Parishes

What do you need to DO NOW for WYD?

WYD is for youth and young adults 16-35. Most of our secondary schools are on board, and have started registering pilgrims and organising group leaders.

Our parishes have been displaying banners and posters, praying regularly, some have had people speak at Masses, and many have WYD in their prayers and plans for 2008.

Most parishes have representatives involved in Regional WYD committees and are working towards the Journey of the Cross and Icon and the Days in the Diocese.

 

Now’s the time to actually ask young people to go to World Youth Day.

 
1. Decide to act

Decide that you are going to take the opportunity and make a real effort to send young people to WYD. Set a target goal for your parish to reach in terms of registrations by March.


2. Dialogue with schools and other parishes in the region

Talk with other parishes in your region, and with the schools how you are going to “group” your pilgrims.  Let Sandhurst Youth Ministry know by 15th of February what your groupings will be so that changes can be made to the international registration system “Egeria.” There are a few options:

-  Have a combined school/parish group. Invite youth from state schools and post school young adults to join with the catholic secondary school. Teachers from the school take responsibility for parish under 18’s.

-  Have a separate parish and school group. Students from the school travel with their teachers for duty of care. The parish allocates a group leader who will travel with the whole group, assist with registration, and provide duty of care for under 18’s in the group.

-  Join smaller parishes together under the regional structure of the diocese and allocate a group leader for the regional grouping.

 
3. Delegate leadership

Each group will need a leader for checking registrations, dealing with logistics and being responsible for those in the group who are under 18. They are also asked to ensure that all pilgrims are involved in pre-pilgrimage catechesis and pastoral preparation. There is support for these leaders through Sandhurst Youth Ministry and the Regional WYD committees. Let SYM know who your leaders are as soon as possible, so we can help them set up in the Registration System and give them support and strategies for Practical and Pastoral Preparation.


4. Determine who you will encourage to attend

Think about the young people in your parish in broad categories.

-  Those who are in a catholic secondary school

-  Those who are in a state secondary school

-  Those who have left school (and are up to 35!)

-  Those who are under 16 and will travel with their families to WYD.


5. Develop strategies to connect

Think about ways to contact those young people and PERSONALLY and INDIVIUALLY to invite them to consider going to WYD. They will not all be in Mass on any given Sunday to hear a talk. They will not respond just because you put a piece in the bulletin. They may not even come to an event you put on to invite them to go to WYD, because they think it is not for them.

Think about:

-  Personalised letters from the Parish Priest and or Pastoral Council,

-  Home visits

-  One on one conversation opportunities. 

-  Put people at Mass doors to target anyone who looks like they are in the age bracket.


Maximise the opportunity that Christmas presents – people of all ages who only go to Mass once or twice a year will do so at Christmas. It may be their only opportunity to hear about WYD, and know they are welcome.  Think outside the square of the “regulars”. Mary is a regular reader at Mass. Mary’s cousin is 20, works in the local hairdressers, and maybe went to a youth event in the parish once when she was 15. Ask Mary to talk to her, or go and get your hair cut and talk to her yourself!

 
6. Disseminate information

Make sure that you have as much information as possible available about WYD in the parish, in as many formats as possible.

-  Have multiple copies of flyers from Sydney and from Sandhurst

-  Have the banner in a prominent place near the sanctuary

-  Have posters in the foyer, at every entrance to every church

-  Show the DVD “Get with the spirit” at every opportunity (It has been sent to parishes a number of times- more available if you can’t find it)

-  Put a link to the SYM website and to the WYD website on your parish website

-  Nominate people to talk about WYD at Masses (check for the “what to say about WYD resource on the WYD website)


7. Demonstrate how to register

Encourage young people to actually register, sitting down with them at a computer and taking them through the “how to register” flyer. Although it is fairly straightforward, and young people may even be more confident with the actual computer skills than you are, sometimes it takes a bit of guts to actually commit.
Help them!


8. Devote time to pastoral preparation and prayer

Most importantly, ensure that the pilgrims you are sending attend the pastoral preparation sessions. Organise lifts for them if necessary. These will begin in early 2008 and will be on a regional level. Once we have the pilgrims registered, we can communicate with them about pastoral preparation. We can’t work with you to prepare them if we don’t know who they are!


9. Dedicate Dollars - people and resources to fundraising

Work within the parish to assist pilgrims to fundraise. Have BBQ’s after Mass, Get involved in the Hot Cross Bun drive, be creative! Consider fundraising towards the Sandhurst 2 Sydney fund for those in the diocese who will need extra financial support, or our Overseas Pilgrim fund, or the National Pilgrim Partnership Support Programme. More information in these is on the SYM website www.sym.org.au.
You may not ever see the effect that World Youth Day has on a person, but young people (and adults) cannot go to WYD without it making a difference in their life and relationship with God in some way!

Remember:

WYD IS NOT.......

·         A “God-camp for good catholic kids”

·         A reward for young people who have been committed to their local parish

·         A leadership training school, so that someone will come back equipped to run your youth ministry (There are lots of opportunities for Leadership development  that they can access through SYM and Adult Faith Education post WYD)

·         A recruitment drive to get more “young bums on seats” at Mass.

WYD IS.........

·         An encounter with GOD for everyone, regardless of their current faith or commitment levels.

·         An experience of the international church

·         A chance to feel connected to other young people searching for God and community.

·         A pilgrimage that will stretch and support people.

·         A once in a lifetime opportunity that is life-changing.

·         THE BEST CHANCE WE HAVE FOR EVANGELISATION FOR THIS GENERATION OF YOUNG AUSTRALIAN CATHOLICS 

Our Parish strategy notes