Archdiocese of Portland
Youth Ministry Update
Sept 28, 2004
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1. “Extreme makeover” for Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry website
2. Early Bird Deadlines Approaching for Archdiocesan Young Adult Conference
3. YMSP: Practices of Youth Ministry
4. Group Magazine Live Comes to Corvallis
5. WYD Celebration in Parishes – Oct 24, 2004
6. National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry Early Bird Deadlines Approaching
7. Young Neighbors in Action coming to Portland area in July 2005
8. Current Event Catechesis: 2004 Elections
10. Only Two NET Retreat Dates Still Available
11. Archdiocesan Youth Conference Registration Material Available Soon
12. International World Youth Day / National Catholic Youth Conference
The new and improved website for the Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry is up and running at www.archdpdx.org/ym. The site is designed for adults who work with youth and will provide instant info and downloads pertaining to services of the office. As events approach, most of the brochures, flyers, posters, and forms for each event will now be available online 24/7. You’ll also find active links in this newsletter that will take you directly to specific sections of our website. You can subscribe and unsubscribe to our email YM Update as well as our surface mailings. There’s bound to be some bugs to work out, so please tell us if you find any. Also let us know what you’d like to see available on the website. Happy surfing!
The Archdiocesan Young Adult Conference (YAC) will take place at the beautiful Resort at the Mountain on Nov 5-7, 2004. Archbishop Vlazny will preside at our closing liturgy. This year’s conference will be focused on the decision making process of young adults in life-changing areas such as career, relationships, and faith. Special lodging rates at the Resort at the Mountain have been extended to Oct 12. After that, rooms at Resort at the Mountain may or may not be available at conference rates. The Early Bird Registration rates are only good for registrations postmarked by Oct 15. For more information, including downloads of the registration brochure and poster, visit www.archdpdx.org/ym/yac04.htm.
There’s still space available for the Oct 2-3 Practices of Youth Ministry, the second of eight classes in the Youth Ministry Studies Program. Learn how to vision, plan, schedule, and implement a comprehensive youth ministry in your parish or school setting. All coordinators of youth ministry, youth ministers, pastors, DRE’s and volunteers are invited to attend this two-day workshop at the Griffin Center in Milwaukie, Oregon. Team rates are available. Visit www.archddpx.org/ym/training.htm for more info and a registration flyer.
Looking for some fresh ideas or a creativity boost for your youth ministry? Need an easy, inexpensive way to fire up your volunteers? Group Magazine Live is day-long youth ministry workshop for anyone ministering to youth. St. Mary Parish in Corvallis will be hosting this event on Saturday, October 9 from 9am-2:30pm. Cost is $59 for individuals, but only $45 for groups of 2 to 9 or for college students and includes lunch. Walk-in’s are welcome, but tuition will be an additional $10. You can register online and find more info at www.groupmag.com/gml.
This year in the US, World Youth Day in Parishes is celebrated on Sunday, Oct 24, the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time. We strongly encourage parishes to recognize and celebrate the young church of western Oregon at their Masses that weekend. Some parishes involve youth in the liturgical ministries of the weekend Masses. Some parishes invoke a special blessing on their youth. Some parishes have their youth reflect on the Gospel of that weekend, collect ideas of how the Gospel impacts their lives, and forward their ideas to their pastor to use as an aid to his homily preparation for that weekend. We have a few copies left of the excellent resource, Living Justice, Proclaiming Peace: 2004 Youth Ministry Resource Manual ($15), which contains liturgical suggestions for WYD in Parishes. For more history, information, and ideas about World Youth Day in Parishes, visit www.archdpdx.org/ym/events/wydinparishes.html.
A national conference just for Catholic youth ministers? Over 2,000 volunteer and professional youth ministers are expected to attend this biennial conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Over two dozen youth ministers from our archdiocese attended the previous conference. The Early Bird payment deadline is quickly approaching on Oct 1. The headquarters hotel has filled but the other two conference hotels still have rooms available. For more info, visit www.nfcym.org.
