MysteryJen Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 So, I was looking at youth groups for middle son, who is now a hs freshman and the parish that is closest to us (we do not attend for various reasons) has a youth group and they charge a $50 registration fee. Is this normal? In my admittedly ancient and Lutheran experience, youth group was free. It was a church sponsored outreach. I did look at some other parish youth groups and they seem to be free as well. I just need to know if my bad experience with this parish is coloring my reaction to this fee. Do any of your youth groups charge a registration fee? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustEm Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Mine does not charge a registration fee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I've never heard of one charging a fee ... that would turn me off as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Our kids attend a Wesleyan Church for youth group and there is no registration fee for regular stuff. There are occ. activities that require a small fee---like tubing, retreats, etc. but no child is ever turned away for inability to pay as they have funds to help those kids out. I know that 40 or so years ago my MIL had to pay for my husband to attend the Catholic church program but we have never had to pay any registration fees, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Yell Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Find out what the registration fee is for, and what activities are free and which ones have additional fees. I have never paid a fee for a church-sponsored youth group or 'kidz club'. AWANA and specific activities -such as bowling or laser tag- did have costs involved. Is it possible that the church has low funding? It does cost money to do background checks and provide snacks, study guide booklets, t-shirts, videos, music, etc. Does the youth group serve a uge number of kids whose families do not go to the church, and therefore don't contribute financially to the church? I'm not opposed to a fee, and personally I'd rather pay a fee than have to come up with $5 or $10 here and there, and also sign up for the snack rotation. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 This is a gigantic parish though the youth program has traditionally been very small for the size of church. I know "big" activities have an extra cost. I am just so very tired of the "$50 here and $25 dollars there" business of the fall. This has been a very expensive few months. I would not be surprised if I still had to sign up for snack rotation. :glare: See this is my bad attitude showing. I think I will just look for another group, even though it means I have to drive him there (he could bike to this group). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 When my kids were in youth group none of the other kids were particularly invested in the group and just sort of showed up whenever. It made it hard to plan and discouraging to the kids who always attended. Perhaps the fee makes it more of a commitment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynnae Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Does the fee offset other little things that would cost? Our youth group doesn't have a registration fee, but there are activities every month, most of which cost $5-$10. Could it be that they just collect money up front to pay for smaller activities? If that were the case, I wouldn't mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RanchGirl Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 It would not necessarily turn me off, but I would like to know the reason. Does that pay for weekly snacks? Field trips? Fun activities? If the church gives them no budget, they need to find a way to pay for that stuff. So my advice is to ask what the fee covers before you make your decision. If this is a nearby church with a solid program that would be a good fit for your child, I wouldn't let a $50 fee turn me off, especially if I felt the money was used wisely. Close enough that he can bike there - that might be worth $50 alone! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Ours does not. I've never heard of one that does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 There is a $20 fee in our parish. What annoys me is that my kids are *required* to participate in "regular" youth group activities as part of the preparation for Confirmation. (We still haven't done so and are running out of time.) I'm hoping that attending the youth mass will count. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I'm guessing it's mostly to elicit a sense of commitment. Sunday school at our last church charged for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 Well, the fee seems to be for a T-shirt and the costs associated with the once-a-month "large" group nights. Small groups meet at a different time and are mostly focused on confirmation prep. ds2 is already confirmed (the parish we attend does confirmation in 6th grade) and he can't make the small group night due to aikdo, his most favorite thing. Other activities such as a retreat/movie night/ etc have additional costs. So, this is really not what I was looking for. A regular youth group that meets weekly and does cheap/low cost activities for fun. Why, why can the Catholic parishes around me not figure this out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I never paid a fee for church activities. Is this a catholic church, by chance? I never had to pay for protestant activities, but fees for things in my DH's church (catholic) are quite common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 Yup, Catholic. We converted back when I had babies. I had no idea how hard it would be to find Catholic youth activities outside of the schools. This is a major source of frustration as I watch my teens drift away and I am barely hanging on as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 This isn't unusual for some of the youth programming at our church. I know the woman who used to do our kid's programming and one year at fall registration she did a power point on what the church spends on church programming vs. what parents are asked to contribute annually (and there are scholarship or opt out payment by working options available for families as well). It was then crystal clear why they were asking for something when you sign your child up for programming and ended a lot of the complaining about it. $50 a kid doesn't actually go very far if this is a year long activity. So that would not phase me at all. It would actually be about the cheapest kid's activity we have got going! I would be annoyed if they started nickel and diming you every week after that for additional money other than for a special event or field trip. ETA - I do also get the sense that people take activities more seriously if they do pay something for it. And I say this as someone who used to set up free homeschool stuff. I don't do free anymore unless I'm just inviting close personal friends because people don't respect it and don't show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 So, this is really not what I was looking for. A regular youth group that meets weekly and does cheap/low cost activities for fun. Why, why can the Catholic parishes around me not figure this out? That's not the way any parish around here does "youth group". They all offer confirmation prep weekly classes and once a month fun nights along with community service projects and summer work camp. Do any of your local parishes have youth service opportunities? Or big service projects that would allow teens to participate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 The parishes my children have been involved in combine youth groups with faith formation. They meet weekly, have other outside activities and events, plus catechesis. Sacramental prep would be included in the youth group. My 8th grade twins go to junior high youth group, meet every Wed., have movie nights and such, plus community service projects, and includes religious instruction. This will count towards their confirmation prep which will happen in 9th grade. There will be extra confirmation classes for them to attend next year. So all the fun stuff plus the serious stuff is all part of the youth group, and there has always been a charge for joining. I think this year it was $40 per child for registered families. The charge for families registered in other parishes is higher - or it was last year. Things have been changing with their new pastor. Are you just talking about social/fun type activities or religious education? We have always had to pay for our children to go to religious ed/youth group, but like I said, they're combined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 I have never heard of it, but sometimes I wonder how some churches make it financially. Everyone gets offended when the pastor preaches on giving, but the $ has to come from somewhere to run the church. And that's just the basics - pastor's salary, electricity, etc., not to mention the extras. We are a small church and our Session (elders) budgeted $500 for our VBS program, although they really just pulled that number out of thin air since nobody really knew how much it cost to run a VBS. A lot of people involved donated money and materials, but my co-director and I insisted that everyone turn in receipts, whether they wanted to reimbursed or not, just to see how much it really cost. So, for a week long VBS, planning for 40 kids, we spent well over $1000. And that was a pretty simple VBS. We didn't go all out. Dh and I send our kids to an Awana program that's not at our church and I know it costs the church at least $30/kid per year. They don't charge, but I do write out a donation check to cover our costs and then some. Things are expensive, people expect a lot. I don't know the financial position of the church in the OP, or their motivation for asking for a registration fee, but.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MysteryJen Posted August 22, 2014 Author Share Posted August 22, 2014 Our diocese is in a bit of a flux as parishes are being highly encouraged to offer confirmation earlier than high school. So the youth group that is intertwined with confirmation prep is not a good fit for us, as my kids were confirmed by age 12 in another parish. I am looking for a social group where my kid can meet other Catholic teens and have fun. The parish is enormous and it is very difficult to make friends there without a group of some kind. I am not opposed to a fee, but a fee for a monthly youth group is outside my experience and I was curious if others had the same thing. And if friendships are being forged in the confirmation prep group, he will be outside of that. A parish about 25 minutes away has more of what I was hoping for, but that is a long way on Sunday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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