[00:00:00] Jim Jansen: Hey everybody, welcome to the EquipCast, a weekly podcast for the Archdiocese of Omaha. I'm your host, Jim Jansen. Now let's dive into some encouragement and inspiration to equip you to live your faith and to be fruitful in your mission. Let's go.

Hey everybody, welcome to the EquipCast Coach's Corner, where I break down important topics to equip you and your team for mission. In your family, in your church, and in your ministry. Alright, so my name is Jim Jantzen and today I'm going to talk about connecting school parents to your clear path of discipleship.

So, after about like five conversations on the same thing, I can usually get the hint and realize like, hey, there's, there's something stirring here and maybe I should talk about this. So, here's what I want to do today. I want to talk about connecting school parents, uh, to a parish's clear path of [00:01:00] discipleship, but I just want to start, right, with just kind of the honest assessment of where we're at, I want to talk about some of the frustration, and then I want to talk about, like, okay, so what do we do, to be honest, right?

We just got to start there. Schools are a really big investment. I mean, the time, energy, money, and facilities that we dedicate to the education of young people is significant, but it bears fruit. Just go look at the data on what education does for poverty, what it does for faith, what it does, especially amongst minorities.

The likelihood that children will continue to practice their faith in adulthood when they've had the benefit of a Catholic education is significant. And yes, even though Jesus directed His ministry to the evangelization of adults, He wants children to come to Him. He gets kind of annoyed when we misguidedly try and stop them.

But if we're honest, we have to admit that our schools are kind of vulnerable. The [00:02:00] educational, financial, and cultural challenges are really intense right now. And there's probably even a greater challenge that's really at the very foundation they rest on. You see, the very foundation that they rest on is melting away.

That's our parishes, right? Most of our parish schools in the United States are dependent upon the parishes for the facilities and finances to do what they do. But that foundation is melting away. I mean, the vast majority of our parishes are shrinking unless you're in a high growth real estate market out in the suburbs, or unless you have a lot of immigration, that's increasing the numbers of people moving into your area and families.

Most parishes are shrinking, and larger and larger percentages of the parish budget are going towards the school as the inflation adjusted giving continues to go down. And even worse, we're headed for a giving cliff. Baby boomers who make up the [00:03:00] most significant givers in the church right now, they're not going to live forever.

And as they pass their wealth on to a generation that is less financially likely to give to Catholic education and give to the church, there's a major challenge ahead. And it's deeper than that. More than money, it's the prayer, the love, the faith of the parish and the parents that really make our schools work.

I mean, ask any pastor, ask any principal, any, any Catholic educator. It doesn't work if Catholic education becomes a commodity, if it's just something that's bought and sold, if it's simply private education. And that's especially true for those who are stuck in cycles of poverty, and they need education to get out.

They don't have the resources to buy that commodity. It's almost as though we have this beautiful little igloo that's educating children where beautiful things are happening, but that igloo is resting in an iceberg that is rapidly [00:04:00] melting away. And it doesn't matter how beautiful The activities that happen inside that igloo are, eventually, if we don't attend to the iceberg, the igloo will fall off into the ocean.

And maybe one more thing, I can't help but acknowledge the deep frustration that so many parish leaders feel as they think about the school families that don't attend Sunday Mass. I mean, it's heartbreaking for our priests to hear confessions from children who miss mass. It's really not their fault.

They're not old enough to drive yet. It seems like sports and other activities are more important. That's hard for the parish leaders. That's hard for the teachers. And it's an injustice for the faith community of parishes to subsidize the education of families, children, and then feel like the most important invitation, that the best part of who we are as a community of faith, the invitation to Sunday Mass, seems to be ignored.

Now, I have to say, I appreciate that [00:05:00] frustration. But if I can, I want to challenge us to think a little bit differently. In two ways, I want us to think a little differently about the opportunity, and I want us to think a little bit different about the roles. So, first off, opportunity. Okay, yes, so many parents are not attending Sunday Mass.

And that's sad. But there's also an opportunity there. Stop and think about the fact that they trust us with their kids. I mean, thanks to the efforts of Safe Environment over the last 20 years, the Catholic Church is one of the safest places for a child. But that's not the message that's been in the media for the last few decades.

And the fact that a millennial parent would trust a Catholic Church with their children is an amazing and beautiful thing. And that's an opportunity. There are very few places where millennials come looking for the Catholic Church. But Catholic education is one of those places. So, let's think about roles.

I want to challenge you to think a little bit differently [00:06:00] about roles. Sometimes, if we're honest about the frustrations, if we're honest about the challenges, it can quickly turn into a blame game. And that's not fair. That's not fair to anybody, and it doesn't actually help anything. So, I'm gonna suggest it's the parents’ job to make disciples of children, not the schools, not the parishes.

