In my years of youth ministry I have been blessed to work with adolescents in a variety of settings. Involved with my parish youth ministry program as a teenager, I began to sense the importance of sharing my faith with my peers. In college this interest grew into a passion as I continued to participate in retreats and began to assume leadership roles within campus ministry programs.

As my years on campus drew to a close, I decided try full-time ministry in the Catholic Church by committing to a year of volunteer work in youth ministry and retreats. Living and working at a youth retreat center during that year, I also served as a part-time parish coordinator of youth ministry.

The joys and challenges of that year lead me back to graduate school to deepen my understanding of theology and pastoral praxis. After graduating from the master of divinity program I took on the role of director of youth ministry in a suburban parish where my major challenge was to set a vision for the ministry and motivate others to share in that vision and work to bring it to fruition.

Following three years of laying the strong foundation of a comprehensive model of parish youth ministry, I felt the call of God to change the setting of my ministry while continuing to serve the young church. In taking up the role of assistant director of pastoral ministry at a large urban Jesuit high school I faced many new challenges as I attempted to transfer my ministry skills to a new setting.

Working within the structure of a Catholic (and in my case, Jesuit) school offers many benefits to ministry with adolescents while also providing a different set of challenges. In the parish I felt more room for flexibility and creativity in programming and scheduling. Ministry within the school setting is supervised on many more levels (department chairs, principal, president, board of trustees) who all want a say in how the ministry is structured or run. Their vision of ministry with adolescents is often limited to the programs already in place. Any calendar planning is done at least one or two years ahead of time—which is helpful in coordinating a consistent and stable program, yet also leaves little room for the adaptation and incorporation of new ideas.

Another challenge is one of ministerial identity. Many colleagues in the parish view themselves as sharing in the ministry of the church, yet those in the school operate out of a different vision. They view their role primarily as educators—specifically of their subject areas. Integrating the adult community into a comprehensive vision of youth ministry provides a greater challenge than I experienced in the parish setting.

Working within the school setting provides many benefits in comparison to the parish. The adolescents are present each day allowing for more consistent contact and formal opportunities for formation and programming. The entire institution is directed towards the needs of adolescents—and in the best case scenarios the campus minister is an integral part of defining the responses to those needs. One of the greatest gifts we can offer young people is appropriate relationships with caring and faithful adults. Many of the teachers and coaches in a Catholic school build these relationships with their students and athletes every day. One part of the role of the campus or pastoral minister is to help foster these relationships and provide the skills and training to strengthen the other adults for their important role in the lives of our young people.

Overall, ministry within the school and parish share many fundamental challenges and gifts of ministry with adolescents. In building up the kingdom of God, those involved in these ministries should work together to build bridges and collaborate for the good of the young church.