Tuesday July 31

JULY FORTH-WITH
What has occurred on the Catholic Youth Ministry blog during the month of July:
> Inside the Youth Ministers Studio, a weekly pod-cast, featured Clark Miller (7/04), Frank Perry (7/11), Sr. Ann Cassidy (7/18), and ??? (7/25) Quotable Quotes from the first six months ran over from the previous month until 7/03. 
> For a summer month, it was pretty work focused!  The blog went along on the High School Leadership Institute (7/07-15).  We celebrated the announcement of a new archbishop (7/13, 15) and broke open the 2008 World Youth Day Message (7/25-29)

> Starting 7/08. we began visiting the States of Youth Ministry starting with Alabama and working our way towards home in Maryland by month’s end.
> Surely, it could not have taken until (7/17) for a new You Tube entry. That was followed by Star Wars (7/20)  and Mr. Rodgers (7/22) . We closed the month greeting "Good Morning, Baltimore." (7/31)
THE END, THE START
  This has been the longest month in a long, long time. It’s al been a little too much. [blogging]

STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: MARYLAND
** Good Morning, Baltimore!  (Seen Hairspray, yet?)  All righty, then…  This is the ArchBalt web-site and this is the news page.  (This is my offices’ home web site.)  [state]

Monday July 30

YUCK
  Not feeling well today – at all!  It was a busy week last week and looks to be a packed week coming up.  So, on Sunday, the one semi-good day to crash, seemingly my body has opted to take advantage of it. Meanwhile, all sorts of mental and social scheduling have gone down the toilet.  YUCK. [blogging]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: MAINE
** In Portland, Maine, they are preparing to pilgrimage to the 49th International Eucharistic Congress, which will be held June 20-22, 2008 in Quebec, Canada.  Also, this was the second sighting of Buddy Christ.  [state]

Sunday July 29

CLICK
  Yesterday, I spent quite a few hours on kids’ related projects.  Finally wrapping up late in the afternoon, I continued to do various little projects while watching the Adam Sandler video Click.  It was a confusing movie for me.  The ending was dramatic, stunningly sweet, and surprising in the intensity of the pay-off.  The humor, however, was was just as surprisingly in its mean-spirited bullying.  A complicated movie.  [culture]
WORLD YOUTH DAY ’08 MESSAGE: MISSION
is now available here. Quote to Note: In order to achieve this goal, my dear friends, you must be holy and you must be missionaries since we can never separate holiness from mission. . . Be prepared to put your life on the line in order to enlighten the world with the truth of Christ; to respond with love to hatred and disregard for life; to proclaim the hope of the risen Christ in every corner of the earth. [pope]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: LOUISIANA (UPSTATE)
** Baton Rouge announced that Fr. Trey Nelson has released his third teen prayer book.
** Alexandria has a Help me! I’m a Youth Minister page
** Shreveport seems to be in midst of transitioning their site. [state]

Saturday July 28

OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO
Blogging is kinda’ amazing, you know??  I’m just dumping stuff up into the bloggosphere and it’s interesting to see where it lands.   The past 24 hours leading to this posting are fascinating.  (I mean, who knew that Scouting and Kentucky were so attention-getting??)
    Here’s the international places from where this site had visitors yesterday:
** In Europe: Great Britain (London and Dartford); France (Savignac-sur-l’Isle in Aquitaine); Germany (Berlin); Slovakia; the Netherlands (Osdorp of Noord-Holland) and Estonia (Tallinn in Harjumaa)
** In Asia and Australia: India (Bangalore); Singapore; and Australia (Canberra and another location)
** In the Americas: Netherlands Antilles (Willemstad); Brazil (Ceilndia); and Canada (Sherbrooke, Quebec and another location) 
     All this and still some of the usual suspects (Megs, Mike, and Kim) in Parrish, FL; Metairie, LA; and Chicago, IL. [blogging]
WORLD YOUTH DAY ’08 MESSAGE: EXPECT MUCH
is now available here. Quote to Note: Never forget that the Church, in fact humanity itself, all the people around you now and those who await you in the future, expect much from you young people, because you have within you the supreme gift of the Father, the Spirit of Jesus. [pope]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: LOUISIANA (BAYOU COUNTRY)
** In New Orleans, they are the keepers of the CYO logo.  Lots of dropdown menus available.  Very interactive!
** Houma-Thibodaux has a nineteen page Program Packet available for download.
** Lafayette, Louisiana has a well designed site.
** Lake Charles is affiliated with the Proud 2b Catholic festivals.  [state]

