Maggie Stewart

Ms. Madeo
PM 300
8 October 2015
Youth Ministry Calendar
August 2015
September 2015
Send out invitations to new high schoolers
WL 1: Fishers of Men--Evangelization
Make announcement at Mass about youth group
Labor Day party: Making blankets
Ask priest for beginning of school year blessing
WL 2: The Eucharist: Source and summit
at Mass
WL 3: The Universal Church
Wednesday Lesson 1: We are the Body of Christ
Youth leaders attend parish council meeting
Cookout at first gathering
WL 4: Ways to pray
Parent meeting for new year
WL 5:
Make birthday cards for the youth w/ adult volunteers
October 2015
November 2015
WL 1: Saint Therese and the Little Way
WL 1: Halloween, All Saints, and All Souls
WL 2: Jesus ThirstsBirthdays
All Saints, All Night Lock-in
Leadership team will gather to plan retreat
Late night Adoration and Confession
Fall break campout retreat
Thank-you cards for adult chaperones
WL 3: Jesus went off to pray Retreat reflection WL 2: Home for the Holidays: Refugees
Trick-or-Treat for others to eat (Food drive)
NCYC Trip!
WL 3: Thankful
December 2015
January 2016
WL 1: Advent
Youth minister retreat over break
WL 2: Stocking Stuffers for the elderly
WL 1: Christmas to Ordinary Time
Visit nursing home to deliver stockings
WL 2: Pro-Lifebecoming advocates
WL 3: Rejoice! Christmas
March for Life trip!
Send out Christmas cards during break
WL 3: Presentation on March for Life
February 2016
March 2016
WL 1: Lent workshop: How to be better?
WL 2: Stations of the Cross, living Stations
Parish Mardi Gras partyrun kids carnival
WL 2: Serve at parish Lenten soup dinner
Valentines for childrens hospital
night, lead Stations of the Cross
WL 2 (after Ash Wednesday): Love and Chastity Spring break week: Home service trip:
WL 3: Penance and Confession
Stay at parish and work at Food Bank,
Habitat for Humanity, Birth Choice,
Catholic Charities
WL 4: Holy Week and Paschal Mystery
Youth group sends prayer cards to
catechumens
WL 5: Easter party! He is Risen!
April 2016
May 2016
WL 1: Theological virtues: Faith, hope, and joy
WL 1: VocationsHearing Gods call
Attend a youth ministry conference (minister)
WL 2: Christian Leadership
WL 2: Baptism and Confirmation: Our promises
Garage sale fundraiser for CHWC trip
Confirmation retreats; make cards
WL 3: Prayer night for peace amidst stress
WL 4: Cardinal virtues
Attend graduations as a youth group

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June 2016
Prepare for Catholic Heart Work Camp
Trip to CHWC
Youth present to parish council about trip

July 2016
Retreat for youth minister
Invite adult volunteers and peer youth
leaders for the new year; have a get-together

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Chart is page 3

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1. Evangelization: Fishers of Men
Audience: High school students
Type: Gathered to non-gathered
Objective: To recognize our call to be disciples, and then use our gifts to go make disciples
Supplies:
Introduction: Students will be greeted at the door for Wednesday youth group by name.
Ice Breakers: The youth group will go outside on the trail near the creek to play icebreaker
games:
- Red Rover: Each team functions as a net to catch members from the other team to
make their team bigger.
- Fish Pond: the students will pretend they are fish in a pond, and one student will be a
shark. When that student tags another person, he or she links arms to the original
tagger. Eventually, the majority of the students will be linked together trying to catch
the others.
Reflection on Ice Breakers: The students will be broken into groups of three to discuss what they
saw happen in the games, and then they will share.
Scripture Reflection: While still gathered around the creek, the students will open their Bibles to
the passage in which Jesus calls the disciples from their boats and tells them they will be fishers
of men; a volunteer student will read. After reading, the students will reflect in their same groups
about what they now think the point of the game was. After this, we will go back inside.
Lecture: What is evangelization? The students will receive a cutout paper fish and write down
their answers, then share with someone sitting next to them.
- Answers from the Catechism, scripture, Pope John Paul IIs apostolic letter At the
Begging of the Third Millennium (in which he outlines the new evangelization), and
Pope Francis Joy of the Gospel will be explored in lecture.
Activity: On the other side of their paper fish, the students will write and draw what they think
makes them a disciple, and how they can evangelize in their daily life. When completed, the
students will hang their fish in a net on the wall.
The youth minister will ask, Can we fit any more fish in that net? The net will be very big, so
the youth will (hopefully) respond, Yes. They will then receive three invitations to youth group
for the following week. The youth minister will explain that since we have been talking about
evangelization, we will now have the opportunity to evangelize. The youth will have time to
personalize their invitations for their friends, which they will hand out during the following
week.
Prayer: The students will receive a cup of multicolored Goldfish crackers. They will receive a
sheet with the following instructions:
Fishers of Men Evangelization Prayer
Close your eyes and take one goldfish cracker from your cup. Look at the following list to see
what or who you will pray for out loud during our closing prayer.
Yellow: A virtue you want to grow in to be a better disciple
Orange: Something youre thankful for in your journey as a disciple
Green: Someone in your life who you want to reach out to and evangelize
Red: Someone who has evangelized to you

