Middle schoolers are a lively mix of energy, curiosity, and vulnerability. They can make you laugh one minute and leave you reflecting deeply the next. They’re still playful enough to dive into silly games, yet they’re also beginning to ask big questions about life, faith, and belonging. Watching their growth — in heart, mind, and spirit — is one of the great blessings of volunteering in this ministry.

Middle school today is a season of tremendous changes. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, everything is in motion. Puberty begins earlier, social awareness intensifies, and selfconsciousness grows. Add the pressures of social media, academic expectations, extracurricular activities, and family challenges, and it’s easy to see why many young people struggle to feel seen and valued. In this stage of discovery and uncertainty, the Church is called to walk with them — to help them know they are known, loved, and never alone in their journey of faith.

When middle schoolers show up and genuinely enjoy themselves, something powerful happens—they invite others. Joy is contagious. A few years ago, one of our eighth-grade girls attended a day retreat hosted by the Vicariate, and that experience changed her. The following week, she invited two of her classmates to come to youth ministry with her. Those two girls later completed their sacraments of initiation, and all three remain active in parish life—not just in youth ministry, but throughout the community. Now in high school, that same young woman continues to invite others to “come to church” with her. Her witness reminds me that when middle schoolers find joy and belonging in the Church, they naturally become its best evangelizers.

I have been a strong advocate for middle school youth ministry since I started working in the diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry many years ago. To this day, I continue to
volunteer at my parish specifically with our middle school youth ministry. I’ve seen what happens when young people are truly seen and listened to. Over the years, I’ve watched our middle schoolers become active in parish life — serving as ushers and lectors, helping at food distributions, packing bags for children in need, and assisting as catechist aides in our elementary religious education program. Many of them have continued in these ministries into
their young adulthood. When a young person knows they are noticed and valued, their faith takes root and grows.

The U.S. Bishops, in Listen, Teach, Send, remind us that the Church is called “to listen to young people, to teach them the Gospel, and to send them forth into the world, alive in the Spirit.”¹ That kind of accompaniment — encountering young people, being near to them, and being empathetic to their situation — means evangelizing before catechizing. It’s about earning their trust through relationship, not just teaching content. I’ll never forget when a young person once told me, “You actually care about me.” That moment captured the heart of discipleship: helping them hear Jesus say, “I see you, I love you, and you belong here,” through my witness.

Ministering to middle school youth isn’t about creating endless new programs—it’s about living he huakaʻi me nā ʻōpio, journeying with them in faith. When we lead with inclusion, empathy, and joy, we walk a sacred road filled with laughter, curiosity, and grace. Ministry that makes space for every young person to be seen and known reveals the heart of God’s Kingdom — joyful, diverse, and full of hope.