Week of June 27, 2010

July 9 is fast approaching!  The deadline for register for the 2010 Catholic Youth Xperience is Friday, July 9. Group leaders, turn in all necessary paperwork in one complete packet to Diocese of Gary Pastoral Center, located at the corner of 93rd & Broadway, (on Merrillville’s southern border with Crown Point), just south of Methodist Southlake Hospital, on or before next Friday. While the online registration system remains open through Friday, it makes sense to enter the information while the paperwork is in front of you. Call me anytime if you have any questions! My celphone: 219-552-4060.

NET Retreat Openings:  Each December, the Diocese of Gary welcomes a team of appr. a dozen young adult retreat leaders from NET (National Evengelization Teams) Ministries. The team serves as your retreat leaders, leading such retreat themes as “Why Faith?” “Igniting the Flame (a Confirmation retreat)” and “Soul Satisfaction,” and the host parish/cluster provides lodging, meals, and a retreat fee. Retreats can be customized to meet a parish/cluster’s needs. In years past, our dates have filled up, but this year we extended the team’s stay. Now you have the rare chance to secure a NET retreat for yourself! Available dates: Saturday, Dec. 4 and Thursday, Dec. 9. First come, first served! Retreat fee: $675 (up to 6 hrs), $825 (over 6 hrs). Questions, or to snag one of those dates, contact Kevin Driscoll. For more info about NET, visit www.netusa.org

Next “Coffee Talk” Monday: Anyone in ministry alongside youth is invited to join us on the first Monday of each month (next Mon. July 5 is the next one), 4-5:30pm, at the Starbucks at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza Merrillville, for YM Coffee Talk, a gathering for anyone in ministry alongside middle and HS youth. Not a meeting as much as a chance to pray together, support one another, share ideas, and ask "How are you?" And Kev picks up the tab for the first round of beverages! It’s not only a great chance to feel supported in your ministry, but to also give you another tool to develop your ministry, and you as a minister. No RSVP necessary. Just come!. More info: http://tu.nu/coffee

Congratulations:  Wedding bells rang for St. John the Evangelist YM Coord. P.J. Anderson last Saturday. Congrats to him and his bride Rachel, who are honeymooning in Rome! Later this month, St. Paul YM Coord. Meghan Conley will enter into holy matrimony with Mark Chargualaf. The two met through St. Paul youth ministry.

Youth Day of Caring: The United Way Regional Volunteer Center’s Youth Day of Caring will be held on Saturday morning, Aug. 28th. Local high school students from the Region come together and volunteer at our most awesome resource---the Indiana Lakeshore and Dunes State Park. This is a great bonding opportunity at the start of the school year for athletic teams, school groups, youth groups, and groups of friends! Volunteers gather at 8am and conclude with a cookout so bring your frisbies, basketballs, etc. Sign up today and make sure you are part of this great event. Last year over 300 volunteers attended, and this year organizers are trying to “raise the bar.” For more information, contact  Kathy Wojkovich, 219-464-3583, and visit http://tu.nu/ydoc

Diocese of Gary Ministry Congress: Mark your calendars now, and plan to attend the Diocese of Gary Ministry Congress, Oct. 1-2 at St. Thomas More in Munster. This inaugural Ministry Congress is designed to bring together Church leaders from any and all ministries. A collaborative effort of the ministry offices of the diocesan Pastoral Center, the Ministry Congress is our opportunity to enhance our unique ministries while at the same time seek a greater understanding of how our ministries work together to build a better church community. OYYA will have two “tracks” of youth ministry formation sessions on Saturday, Oct. 2. Adult youth ministers will enjoy presentations from Frank Mercadante (“Reaching Millennial Generation Teens”) and Rich Curran (“Recruiting Workers for the Vineyard,” about building bigger and stronger YM teams). High school leaders will also have a track of sessions on Christian peer leadership. Plus the keynote speaker, Fr. J-Glenn Murray, is worth the price of admission! ($10) Details coming soon, but YM community, let’s plan to come strong!

Youth Ministry in 2010: It's "out there": Using the Lukan account of the parable of the fishermen, I was inspired recently to write on how different YM is in 2010. "Go out and fish. Just don’t catch and release!" reminds us that we have to venture out into the deep, and then bring them back to shore. Find it here: http://tu.nu/outthere

Katy Perry’s “California Gurls”: (from thesource4ym.com) Katy Perry's "California Gurls" is #1 on iTunes and Billboard's Hot 100 this week. She performed it live at the MTV Movie Awards recently. Most kids are familiar with the song. The question is: To what extent have they considered the message this very, very catchy and supremely popular tune is communicating? Read a great ‘blog on this at http://tu.nu/gurls