It's the parents’ job. The school can help, the parish can help, but all the data shows parents are the ones who have the grace. I encourage you to go reference the work of Christian Smith from Notre Dame. All the data shows, sociologically, that parents are by far the number one influencer of the faith of their children in adulthood.

Nothing else even comes close. Youth ministry doesn't come close. Religious education doesn't come close. Mission trips. Catholic schools. Nothing even comes close to the impact. that parents have on the faith of their children. It's their job to make disciples of children, and the school and the parish help. [00:07:00] 

In particular, it's the parish's job to evangelize and form those parents, to prepare them for that unbelievably sacred task of passing on the faith to the next generation. And it's the school's job to help bridge the trust that they've won with parents, by educating the children, by loving them. to bridge that trust to the parish evangelization and formation efforts.

All right, so what do we do? Well, I'm going to suggest that the best thing we can do for our kids is to make disciples of their parents. And that means the evangelization of adults needs to be our first priority. Again, I referenced the work of Christian Smith from Notre Dame. The best thing we can do for our kids’ faith is to make disciples of their parents.

Our tradition of supporting parents in the education of their children flows from the primary commission to evangelize and make disciples of adults. I mean, that's what Jesus did. He let the children come to him, but he gave all of his time and [00:08:00] energy to the evangelization of adults. And if we're going to live out that priority of evangelization, it's going to have consequences for our budget, for our personnel.

I'll let you all decide what those consequences are, but if we're really going to take it seriously, it will impact the way we use our facilities, the way we use our budget, and how we arrange our personnel. No school is going to be able to live up to its potential if the parish isn't evangelizing and forming adults for their role as parents and as missionaries to the neighborhood.

Well, how do we do that? Well, surprise, build a clear path of discipleship, but build one that's accessible to school parents. Right. Evangelization, you know, is, is become kind of a buzzword in the church today, but all evangelization is, is it goes back to the great commission where Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations.

Evangelization is the making. and maturing of adult disciples. First, it means fostering conversion of [00:09:00] people who aren't believers or who aren't practicing, and then it means equipping them to be mature disciples and then eventually fruitful missionary disciples in their families, you know, think parents to kids, in their neighborhoods, in their professions.

And all a clear path is, is a plan for evangelization that allows a parish to meet, in this case, school parents, wherever they are in their faith journey and help them take the next step. It's the plan that the parish has to make and mature disciples of their school parents. Now, if you want to learn more about that, I encourage you to check out some of the other episodes.

There's a whole series on what a clear path is, how to build a clear path. I just want to give you four pro tips as you set out to build a clear path of discipleship that's accessible to school parents. Number one, childcare. This is an essential ministry, and you have teenagers, and you have empty nesters who just can't wait to be grandparents.

[00:10:00] Assemble them into a ministry of childcare so that the events in the evening, which seem kind of unavoidable for parents that are working full time, so those events are actually accessible. Don't divide families. Don't force someone to stay home and another person don't force them to pay for childcare and see if they can find a trustworthy teenager to come over.

Provide the childcare. Number two, missionary parents. None of this works by programs or ministry alone, it only works when you get truly missionary parents, people who love the Lord, right, they are parents, and they can work the sidelines, and they can connect with their peers, you know, dance rehearsals, like, the missionary parents are what make a clear path of discipleship work.

So don't hesitate to invest in them. It's the only thing that will really make the difference. Number three, listen to your school parents. Ask them what they want. Ask them what they need. And don't try and plan a clear path of discipleship [00:11:00] without thoroughly listening to them and involving them in the process.

Finally, number four. Sacramental moments, even if there's a depth of understanding that's missing about the importance of a child's first confession, first communion, confirmation, there's still a great instinct in the heart of most parents and most families that this is an important moment and they want to be a part of it and they want it to be special for their child.

Those moments present an opportunity to capture the hearts and minds of the parents when they're disposed to grace. All right. Let me pray for us. Amen. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you and we praise you for the beauty of our Catholic schools, the parents and families and children that you have drawn to us.

We ask that you would open our hearts and our minds to see the plan that you have to evangelize them, to equip them and mature them as disciples. Lord, give us love and patience and hope as we set [00:12:00] out on this endeavor. Amen. Alright. What are your thoughts? I would love to hear your thoughts, stories of your efforts.

To engage school parents in your Clear Path of Discipleship. You can respond back in the chat at equip.ArchOmaha.org. Thanks everybody. Thanks for listening to the EquipCast. We hope this episode has inspired you to live your faith and equip you to be fruitful in your mission. Stay connected with us by going to equip.archomaha.org. God bless and see you next time.