Friday July 27

A SCOUT IS. . .
  The Pope writes: The first of August 2007 will mark the 100th anniversary of the opening on Brownsea Island, England, of the first Scout camp organized by Lord Baden-Powell. On this occasion, all those in the world, young people and adults who once made their Scout promise individually or as a group, will be invited to renew it and to make a gesture for peace, thereby stressing how close the vocation of a "peacemaker" is to the Scout ideal.  Read more here. [youth ministry]
WORLD YOUTH DAY ’08 MESSAGE: BEARERS OF THE GOOD NEWS
is now available here. Quote to Note: My dear young friends, as my venerable predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II said on several occasions, to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness to the faith is more necessary than ever today. There are those who think that to present the precious treasure of faith to people who do not share it means being intolerant towards them, but this is not the case, because to present Christ is not to impose Him. . . Today too there is a need for disciples of Christ who give unstintingly of their time and energy to serve the Gospel. There is a need for young people who will allow God’s love to burn within them and who will respond generously to his urgent call, just as many young blesseds and saints did in the past and also in more recent times. In particular, I assure you that the Spirit of Jesus today is inviting you young people to be bearers of the good news of Jesus to your contemporaries.  [pope]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: KENTUCKY
** Covington reminds us that Scouting is a part of youth ministry and offers the Trail of Churches Pilgrimage patch.
** Buddy Christ is upfront of the oyyam site from  Lexington.  Boy, did they get that domain name early! This weekend is their Ignite Your Torch event.
** In Louisville, youth ministry is located in the Office of Lifelong Formation and Education.
** Owensboro offers T.E.C.’s for young adults as well as high school students. [state]

Thursday July 26

NO MYSTERY HERE
  The new boss-to-be, Archbishop O’Brien, spoke earlier this week at a Theology on Tap.  Listen here.  He sounds pretty good.   He started strong: "We could do one of two things.  I could go ahead with my talk.  I understand it is going to take about half-an-hour.. Or, I could just say that the topic is “The Mystery of Evil” and a mystery is something that you don’t know. So there’s not much more to say and I can put the notes down and you can go drinking all night, if you want!" He opted not to put these options to a vote.  [church]
WORLD YOUTH DAY ’08 MESSAGE: PROMISE THE HOLY SPIRIT
is now available here. Quote to Note: You know the ideals, the language, and also the wounds, the expectations, and at the same time the desire for goodness felt by your contemporaries. This opens up the vast world of young people’s emotions, work, education, expectations, and suffering … Each one of you must have the courage to promise the Holy Spirit that you will bring one young person to Jesus Christ in the way you consider best, knowing how to “give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but [to] do it with gentleness and reverence” (cf. 1 Pet 3:15). [pope]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: KANSAS
** Dodge City starts off stating their mission statement as well as offering illustrative hyperlinks.
** Kansas City, Kansas has a beautifully designed web site with a flash slide show of pictures and many buttons.
** The bulletin board over at Salina (actually the image of a classic cork bulletin board) posts all the upcoming activities.
** The Go Fish e-newsletter well serves the Wichita diocese. [state]

