinking.
These elements, along with larger ones such as non-cooperation and sometimes even competition among parish, school and homes, all contribute in their own way to the dysfunctional system that has created this present crisis in adolescent catechesis. So we end up with family and church systems that are not well-formed in faith, which use lackluster methods and outdated models to cover a particular theme in order to pass on this faith to the next generation. It is no wonder that Smith’s research uncovered the realities that it did – at best we are set up for mediocrity. We are in desperate need for a new direction..