While it is now technically called Youth Faith Formation at our parish, it is Sunday School class. I teach 9th grade, and this is my third year to do so. I’ve seen a pattern through the years in that we start off with good numbers at the beginning but by the end of the year we wind up with about four who regularly attend.

At this age students can make some of their own decisions like to stay at home or to go to another church. Being a convert, it’s disappointing to see the numbers for attendance slowly go down each week. Unfortunately, it’s not just Sunday School numbers that are sliding but mass attendance as well.

What can be done to bring Catholics back to mass? The Catholic Show is a podcast that offers their insight on how to bring Catholics back. Other churches offer a complete array of services at their church that might be a trend that Catcholic churches may want to study. I think as Catholics we can learn a lot from other chuches about getting people involved in church. As a former Baptist, I try and bring some of what I think will help keep students coming to Sunday School into the classroom. Of couse, 9th grade is just a difficult age to be too interested in church. Hopefully some of the lessons and messages will stick with them.