Wednesday July 25

. . . . . IS
"INSIDE THE YOUTH MINISTERS’ STUDIO"
<<Enter the studio here.>>  Last night, the Orioles celebrated Cal Ripken, Jr. off on his way to the Hall of fame induction ceremonies.  Mr. Ironman. Mr. 2,632 consecutive games without a break.
  After 28 weekly podcasts, it looks as if we are about to go with a Wednesday without.  Sometimes, it just as easy as posting. Other days, I’m spending the morning doing edits to get it posted up.  In the past few days that were very busy all on their own, I don’t even have anything to edit.  About a dozen phone calls found possible interviewees at conferences, on vacation, or just plain not picking up the phone. 
  So, this morning Cal’s record seems even that much more impressive.  I have some interviews set up, hopefully, for later this week.  We’ll be back. [studio]
WORLD YOUTH DAY ’08 MESSAGE: NEW PENTECOST
is now available here.   Quote to Note: We are the fruits of this mission of the Church through the working of the Holy Spirit. We carry within us the seal of the Father’s love in Jesus Christ which is the Holy Spirit. Let us never forget this, because the Spirit of the Lord always remembers every individual, and wishes, particularly through you young people, to stir up the wind and fire of a new Pentecost in the world. [pope]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: IOWA
   It’s old home day for me in visiting Iowa.  Much earlier in my resume, I served in three of the four dioceses!
** Davenport has a YouTube video promoting the Christian Leadership Institute.  Attending from Iowa, I think I was on the second ever CLI at Camp Grey in Baraboo, WS with Brian Reynolds as well as the first-ever in Iowa over twenty years ago.
** Over in Dubuque, I’m thumbing through the latest edition of Youth Tracks and I read a recommendation from Lynn Dubord of St. Joseph the Worker parish in Dubuque who suggested the seemingly familiar Youth Ministry Blog (www.catholicymblog.com) indicating that this site gives you interaction with some of the national voices in Catholic Youth Ministry and has links to other potentially valuable youth ministry resources and ideas. Thanks, Lynn!!
** In Des Moines, the Catholic Youth Camp in in full swing.  You can learn more about that by listening to the diocesan director/ camp director, Bob Perron’s "Inside the Youth Ministers’ Studio"  Meanwhile, the Be-Att-It-Ude  Youth_Rally logo is awesome.
** Sioux City has links to retreats, rallies, leadership, adults, summer camp, and forms. [state]

Tuesday July 24

CHURCH SIGNS COMMUNICATING
  Recently, in the Miller clan, there was a little family discussion regarding the Pope’s own view on the Church.  It seems as if the discussion has gone to the streets as well as to church signs. You gotta check this out! [church]
UNPACKING FAITH
  I was honored (and more than just a little bit envious) to have received a copy of Unpacking Faith: A Resource Catholic Military Connected Youth and Their Parents.  Dr. Mark Moitoza has contextualized the transitory nature of  growing up as a military brat into the holy practice of pilgrimage.  I love the cover, recognizing the statue of Jakob’s Pilgrim from the town of Speyer, Germany where some of the European Catholic Youth Conferences were held with US teenagers from military settings.  Congratulations, Mark! Order your own copy here. [youth ministry]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: INDIANA
** Over in Evansville, they will connect you to the Communion and Liberation sites.
** At Fort Wayne-South Bend, they are under Holy Construction, three regional formation days for adults involved in youth ministry.
** Gary is hyping their Catholic Youth Xperience with a dedicated web site and promotional video.
** Meanwhile, Indianapolis ran a blog of their local Homeland Mission Project
** Lafayette, Indiana‘s youth events include DYC meetings, retreats, and conferences. [state]

Monday July 23
CORRECTION
  The editorial staff of the Catholic Youth Ministry Blog regret to inform you of an error and wish to rectify the situation. In the July 15th entry of the tour of states, we visited Connecticut. . . Hartford to be specific.   In this entry, we identified that they had "selected some wacky Cajun as their keynote speaker for their Youth Spectacular." We have since been informed that the "debonair, cultured, and suave Mike Patin" was crushed by these comments. It was poor editing!  Using wacky and Cajun was an unfortunate use of redundant phrasing. At no point were we attempting to offend the "fighting Irish!" They scare us!  [blogging]
HARRY POTTER UPDATE
  Daughter Meghan finished it up in about 24 hours (with a brief intermission for sleep and church)  She has briefed me on the ending.  Interesting! (No, I will not play spoiler!) [friends & family]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: ILLINOIS (DOWNSTATE)
** The Belleville office, last month, sponsored their annual Family Day at Busch Stadium.  This has to be one of Cardinal fan Colette Kennett’s favorite days!
** Not really much found up-to-date at Peoria’s site, but their was an October article in the Catholic Post regarding Life Teen.
** The Diocese of Springfield, IL is in the midst of a website revision.  Could not find much of anything just yet.  [state]

