Youth ministry leaders, core teams, and volunteers all need ongoing training and formation. The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry is pleased to provide an opportunity for your parish ministry team to get the youth ministry training it needs at the time and place that is most feasible for your team, at no cost! The workshops below are meant to provide valuable skills for you and your team. If you are interested in bringing in any one of these training opportunities to your parish, please indicate your choice of workshop(s) and possible dates and times, and we will be in touch with you soon about scheduling.

Workshops are facilitated by Sandra, or other pastoral leaders who have expertise in that area of interest. We will also be offering more workshops in the future, so stay tuned!

Please contact  Kevin Bernaga,  Associate Director of Youth Ministry  kevin.bernaga@dsj.org.

 

Please provide dates that are at least three weeks ahead. Please provide two possible dates & times for each workshop selected.

    The key to good youth ministry is not the quality or the quantity of programs and events, but the quality of the relationships the youth ministry leaders build with the teens. Youth ministry leaders should be relational ministers. Meaning, their goal is to genuinely care for young people. This workshop will explore six must know strategies for becoming a more relational youth minister.
    Puberty! Questions! Emotion! Drama! Yup. That’s what being a teenager is all about. To be effective ministers to youth, we must know what they are going through physically, mentally, emotionally, morally, and spiritually. Good youth ministry engages all the developmental levels. This session is all about learning what’s going on with our teenagers and using that knowledge to effectively minister to them
    In 1997, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops wrote a document on youth ministry that forever transformed Catholic youth ministry in this country. Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry. It’s not about youth group. It’s about comprehensive youth ministry!
    Who is at the center of your youth ministry? We get so excited about programs and creative ideas. Why not? That’s what youth ministry is about. It’s also about remembering why we do what we do in ministry. Sure, it’s about community, fun and food. It’s also about following Jesus and being disciples who live out the Gospel. Keep Jesus at the center AND effectively reach out to our youth.
    Youth ministry is not about re-inventing the wheel. It’s about taking proven practices and making them work within your own ministry context. This workshop is all about learning those proven and effective practices and utilizing them in your own youth ministry.
    Comprehensive youth ministry can be difficult to plan and calendar for. But a good calendaring process can allow you to look at a 3-month block of time and effectively minister to the youth of your parish. This work will give you the framework you need to plan three months worth of ministry in one hour.
    You’ve looked everywhere! There is no session that covers what you want to do with your youth this week. I guess you’ll have to write it yourself. Developing a good gathered youth ministry session (i.e. youth night) takes practice and time. However, there are tricks to the trade that will make your planning time better. This session is all about helping you and your team write better sessions that will engage your teens.
    Retreats are a staple youth ministry event. Why? We know they work! This workshop will give your team the skills and knowledge to put on great retreats that will touch your youth and effectively build momentum for your youth ministry efforts.
    All youth ministry has time for small groups. In fact, small groups during retreats, youth nights, and other youth ministry events are essential. This workshop is all about the strategies that allow you and your team to be effective small group facilitators.
    Help! I have a group of youth I’m supposed to catechize, but what I did when they were 10 years old doesn’t work now that they are teens! That’s right. Adolescents come to the table of church ministry in a much different place then they were at 10 years old. Adolescent catechesis requires a whole different set of skills and planning. Gone are the days of lecturing teens about the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit (they get enough lecture at school and home). Today, it’s about engaging the whole person in catechesis. We’ll learn all about what works and what doesn’t when trying to catechize and teach adolescents.
    I suck at accounting and I have no clue what “line items” are! How much do I charge per youth for program registration or for a retreat? My pastor wants a budget proposal for the next fiscal year and I don’t know how to create one. Any of these sound familiar to you? Youth ministers sign up to ministers to the youth but soon after they accepted the job that there’s a whole administrative side to it also. That’s professional youth ministry for ya and all that budget stuff comes with the package – so get good at it! Whether you operate on a small budget or a large budget, this workshop will get you acquainted with budgeting for youth ministry and how to manage your budget well so that your ministry can grow and expand.
    If your audience in youth ministry is only volunteer core team leaders and the youth participants, then you need to attend this workshop to expand your vision of what ministry in the church is all about. Strong and sustainable youth ministry partners with the pastor, parochial vicars, pastoral team, pastoral council, finance council, social ministries committee, schools, and parents – yeah, basically the entire community! This workshop will help identify essential partnerships and how that can impact and grow your ministry exponentially…without you having to do all the work! What youth minister wouldn’t want that?!
    Parents are called to be the primary educators of the faith and as youth ministry leaders we are partnering with them but sometimes, it doesn’t always seem to be true. Often, it feels like parents just drop off their kids and expect us to do all of the work. How do we engage and empower parents to embrace their vocation as parents? Learn ways to involve parents in youth ministry without making your youth feel embarrassed.
    Do you have stage fright? Do you sweat bullets when you’re up in front of an audience trying to do a presentation? Do you blank out when giving a presentation? Do you tend to go off on tangents when you’re presenting? Do you want to simply strengthen your speaking skills and learn new ways of engaging your audience? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, this workshop is for you. Youth ministry will challenge you to be in front of people and share your experiences. This can be a frightening task! Learn strategies and techniques on how to be an effective speaker and overcome your fears.