"We need to deeply understand that the gateway to young people's hearts and minds is their experience of us as a community and force in the world. We are our best or worst apologetic for the faith . We need to rediscover what it means to be a community of disciples, who humbly love and serve one another and the surrounding world. We need to rediscover, on some meaningful level, how to relate to one another as a Christian community."

Conditioned by their own parish experience, parents may see little practical benefit in church commitment, apart from being a sacramental provider for their children. Many may feel spiritually undernourished and under-challenged themselves. Others may question the practical relevancy of the Church after consuming a steady diet of homilies that emphasize what we believe (doctrine) rather than how we should live (practical application). Not experiencing a strong relational attachment to their parish, perhaps they have found community and a deeper emotional connection within other contexts such as their children's school or sports circles. Not experiencing a strong sense of vision or mission in their parish, parents may have found one in their children's activities or competitive endeavours. In other words, parents are what they are because the Church is what she is.

"Immanuelization

... involves shifting our efforts from an individualistic and cognitive approach to faith to an authentically communal and experiential expression of faith.

... means rediscovering an embodied expression of the gospel, where our faith communities are an authentic Sacramental experience.

... means focusing upon building a powerful experience of affiliative faith as an essential foundation for successfully navigating searching faith and eventually landing upon owned faith.

... means attracting young people to Jesus because they experience his genuine presence in our community."