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2. Justice and Service
Audience: High School Youth Group
Type: Gathered
Objective: To identify Gods love for us all as individuals, examine ways in which society does
not always treat all groups of people with that same worth, and will then create birthday cards to
be given to people who are living in homeless shelters.
Supplies: Balloons, Bible verses on slips of paper, birthday cake, markers and paper, birthday
candles, large crucifix.
Introduction: When the youth come in for the youth group gathering, the room will be decorated
for a birthday party. Music will be playing, and there will be a celebratory atmosphere, including
balloons everywhere.
Icebreaker: The students will each have to pick up a balloon and pop itwithout using their
hands. Inside each balloon will be a Bible verse or quote from a Saint. Some verses and quotes
that will be in the cards include:
I have called you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1
If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the
ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? Matthew
18:12
Reflection: The students will be invited to take a moment to reflect over their verse or quote.
They will be provided with paper if they wish to journal. They will then be split into groups. No
one in the same group will have the same quote or verse. They will take 5-10 minutes to discuss
how their verse or quote touched them each individually, and what theme they all have in
common. The groups will then share their responses.
Group discussion: After that, the youth will come up with a list of groups of people who they
think are not always treated the way God feels toward us.
Service activity: The youth will be given supplies to decorate birthday cards to send to homeless
shelters; the workers at the shelters will fill the cards in for personal messages for each guest.
While working on the cards, the celebration atmosphere will continue and birthday cake will be
served. As they work, the youth will reflect on other, more personal ways they could show
marginalized people how much God cares for them. They will also discuss ways they could get
to the root of these societal problems.
Activity: The youth minister will pass out plates of saltine crackers and small cups of water. The
students will play the saltine cracker challenge and see how many saltine crackers they can eat in
a minute before they have to drink their water. Afterward, they will talk about thirst and if they
can think of a time when Jesus thirsted.
Closing Prayer: The youth will then process to the church or chapel to close in prayer, bringing
their now empty paper cups with them. During prayer, the students will gather around a large
crucifix. They will each be given a small birthday candle. Student volunteers will prayerfully
read parts of Mother Teresas letter/ meditation on Jesus words, I thirst. They will be given
time of silence to reflect. Prayer: Jesus, as we look upon your face and your wounded heart
thirsting for our love, we recognize you in the faces of our brothers and sisters who thirst for love
as well. Grant us the grace to always remember to bring the light of your love to those around
us. Each student will stick his or her birthday candle through the bottom of the paper cup, light
it, and place it around the crucifix while praying (aloud or silently) for a particular person or
group of people that they want to bring Gods love to more.

