"SJA's Youth Program"
Cathy Doyle-Burris
Sunday, September 23 2007

We at St Joan of Arc embrace our youth as an integral part of our community. We empower our youth along their faith journey and partner with them joyfully sharing our wisdom traditions in Christ. Youth Ministry Mission Statement Spring 2007

Integral as an adjective… belonging as a part of the whole, necessary to the completeness of the whole. As a synonym…essential, indispensable… I wonder how indispensable, how essential our youth ages 12-19 really are to our community?

We empower …to give power, to enable…to commission, to equip or supply!!! How well do you think we’re doing with this?

We partner …a player on the same side or team as another, denotes one who is associated with another, as in relationship!!!

This is not going to be a lecture nor am I issuing a lesson in vocabulary. I’m here to tell some stories, my hope through these stories…and as you pay attention & gain understanding, you’re incited, moved to be somebody to our young people of this parish.

Do you know who came up with this mission statement?

Are you aware of how much time it took to come to it?

After this Mission Statement was completed, only three people remained to represent the youth ministry board moving forward from spring 2007. Just three, three of you from this parish remained on the board. Two adults, [please stand] Anne Mongoven & Ann Gomez and an amazing young man named, Marc Bromajim-Oropeza, a senior at South High School.

I heard months ago, when the movie, Hairspray was released that John Travolta had taken 14 months to decide whether or not to take the roll of Edna Turnblad. Have you seen the movie? It struck me, this 14 month claim because that is about the amount of time I contemplated this position. You see, I’d been keenly aware of my desire to re-enter the field of youth ministry, just didn’t know it would end up here. In B.C., before children, I worked in two separate youth ministry positions. I didn’t know much, except that I was passionate about working with kids and their developing spiritual lives. I’d been a recipient of great youth ministry …in high school there were people in my life who knew me by name, who took a genuine interest in me, who loved me differently than my parents. They were like you and me, they were volunteers. They met with us weekly, sometimes came to our games/events, they took us to camp. They led small group discussions where we would pray, could talk about our worries and concerns, things we could not talk to our parents about. They were the body of Christ to me…they made God and the person of Jesus REAL in my life. They helped challenge me to be more honest & less fearful, they listened to me, and they knew me & loved me. However, this great youth/relational ministry was not in a church setting, imagine how powerful a place we could be if we offered that here every Sunday morning.

Relational Ministry: is a purposeful way to create and maintain meaningful relationships with young people, it works by …knowing their names (integral), praying for them (empower), truly meeting them where they are (partner).

Here is the Academy Awards part of my speech…before I go further I need to acknowledge a number of Youth Ministers currently working with our kids…Joan Reibel, John Farrell, and Carolyn Jones—team teaching a sexuality curriculum, PJ & Jen Eichten & Luke Eichten—working directly with 7th graders. Future Youth Minister Pat Dawson—creating curriculum for juniors & seniors in high school & helping them prepare their own mission statements. Youth Ministers George Maurer & Deb Harley working with student musicians & song leaders. Patrick Dooley, Luke Burris, Leah Kremer, Marc Bromajim-Oropeza, & Dan Vagle. Josh Madden, —student risk-takers, who have embraced an idea of creating a twice monthly club meeting @ 10:30 AM Sundays for their peers including music, skits, games, & a speaker. There are a number of youth ministers working in the area of Service Learning or Service Sunday: Mike Overstreet, Marty & Mary Jo Malecha, Pete & Maggie Kallal, Lou Anne Sexton, Shari Ahl, environmental justice seeker, teacher & coordinator: Janet Brown, Jim Brinker, Tica Hanson, Craig & Sheila Rossebo. Confirmation curriculum developer, Parish Trustee, confidant & mentor extraordinaire to me, Norine Larson. Our former liaison, Mike McCloskey, champion of youth ministry and our new liaison, Vicki Underland-Rossow. Please see these wonderful people, let’s acknowledge their work [applause], and please join them by creating your own mark in youth ministry. If I have omitted your name from our current list, I apologize.

Back in the good old days, it was easier; most of our families/extended families lived closer to one another. Kids from the same neighborhoods most often went to the same schools. We had one phone number to memorize per family and one or two street addresses. Now we have added numerous cell phone lines and IP addresses to our lists; we find kids on the same block/street going to home, alternative, magnet, private, & public schools. We’re more likely to meet a young person online than in person. Where does that lead us in terms of youth ministry planning? I believe to be more DYNAMIC and creative; we need to offer points of contact through solid website design, listservs, secure chat rooms, Facebook. Most importantly, when we have young people on campus here on Sunday mornings, we practice hospitality knowing them by name, we become skilled as small group facilitators in order to establish much needed peer & adult relationships, and we provide much needed space to meet with them

The best planning will mean nothing if we don’t reach out and develop relationships with one another and with our youth here. SJA provides a unique challenge because we draw from over 200 zip codes; our geographic spread is huge, which means many SJA youth don’t know or feel connected to any other kids here. We want to shrink that geographical divide through friendship, hospitality and programming that could reach every… single… young person… here. We want to establish a permanent space here for youth, welcoming and embracing them into our church community…LEARNING from them. You may be thinking…hold on there, youth ministry does have a room downstairs just off of hospitality hall, you’re right we do, it’s a great space approx 14X14, to serve our approx 160-200 kids. .

1. Is oral sex really considered sex?
2. I just want my Mom to love me
3. I really like this boy and just found out my best friend likes him too…what should I do?
4. I don’t really have anyone I can trust at school, I’m glad that I can come to St Joan’s where I do have friends

Here’s your chance, we are inviting our senior high students to join us in the 11 AM gym liturgies, twice monthly after some programming specifically aimed toward them in the church proper. In the same way we invite parents with young children to join their children in family mass; we are inviting our senior high youth to join us in the liturgy here. I ask you to make room in this space as well as in your hearts; inviting them into this place.

We haven’t even begun to talk about the dreams of equipping our youth & adult mentors in peer ministry training or that we aspire to create a strong & solid youth ministry program that, like our peace movement, makes others wonder what we’re doing right!

I need you; Ron & I need you to love our kids, Luke & Margaret, in ways we cannot, to pay attention, to listen to their stories.

Thank you!