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Evaluation of Parish Youth Ministry

Last Revised on February 24, 2011

The Youth Ministry Effectiveness Tool is designed to assess the effectiveness of youth ministry in your parish by asking a series of questions of youth ministry leaders. The Parish Youth Ministry Leadership Committee members should complete the assessment as accurately and honestly as possible. During this process committee members should be sure to keep in mind the environment and realities of the parish as they currently exist--not as they may/could/should exists at some point in the future.

It should be noted that this instrument is designed as a resource to assist you in discovering where your ministry to, with, and for young people could be enhanced. It is not intended as an indictment against parish leadership or as a means of demeaning ministry efforts currently underway.

How To Use This Tool

First and foremost, this tool requires a committee. Completing the process with one person, however well intentioned, limits the perspective. Here are a few ways your team may consider using this tool:

Within the Context of Meetings

Some parishes have had great success completing the assessment tool at meetings and have conversations around the topics at meetings. Using the tool this way, you must be prepared to spend the better part of a year working through the list. Taking this time is not a bad thing – the tool is meant to assist you to determine the strengths and weaknesses in the parish.

Let Team Members Vote

Gather as a team and give orientation of the tool, have team members to fill out the assessment individually to gather in the large group again using everyone’s input to determine the score. Then follow up with discussion.

Start Here

Use it as a jumping off point if youth ministry is new to the parish. To help name strengths that already exist, gather a team to assess what the gifts are of the community.

Regardless of how your team utilizes the Effectiveness Tool, the process is not complete until CYM staff members have met with your team to discuss the results. The expertise CYM brings to the table will be helpful in determining if your answers are accurate or if your team has short changed your ministry. Sometimes, the expert is the guy (or girl) from out of town, who simply brings a different perspective to a situation.

To download the Youth Ministry Effectiveness Tool, please click here.

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