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3. Pastoral Care: Saying Thank You
Audience: Adult volunteer ministers

Type: Non-gathered

Objective: To thank the adult ministers who have volunteered and thoughtfully remind them that
they are not just chaperones.
Supplies: Greeting cards, small items such as candy
Introduction: Toward the end of a big youth event needing several adult chaperones (such as the
fall break campout retreat, the All Saints, All Night lock-in, spring break home service trip, or
Catholic Heart Work Camp), the youth minister will pass around small note cards to the youth.
There will be four different components to the thank you card for each adult volunteer: 1. A piece
of candy or other small treat with a complement analogy, i.e. You were a LIFESAVER when
you fixed our buss flat tire, or You deserve a PAT on the back for being so patient with us
[York peppermint patty]; 2. How the youth group sees Christ through that adult volunteer; 3. A
Bible verse which was chosen individually for that person; 4. A prayer, which can be either
original or not, as long as thought is put into it. Each young person will get one of those
components on their note card. For example:
Cindy: Candy and complement analogy
Greg: How you are Christ to us
Mary: Bible verse
John: Prayer
Activity: Between that event and the following Wednesday night class, the youth will write their
assigned thank you note component for that adult volunteer. At the beginning of that next youth
group session, all four (or more) youth who wrote part of the letter for the same adult minister
will gather the parts they have written into their card.
Reflection: Since the topic of the week is different, the youth will be given a reflection sheet to
think about for the rest of the week in regards to writing their thank you cards.
How does it feel to be thanked?
Why is it important to say thank you?
What do we say to others when we thank them for what they do?
Did Jesus notice the service of his followers?
Prayer: Before sealing the cards and carrying on with the nights lesson, the youth will pray
aloud the prayers they wrote for each of the adult volunteers in the thank you cards, and we will
pray for them by name and for anything they specifically need; if they are present, the group will
pray over them.

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4. Education and Catechesis: Penance and Confession
Audience: High School Youth Group Type: Gathered
Objective: To explore why we need Confession and what Jesus does for us when we ask for his
forgiveness.
Supplies: A whiteboard, markers, and eraser; cardstock, glue, markers, pencil erasers, Band-Aids,
soap, possibly other small items
Introduction: As the youth arrive at youth group during the second week of Lent, the youth
minister will greet them by asking how their week has been going, and how they are doing with
their Lenten sacrifices and good deeds.
Ice Breaker: The youth minister will write the word Sin on the board 20 times. She will then
ask for a volunteer from among the youth. When the volunteer comes forward, the youth minister
will explain that he or she will erase the sins as fast as he or she can. While the volunteer erases,
the youth minster will have a timer going, and the youth group will count out loud along with the
timer. After the volunteer has finished erasing, the youth minister will ask if anyone thinks they
can erase the sins faster. Volunteers will have a chance to come up and be timed to see how fast
they can erase the word Sin written 20 times. After several goes, the youth minister will start
writing sin more times and see if anyone can erase the extra sins just as fast. After everyone
who wants to has taken a turn, the champion eraser will be applauded.
Reflection on Ice Breaker: The youth minister will ask, Do you think anyone can erase 20 sins
faster than Kaitlyns six second record? What about 30 sins? 40? The youth will then discuss
with a partner the following questions:
How long do you think it takes Jesus to forgive sins?
How many sins can he forgive?
What do we have to do for Jesus to forgive us?
They will then share their answers with the group.
Lecture: The youth minister will teach on where we get the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the
Bible (John 20:23) and other Gospel stories in which Jesus heals and forgives, what the
Catechism says about the sacrament, and what the roots of penance, confession, and
reconciliation mean; overall, the lesson will be that when we repent we turn away from sin and
back to God, and that reconciliation is about fixing a relationship, not just cleaning our souls like
its another errand.
Activity: The students will each get a piece of cardstock. They will be told that they are making a
cross to represent what Jesus does for them in Confession. They get to choose from a basket of
supplies including Band-Aids, soap boxes, big pink erasers, puzzle pieces, and other small items.
Under their cross, they will write a message about how the cross they made represents their
relationship with Jesus: for example, He heals me with a cross made of Band-Aids, He puts
me back together or He brings me back to connection with him with the puzzle pieces, or He
makes me clean with a soap product. They will share why they made their cross the way they
did with a partner.
Prayer: The students will process into the chapel or church, which will be dark, lit by only a few
candles (there will be several adults supervising). They will sit in a circle around a crucifix and a
pile of stones. The youth minister will explain that they will participate in an examination of
conscience prayer, and they are to only pay attention to God and themselves; the youth minister
will then read an examination of conscience. Each group of sins on the examination of
conscience will be followed by, If you have, please pick up a stone form the pile. It will be

