Region III Gathering - Save the Date

Please join us Monday, May 10th from 10:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. at Our Lady Star of the Sea, Bremerton to strategize on moving forward with our initial regional work. Felix Fabellano will be providing us a delicious lunch.

Please RSVP by May 5th for planning purposes. An agenda will follow shortly.

Youth and Young Adult Ministers Retreat

Save the Date for the annual Youth and Young Adult Ministers Retreat on June 1-3rd at Far Away Retreat Center, west of Gig Harbor overlooking Filucy Bay on Puget Sound.

Cost is $50 per person. Please contact me with any questions you may have.

Space still available - High School Boat Cruise this Friday!!!

High School Boat Cruise, Friday, April 30, 2010, 7-10pm
Here is the flyer for the High School Boat Cruise Dance sponsored by St. Vincent de Paul on Friday, April 30 from 7-10pm. Please contact Maryelyn Scholz at mscholz@stvincentparish.org for more information.

Strong Catholic Families: Strong Catholic Youth

OYYAM is happy to announce that the Strong Catholic Families: Strong Catholic Youth Program is coming to Seattle. This three part in-service is facilitated by NFCYM (the same people who bring you NCYC) , and is designed to equip trainers to work with families in their parish on building strong Catholic Families. Region Reps will be soliciting field staff to assist in training families and attend this training. We will announce the dates in the next few weeks, but look for more information on the website and blog. Learn more by contacting your region representative or reading this sample program.

Youth Ministry Studies: April 24-25

The next installment of courses for the Youth Ministry Studies program is April 24-25, 2010 being held in the Isaac Orr Conference Room, Archdiocese of Seattle.

Practices of Youth Ministry explores the development of comprehensive youth ministry through the collaborative sharing of the resources in the community. Rooted in theological and pastoral vision of community life, this course develops foundational understandings that will assist leaders in setting and implementing a vision for dynamic ministry with youth. This will include skills for advocacy, planning and organizing youth ministry efforts. Methods for collaborative leadership among ministries and within ministry teams will also be developed.

New students are always welcomed!

Courses are $150 per person, per course or three people from a single parish/pastorate may attend for $300 total, per course. Courses will be held at the OYYAM Office of the Chancery, at 910 Terry Ave, Seattle, WA 98104. Parking will be provided. Saturday and Sunday Breakfast and Lunch will also be provided. Mass at St. James Cathedral will be included in the schedule. More information will be sent upon receipt of registration. Courses are Saturday and Sunday from 9AM to 5PM

If you have questions or would like to register, please email britta.folden@seattlearch.org.

2 of 2 Regional Gathering: Recap

Thanks to all who were able to attend the second gathering for Region III.

Around the table with were:Danny Bailey, St Nicholas (awesome HOST!)
Chad Hill, Our Lady Queen of Heaven
Linda Garcia, St Patrick
Lois May, Holy Trinity
Felix Fabellano, Our Lady Star of the Sea
Jodie Clark, St Charles Borromeo
Marilou Marcott, Naval Bases Kitsap

Another great gathering of passion for serving the youth, supporting one another and coming up with some great ideas. In addition to the ideas generated from the 1:1 meetings I've had with Youth Ministers, the following is a list of other possibilities:

- Progressive Dinner (sponsored by a regional parish and volunteer families)
- Clam Digging and Clam Bake
- Priest/Seminarian/Vocation Day - a talk with a social
- Organized regional effort around evangelization within public schools- research into how Young Life is meeting in schools
- "LA Religious Education Congress" for Region III
- Topics for future trainings: Getting parents involvement in YM, refresher on Comprehensive Youth Ministry, acceptable technology standards,
- Regional retreat for YM and YM Volunteers
- Regional Mentor Program
- Prayer partner at each regional gathering (rotational, great way to get to know other ministers)

An updated ACCY (Diocesian and Regional) approach was shared and feedback given. Feeback included:
- needing more clearly defined roles/responsibilities for both diocesian and regional ACCY leaders
- it may make sense to pull from the regional group to feed into the diocesian ACCY
June 5th was the date set by OYYAM to discuss this updated ACCY approach but it was recommended to move the date to late May.

I know I left the meeting energized for what lies ahead for Region III. I continue to be amazed at how God is working through your ministries. You are all always in my prayers!

Please see other blog posts for more announcements. Please leave your comments if I've forgotten anything!

Felix (Our Lady Star of the Sea) has offered to host the next Region III gathering. More to come soon about our next gathering.