Young Neighbor’s in Action (YNIA), a popular week-long Catholic service learning experience for teens, is coming to the Portland area July 17-23. Sponsored by the Center for Ministry Development (www.cmdnet.org) and invited by the archdiocese, YNIA focuses on meaningful worksite experiences with daily challenges taken from Catholic Social Teaching. Besides the Portland site, there are seventeen other YNIA sites across America, Canada, and Mexico that groups can choose from. At this writing, the next year’s YNIA had not yet been posted on the YNIA website, but keep checking www.youngneighbors.org for the latest info.
With elections coming up in less than six weeks, you can’t miss hearing or seeing daily reminders from political commercials to talk shows and nightly news. The National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) has collected some election resources including the US Bishop’s document, Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility. Check out NFCYM’s election resources at http://www.nfcym.org/v3/resources/election.html.
9. Call for Teen
Writings: Family Matters
Teens feel deeply, passionately, and
honestly about their family relationships, often speaking in a louder voice and
with more candor than most adults. For this reason, Saint Mary's Press will
publish a new book by and for teens that focuses on families and family life.
They’re looking for teens who will write with honesty, insight, and creativity
as they share firsthand the realities of life within a family. The joys,
challenges, highlights, and sorrows of family life as seen through the eyes of
teen writers will be exposed in this diverse collection. This book will portray
how teens really feel and think about family life. Please send any teens you
think might write well on this topic to www.smp.org/teenprayers.cfm for more
info.
The National Evangelization Team (NET) has some open dates to lead your youth retreat during their annual visit to our archdiocese. Parish leaders that used NET last year commented on the power of the message and style of the NET retreat leaders. NET can lead a four-hour retreat, a weekend retreat, and everything in between. Many parish leaders also commented that the overnight home stays for the NET team members made a lasting impact on the families of the parish and became a secondary ministry to the parish. Download a flyer at www.archdpdx.org/ym/net05.htm. . Contact the archdiocese for scheduling NET at youthministry@archdpdx.org.
Mark Feb 4-6, 2005 on your calendar for the annual Archdiocesan Youth Conference (ADYC). More info and registration material will be available early this fall.
Two faith-filled events in 2005 for appropriate ages…
The Archdiocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry has organized a young adult pilgrimage to the 2005 International World Youth Day (IWYD) with the Holy Father in Cologne, Germany for young adults ages 18-30 (youth ages 16-17 will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will require the accompaniment of his/her parent or permanent legal guardian). The pilgrimage will also visit several holy sites in Poland including Warsaw, Czestochowa, and Auschwitz. The trip dates are Aug 9-22, 2005. The cost is $2830 for triple occupancy, $3095 for double, and $3545 for single and includes most meals and most fees (including the WYD fee). For a brochure and more information, visit www.archdpdx.org/ym/iwyd05.htm. (Note: Archbishop Vlazny encourages all young adults of the archdiocese to attend IWYD via the archdiocesan pilgrimage; however, if a parish, vicariate, or other group presents compelling reasons for not participating in the archdiocesan pilgrimage, they may apply to the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for an exemption that could allow them to make their own IWYD arrangements. If an exemption is granted, age restrictions for trip will be same as for archdiocesan pilgrimage—see above—and arrangements must be in accordance with current archdiocesan fiscal and risk management policies and procedures. NOTE – these groups must contact the Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministry before making other arrangements or run the risk of not being granted the exemption.)
The Archdiocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry is also organizing a trip for high school-age students for the 2005 National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Atlanta, Georgia, Oct 26-30, 2005. The archdiocese sent over 50 participants to the previous NCYC in Houston, Texas. Four archdiocesan teens had the chance of a lifetime to dialogue with 40 bishops on the topic of social justice and six archdiocesan teens performed onstage in front of 25,000 NCYC participants. Details of the NCYC trip will be available this fall
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