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dark enough in the room for students to not see each other. At the end, the youth minister will
read this prayer:
Jesus, you are our redeemer. Even when we load ourselves down with more than we can carry,
you come to us and set us free. You tell us that your yolk is easy, and your burden light. Help us
to lay down our burdens and follow you. The youth will then be tapped individually to lay down
their stones at the feet of the crucifix, while the song Alive Again by Matt Maher plays. After
the prayer, the students will receive a list of Confession times at the parish and surrounding
parishes during lent, which they will tape to one of the stones and take home with them.

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5. Prayer and Worship: Fall Break Retreat
Audience: High school youth group

Type: Gathered

Objective: To notice Gods presence with us and actively give our lives over to God rather than
letting stress run our lives.
Supplies: Journals, Bibles, pencils, cameras, guitar.
Introduction: On the first whole day of the campout retreat, after the youth group has settled into
their campsite and spent time in community playing games and sharing stories, we will go out on
a hike.
Ice Breaker: The youth minister will ask the youth to line themselves up silently in order of age,
birthday (by month), first initial of first name, and then first initial of middle name.
Reflection on Ice Breaker: What is the importance of silence? The youth will share their
answers with those around them. A volunteer will read about Jesuss retreat into the desert before
beginning his ministry in the Gospel.
Prayer: The youth minister will then explain that we are going on a prayer hike, and we will
process silently, taking time to notice God with us. The youth will follow the hiking trail silently
for about fifteen minutes until the youth minister or other adult leader finds a scenic place to
stop.
The youth minister will ask some questions for reflection and journaling:
Where do you go to be with God?
Where do you see God?
What in your life do you need to retreat from?
What do you think God is trying to prepare you for, just as Jesus prepared for his ministry?
The youth will take time to reflect and journal silently; they will be spread out into individual
spots. For some of the reflection time, the youth minister will play guitar and sing (the youth will
have lyrics sheets so they can sing/ pray along if they would like); songs will include How He
Loves by David Crowder and Nothing I Hold Onto (Something Beautiful Out of Me) by Will
Reagan.
After the reflection time, the students will find one thing in their view and relate it to what God is
calling them to do in the silence. In vocal prayer, each will share how they see God around them,
and how they feel God is calling them.
Concluding Prayer Ritual: The students will conclude the prayer hike by praying a walking
rosary on the way back to the campsite.

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Reflection: the Eight Components of Youth Ministry
In this class, we have read about and discussed the eight components of youth ministry
and why they are important to a youth ministry plan. Even though I knew that all these things
were important to youth ministry, I realized in making my final youth ministry calendar how
difficult it can be to intentionally include all of those components. These eight components are
truly not just beneficial to a strong youth ministry plan, but they also help to build strong, active
disciples at any age. A life of Christian discipleship should be lived with a balance of community
life, justice and service, advocacy, leadership, pastoral care, evangelization, catechesis and
education, and prayer and worship. Doing these Christian practice for and with other people in
youth will help them to grow as the Church.
It is so difficult to say which of the eight components is the most important since they all
depend on encourage the other practices, and it is difficult to say which should be begun first
because they all lead into a cycle of each other. That being said, I feel that I have learned the true
importance of community life is, and how, in many ways, in introduces the other components
and practices. As human beings, we are all drawn to community. God, the Holy Trinity, is a
communion of persons connected in love, and Jesus called his disciples to live in communion;
we are drawn together every Sunday to participate and share in this communion with the Church
in Heaven and all over the world. Youth love being in community, making friends, and being
noticed; they want to belong and to be important, which is where pastoral care becomes a very
important part of making a community for youth to grow in. It is important for youth to
recognize two things: 1. Community is not just for the sake of community but for growth toward
Christ and each other as we have been called, and 2. The community is larger than just a youth
group. Our Catholic community is a parish made up of people of various ages and backgrounds,

