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To better serve the needs of children and young people, the archdiocese has brought its Catechetical Office and Office of Youth Ministry “under one roof” in the newly created Office of Youth Faith Formation.
Ela Milewska, who had served as director of the Office of Youth Ministry for the past two years, will serve as executive director of the Office of Youth Faith Formation, which opened July 1.
Ms. Milewska has more than 20 years of youth ministry experience on the parish, diocesan and national levels, and is a doctoral candidate in catechesis at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She also was the coordinator of the National Initiative on Adolescent Catechesis, a collaborative project of several national organizations.
Ms. Milewska told CNY she sees her role as “bridge-builder, advocate and visionary for the two offices.”
“How do we help families and young people stay engaged in the Church from pre-K to at least 12th grade?” asked Ms. Milewska, noting that one national study shows a point of departure from the Church for some as young as age 13.
In a memo to department heads in the archdiocese announcing the new office, Cardinal Dolan explained, “Catholics—parents and young people—unfortunately consider the Sacrament of Confirmation to be ‘graduation’ from catechesis. Faith formation is a lifelong process, and it is our hope and belief that we can better serve our youth by bringing the Catechetical and Youth Ministry offices together.
“Rather than ‘ticking off the box’ of Confirmation and then disappearing, we hope we can better encourage the alumni of our catechetical programs to blend into the many programs offered by the Office of Youth Ministry,” the cardinal said.
Ms. Milewska said the new office will seek to promote best practices as well as “points of collaboration” between the Catechetical and Youth Ministry offices, all in an attempt “to help parishes and pastors with their needs.”
Working closely with Ms. Milewska will be two veterans of archdiocesan ministry, Sister Joan Curtin, C.N.D., the longtime director of the archdiocesan Catechetical Office, and Cynthia Psencik, who was appointed director of the Office of Youth Ministry July 1.
Sister Joan, who has headed the Catechetical Office since 1985, said any collaboration between the Catechetical Office and the Office of Youth Ministry that fosters “ongoing faith formation of young people will be a plus,” and that she thinks the Office of Youth Faith Formation will be a “natural” avenue to bring about such collaboration.
Directors and coordinators of religious education and youth ministers all have “a common mission” in their parishes, which is to help the children, as well as younger and older adolescents in their charge “stay close to Jesus and the Church,” Sister Joan said.
The Catechetical Office also provides training for parish leaders and teams to conduct the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), known as the Catechumenate, in which adults enter or make full communion with the Church at the Easter Vigil. Oscar Cruz is the director of the Catechumenate.
One area of collaboration discussed by Ms. Milewska, Mrs. Psencik and Sister Joan is a professional day with the directors and coordinators of religious education and the youth ministers of a particular region. The two offices are also sharing calendars, so they are alert to planning that may be beneficial, Sister Joan said.
Mrs. Psencik, the newly appointed director of youth ministry, did youth ministry work in the Catechetical Office from 2007 to 2012, before she became associate director in the newly formed Youth Ministry office, first under Father Joseph Espaillat and then for the past two years under Ms. Milewska. She also worked from 2004 to 2007 in the Hispanic Affairs Office, now Hispanic Ministry.
During her tenure with Ms. Milewska, the office piloted its Domus (Latin for house) program of building parish youth ministry programs. That involved recruiting team members, conducting a needs assessment with the parish community, designing a long-range youth ministry plan and working closely with the parish for a year. Pilot programs have been completed at St. Anthony in Yonkers and Holy Trinity in Poughkeepsie, and one is under way at St. Augustine in New City. Additional parishes are planning to take up the Domus program in the coming year.
“We want to help our parishes build a home where both young people and God could dwell together, and a home in young people’s hearts that Christ could reside in,” Ms. Milewska said.
For her part, Mrs. Psencik said she is looking to continue “the great work that’s already been happening” in the Youth Ministry Office, while adding “my own twist.” She said her strengths include a deep understanding of how the archdiocese works, the many working relationships she has built throughout the years, an alertness to what’s happening on the national level and how it fits locally, and an abiding passion for the work she does.
One of Ms. Psencik’s priorities will be to find a good candidate to succeed her as associate director. The other staff members are Sister Mary T. Naccarato, P.B.V.M., Northern regional coordinator, and Carlos Gutierrez, Southern regional coordinator.
A challenge is working to improve the professionalism of parish youth ministers who are serving on a volunteer basis. Teaming up as “partners in ministry” with directors of religious education and catechists is a good first step, Mrs. Psencik said.
“Our kids are hungry,” she said. “They want our Lord to fill that desire. How do we enable our youth ministers to see that and respond to that?”