Sunday July 22

GET THE FLOCK OUTTA HERE
  You know, there are some days that just not everyone gets it. The St. Apollinaris Youth Ministry, in Napa, CA, has "flocked" more than 100 homes, usually visiting about four homes each night. For a mere $25, parishioners are guaranteed that their friends will wake up to a yard full of long-legged plastic flamingos. Some parishioners take preventative measures by purchasing the group’s $40 flocking insurance — guaranteeing them immunity from the birds’ imposing presence. The teens have raised more than $3,000 from their flocking enterprise.  To learn more, read this article.  But, to see someone who doesn’t get it, read the subsequent Letter to the Editor.  [youth ministry]

DEEP AND SIMPLE
  Through extended family connections, I’m aware of a young(er) singer / songwriter / filmmaker who is in production of a documentary on Mr. Rogers - yea, the "Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" guy.  Once, while at the NFCYM, I had aggressively sought to contract Mr. Rogers for the 2004 Pittsburgh NCCYM – - and then he died. It is a loss I still feel deeply both personally as well as for the field. Anyway, here’s Benjamin‘s trailer for the film.  Fred Roger’s legacy: "Taking advantage of every moment to tell people that it is important that we respect one another and love another." Nothing shallow or complicated about that, now, is there?  [culture]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: ILLINOIS (CHICAGOLAND)
** In Chicago, the Archdiocesan Youth Rally will feature Jason Evert speaking about "Romance Without Regret"
** Joliet is just wrapping up the Youth Leadership Conference weekend which featured Bob Perron and Vince Nims.
** Rockford‘s page is actually a bookmark on the diocesan ministries page.  [state]

Saturday July 21

MORE, MORE, MORE
As youth workers who seek to create space for this Holy One to work, recent research and media reports can help us respond to three “mores” that bring new twists to not-so-new issues for our girls. More sexy, more pressure, more violence. Read more here.  [youth ministry]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: IDAHO
** Over in Boise, they are right between their two weeks of Ultimate Reality high school discipleship retreats.  [state]

Friday July 20

CIAO, CHRIS
  If you caught the newsletter preview yesterday (which should finally go out today(, you’ll realize that, after today, our office staff is a man short. Chris Ashby has been hired as the new Vice Principal for Student Affairs at the Cardinal Gibbons School.  Chris has served the Division since 1999 as Coordinator of Training and Certification. Chris was the home-grown Baltimore

guy in the office and had the contacts and the relationships to prove it. At yesterday’s farewell luncheon, Chris was roasted by a former staff member, had his head shaved by the executive director of Catholic Education Ministries in retaliation for eight years of Chris’ bald jokes, and was saluted by one of the bishops. Please keep Chris in your prayers as he pursues this next step in his future.  [work day]

WORKLOAD
  Meanwhile, Chris’ departure aside, ask me about my work load. It’s a real Star Wars moment-  actually quite a few Star Wars moments! [work day]

STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: HAWAII
** As best as I could tell from search the main Honolulu site, there were no youth ministry links. A google search, however, lead to the Catholic Hawaii Youth and Young Adults Forum bulletin board.   [state]

Thursday July 19

NEWSLETTER PREVIEW
  First thing this morning our newsletter goes out to the world.  It’s pretty impressive if I do say so myself (which I just did!) It includes the usual fall advance info, but is headlined by a prayer and lesson plan related to the transition of our Archbishops. Preview it all here. [work day]
WYD GLOBAL PILGRIMAGE
  Catholic youth across the country are praying and preparing for next year’s World Youth Day in Sydney. CRS has partnered with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to create the World Youth Day Global Pilgrimage, a  year-long virtual journey leading up to this great gathering of the Catholic Church. Read about the cultures in our one human family and prepare to meet the people at World Youth Day. Pray for peace and justice with interactive photo meditations. Learn about how the U.S. Catholic Church serves people around the world. And take action by acting justly and living in solidarity. Join the pilgrimage at http://education.crs.org/wyd/. [church]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: GEORGIA
** Atlanta will be hosting YMI – Youth Ministry Institute in three separate locations.  Archbishop Wilton Gregory will preside at the Saturday liturgy at the second location.
** In Savannah, the annual Diocesan Youth Conference will be held in January and will feature Chris Padgett and Who Do You Say I Am [state]

