How are you doing? I hope your week is going well.
Youth Ministry Notes are back up and running! Depending on what I have to share, they will be sent either weekly or every other week. If you have any news that you wanted to share with the youth ministry community, please let me know. Also, if you know of anyone who might benefit from receiving these emails, please let me know. I’ll add them to my mailing list.
- “Meet and Greets” With Vicky, August 20 (Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Hammond), 21 (St. Matthias, Crown Point), 27 (St. Paul, Valparaiso), 29 (Sacred Heart, LaPorte), 6:30 PM. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at these gatherings. I can’t wait to hear from you, answer your questions, and discuss the future of youth and young adult ministry here in the Diocese of Gary. RSVP’s are not required, but are helpful to let me know how much snacks I should bring. You can do so here.
- Diocesan Youth Council. YES! DYC will be starting up in September. Parish leaders, I’ll be reaching out to you to update the roster. This is a great time for new DYC reps to start. Once you have the new rep’s name, send me their name and contact info and I’ll send out a welcome packet. The DYC website has been updated, including all of the dates for DYC meetings for the 2019-2020 school year and permission forms for the meetings. I am still looking for one parish to host our December gathering. If you know your parish could host, please let me know. Check out https://www.garyoyya.org/dyc/ for more infomation.
- Igniting the Fire, September 14-15, St. Matthias Catholic Church, Crown Point. All 6th-12th grade youth are invited to Igniting the Fire, September 14-15, at St. Matthias Catholic Church in Crown Point. ITF has a prayerful, retreat-style feel with elements of lock-in-style fun! For more information or to register, go to http://ignitingthefire.org/ If you have any questions, feel free to visit the Directions/Contact page and reach out to the ITF team. You can also print out and share this nifty flyer.
- NWI Awakening 2, October 4-6, Holy Name Catholic Church, Cedar Lake. After a successful first retreat back in April, we are happy to announce NWI Awakening 2 will be happening October 4-6th at Holy Name Catholic Church in Cedar Lake. Young adults 18-25 are invited to a weekend of fun, faith, and and getting to know the Awakening community. Come encounter Christ with follow young adults on what will be an amazing weekend. $30 covers everything and scholarships are available to help with the cost. For more info, check out https://www.garyoyya.org/awakening-retreat/
- Just a Thought:Â I’m not going to lie. When I scroll through my social medial, I don’t often stop to read the articles that pop up. I might see something that looks interesting only to get distracted and skip to the next thing or pictures of my nieces and nephews. This morning was different. I saw an article called “Five Reasons to be Hopeful About the Young People in the Church.” I read through it and immediately thought of the young people that we serve. The author focused on young people’s idealism, call to service, thoughtful questions as they figure out their place in the world they live in, their gratitude for the gifts they receive, and how they can be so open to the Holy Spirit. As people who walk with teens along their faith journey, I’m assuming that you can see one or more of these traits in the young people you serve. As we are going into this new school year, I’m praying for you and for the young people that you serve. May they continue to inspire hope in our communities and may we be open to the Holy Spirit moving in our lives.
Peace and all goodness,
Vicky Hathaway
Ministry Consultant for Youth and Young Adult Ministry
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