On this episode of Footsteps to Heaven, Terry Modica talks with Michael Snellen, the founder of the Sacred Heart Christian apostolate. Michael shares about the faith of young men in Gen Z, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on active participation in the faith, and how to welcome young men in a parish. To learn more about his ministry visit: sacredheartchristiancreators.com
Video Excerpt:
Terry Modica: What would you say would be, other than a young adults group, what would you say is something that they could do? Something that would be important for a parish to have available to them, to encourage them to reach out to them and get more of them to come to church or to get them committed and involved?
Michael Snellen: Yeah, so I’ll tell a brief story, like going back to my day at the Baptist Church, like whenever anybody first came to that church, they would, well, every service, they would say, do we have any new members here today? Raise your hand. So you do that. And they would say, come to the front. Then they would give you like a welcome package. And everybody in the church would like shake your hand by the end of the day. And so when I first went to a Catholic church on my own, making that decision, it was like July 4th. So coming up like on the anniversary of that, but going into that mass, like I didn’t shake anybody’s hand, didn’t say hello to anybody. There was nobody standing outside to greet, then left the church, I think without speaking to one person. I did wave to one person on the way out. But so I went to the mass without like meeting anybody, without actually growing any sort of like bonds with anybody. And that can be bonds of friendship or family. And so I think something like that young people could probably do more at their parishes. And well, just to say like that, that experience actually kind of, well, got my spirits down.