BEACH CATHOLIC MISSIONS
Our Purpose
Our Church has been hemorrhaging young people for decades. Over the past 10 years the pace of this trend has accelerated dramatically. Beach Catholic Missions was formed as a powerful antidote to this pandemic of indifference. We are a “street-level” evangelization operation that will draw both practicing and non-practicing parishioners (as well as non-Catholics) into the life of the Church.
The Problem
The statistics are alarming:
4 out of 10 millennials say they have no religious affiliation – many say they’re “spiritual” but not religious meaning they’re thirsty, but they’re just not interested in what the Church is serving:
7 out of 10 Catholics do not believe in the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist:
8 out of 10 Catholics do not regularly attend mass and more than half of those under 30 have left the Church altogether.
There’s a spiritual longing amongst today’s youth – an emptiness they want to have filled. They have a hunger for community that’s palpable.
Mental health, suicide and hopelessness has skyrocketed, even before the pandemic began. There is a strong inverse correlation between mental health and our youth’s faith tanking.
The Solution
As leaders of our faith community, we must get creative and come up with out of
the box solutions and try new approaches to RE-ENGAGE with our youth and bring
them back into our faith community.
How we do that – well it starts first by connecting 1:1 with them. By listening to
them and making sure they feel heard.
The antidote to disconnection is community. Historically – these kids have viewed the church as a bureaucracy. By fostering 1:1 connections with them – and
meeting them where they’re at, we’ll welcome them and facilitate building a
spiritual community that allows them to feel God’s love, mercy and compassion.
The Ask
Our goal is to raise $100,000 in support of launching this most worthy program.
We envision hiring (4) Full Time missionaries – who’s salary will be paid out of the Beach Catholic Parish Budgets.
Due to Diocesan constraints – we are setting up this non-profit entity to support additional funding requirements such as housing and program expenses.