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a diocese made up of many diverse parishes, and a universal Church to which we all belong and
are connected in the Eucharist. This community is so beautiful, and we can grow to be the part of
the Body of Christ we were each created to be in so many ways when we get to know, trust,
serve, and love Jesus in those around us and in those we will never meet. As I mentioned earlier,
pastoral care of the youth so they can truly feel how much they matter to the Body of Christ
Jesus loves them is so important; also, modeling pastoral care of others in the parish and
community helps youth to see how to grow into selfless people with servants' hearts, and to reach
their potential of becoming pastors. Any of us can be pastors, but it often takes sacrifice and love,
just as Jesus shows us on the cross.
While I feel that catechesis and education is the primary vehicle for teaching how to live
a well-rounded life of discipleship, it is easy to forget after one is no longer required to attend
Confirmation classes. First of all, I have learned through this class that we all have the
responsibility to continue learning and growing in our faith, especially after the time in our life
when such education is mandatory or made the most available to us. My high school
confirmation teacher used to say, "Everything that is not growing is dying," and he related this to
our spiritual lives. If we do not continue to learn and grow, our discipleship will die. We can
show Jesus how much we love him by our willingness to always grow deeper in relationship
with him and our desire to know him better. Second of all, we can all teach. To be a teacher, no
matter the setting or mode, is a beautiful gift. As we discussed in class, we all learn and
remember best by teaching others; when youth are not just treated like students who have to
learn a lot of information, but as disciples and teachers, youth ministry becomes more
meaningful in preparing them to catechize in their daily lives and in whatever jobs or situations
they end up in as adults. Likewise, we can all evangelize. My mind was truly opened when we

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talked about how something as simple as the way we dress as the ability to evangelize, or drive
others away from the faith. We live in a world where many people have serious misconceptions
about the Catholic faith and organized religion in enteral, and it does not take much on behalf of
a Christian to turn them off from following Christ forever. Evangelization means knowing that
This class has helped me to recognize the ways I have been taught, and the ways I want
to teach in both formal and informal settings in the future. Learning about comprehensive youth
ministry and discipleship has helped me to reflect on my own life and my daily awareness of
God. Do I strive to grow every day as a disciple? I have found through this class that I am not
always able to answer that question the way I would like to. Awareness is the first part of the
journey, and I have become more self-aware of how well I entrust myself to God, use the gifts
God has given me to their fullest potential, and give God thanks and praise as constantly as I
should throughout my day. I think personally the most important thing I have learned in this class
for my spiritual life is that we are not just humans trying to be spiritual, we are spiritual beings
trying to do humans things. I had been missing that in the way I went through life, trying to
squeeze prayer in whenever I could, but finding that I ended up just "saying prayers" and not
truly praying wholly. I cannot accomplish any of the other components of successful youth
ministry--which, as I mentioned, I think are necessary components to a successful life of
discipleship--without praying in and through them. And what is success? To me it is doing the
will of God with joy. That is the sign of a successful life, and that is what we want to impart on
youth through ministry programs that are much more than programs.
I do not yet know where God will lead me on my life, but I pray that I will be able to
listen and follow trustingly. However, I am not afraid because I have so many beautiful options
in front of me, and in all of them I can use what I have learned in this class. If I am called to be a

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wife and mother, I will strive to center my family on living out these components, since the
Church begins in the home. I would want to raise a family centered on prayer and service, on
awareness of self and of God while actively reaching out to others. If I am a teacher, I will
incorporate these eight components into my classroom so I can be an instrument which Jesus can
teach his little children not just facts to memorize, but how to live and love in his footsteps. If I
am not called to be a teacher, then whatever way I am called to serve I want to remember to live
a well-rounded life of discipleship, and to invite others to join me in those practices. I have loved
learning about ministry and discipleship, and no matter where I am at any point in my life, I will
seek out opportunities to minister--and to allow others to minister to me as well. Jesus feeds us
through his life and his death, in the scriptures and in the Eucharist, and I feel encouraged
through what I have learned in this class to carry on his mission of nourishing others through
sacrifice and love.

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I have called you by name; you are mine. Isaiah 43:1

If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninetynine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? Matthew 18:12
'You shall be My people, And I will be your God.'" Jeremiah 30:22