Art of Forming Young Disciples set

The Art of Forming Young Disciples: Why Youth Ministries Aren't Working and What to Do About It by Everett Fritz

Not long ago, veteran Youth Minister Everett Fritz counted the number of his former Youth Group members who were still practicing the Faith.

The result? Almost all of them had left the Faith!

Fritz learned that other parishes reported similar staggering losses, pointing to a grim truth: today’s Youth Ministries simply do not form young people into lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.

Not satisfied with these dismal results, Fritz devised a different way of forming young people in the Faith. It’s an approach that can truly transform the spiritual lives of young people by applying the same one-to-one personal method that Jesus Himself used to form his twelve original disciples . . . only one of whom was lost!

Fritz has worked with countless parishes, helping them make the shift to a small-group discipleship structure. You’ll learn to avoid the many pitfalls and common mistakes parishes make, as well as ways you can easily build the volunteer base needed for a successful transition.

He will help you create a comfortable environment that leads young people into self-reflection, as well as the critical role parents and the parish community play in youth formation.

Finally, Fritz shares various resources that can help you accomplish your goal. But he warns: you’re not running a program that has been pre-developed. Relationships and mentoring make disciples; programs do not.

If you’re troubled by the number of young people in your parish who leave the Faith year after year, then open these illuminating pages and learn the art of forming young disciples.

Paperback, 128 pages.

ISBN: 9781622824823

Spiritual Handbook for Catholic Evangelists: How to Win Souls without Losing Your Own by Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard

Nearly a century ago, the Trappist monk Jean-Baptiste Chautard sat in the silence of his cell and wrote this classic book, showing us how to live in the noise and bustle of the world and to win more souls for Christ.

Praised by Pope St. Pius X, Pope Benedict XV, and by many cardinals and bishops, Spiritual Handbook for Catholic Evangelists was an instant hit when it was first published in 1912, and has since been read with gratitude by hundreds of thousands of busy parents, teachers, preachers, catechists, and other Christians working in the world to save souls without losing their own.

Generations of Christians have turned to this book because Fr. Chautard understands — and here offers sure remedies for — the particular spiritual problems that afflict all of us who try to bring others to Christ. He explains how to avoid the self-righteousness and pride that bring down successful apostles, and the indifference and despair that hobble unsuccessful ones.

Relying on the spiritual wisdom of the greatest saints and mystics of the Church (from St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas to St. Francis de Sales and St. John of the Cross), Spiritual Handbook for Catholic Evangelists shows you how to achieve each of the three essential goals that you must accomplish in your apostolic efforts: you must win souls to Christ; you must promote your own spiritual welfare; and you must give glory to God.

Here is a spiritual handbook that will help you grow closer to Jesus as you spread His gospel, and will make it easier for you — by your words and your example — to lead ever more souls to Him.

Paperback, 192 pages.