Wednesday July 18

SR. ANN CASSIDY IS
"INSIDE THE YOUTH MINISTERS’ STUDIO"
<<Enter the studio here.>>  It’s that time of the year – transition time.  Youth ministers moving into the field, youth ministers moving out of the field, youth ministers around into the field.  We interrupted Sr. Ann as she was packing deep in the heart of Texas to move to northern California. But, first a quick drop-in to the studio. It’s worth a listen. [studio]
GOOD FOR BUSINESS
The Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association’s (KCCVA) celebrates that the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry will be bringing 20,000 attendees to Sprint Center for their 2009 meeting. Read more here. [youth ministry]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: FLORIDA (OCEANSIDE)
** Miami‘s site is appropriately bi-lingual and the SonLight newsletter is pitching NCYC.
** Orlando heralds their World Youth Day trip along with a link to the Pope’s WYD message.
** Palm Beach has a cool web site name www.1timothy412.com and is hyping twin Christian youth group events at Disney (Night of Joy) and Universal (Rock the Universe) the weekend of September 7-8.
** The is a listing of the office staff on the St. Augustine page.   [state]

Tuesday July 17

WHO DIES? GOD
   What’s missing? If you want to know who dies in Harry Potter, the answer is easy: God. Harry Potter lives in a world free of any religion or spirituality of any kind. He lives surrounded by ghosts but has no one to pray to, even if he were so inclined, which he isn’t. What does Harry have instead of God? Rowling’s answer, at once glib and profound, is that Harry’s power comes from love. This charming notion represents a cultural sea change. Read more here. [culture]
BEING SERIOUS
   Once in the ArchBalt office, I helped to create a long-running office prank/joke involving rubber chickens.  In the midst of a hangover of tiredness (an upgrade from exhaustion), an overwhelming "to-do" list, and office transition, I think I need to recapture the spirit of this video clip.  There was a small hint of that yesterday.  Catch your breathe, world, we are all back to "Game On!" [funny business]
BENEDICT TO UN
   We have a time-frame:  September 2008. It has been reported that the Pope plans to accept the invitation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to attend the General Assembly session in New York in September of 2008.  Read more here. [pope]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY:
FLORIDA (GULF COAST)
** The mighty Jesse Mannibusen graces the Pensacola-Tallahasee page.
** The mighty St. Petersburg’s front page is primarily generated by Lansing. Michigan’s "faith teen" web magazine.
** Over in Venice, a listing of contacts and coordinators can be found. [state]

Monday July 16

END OF SUMMER
  With the major piece of summer programming completed, it is now officially fall. All attention and focus now moves into the next season.  Thank goodness that Ravens return to training camp in thirteen days.  [work day]
LET’S GET IT STARTED
  For Sunday mass, I walked over to the local parish where High-LI teammate Fr. Matt Buening has just moved in as associate pastor.  He preached how the closing of High-LI was similar to the final lines of the readings of the day. "You have only to carry it out.” from Deuteronomy and, following the parable of the Good Samaritan "Go and do likewise.” [parish]
MASS CONFUSION
  Meanwhile, there were two baptisms at Mass yesterday.  Uniquely, both sets of parents were also serving as godparents for the other child.  Repeated sets of sacramental "who’s on first" hilarity ensued.  [parish]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: DELAWARE
** In Wilmington, they have the prototype of a great e-newsletter Ladders Online.  Wilmington, by the by, includes the "eastern Shore" of my home state of Maryland. [state]

Sunday July 15

THE COMA
   Saturday finished up High-LI with conferral of certificates and pins to the 60 participants. The slide show experienced multiple set-up malfunctions but still pulled off at presentation time.  Clean-up was relatively quick and my beloved daughter Nichole drove her drowsy dad home.  Slept over 12 hours last night. [work day]
MORE ON THE NEW ARCHBISHOP
   The Sun went to visit in DC and the American Papist has a recap of many articles.
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: CONNECTICUT
** In August, Bridgeport will be hosting the Fan the Fire rally.
** Hartford has selected some wacky Cajun as their keynote speaker for their Youth Spectacular.
** Over in Norwich, youth ministry comes under the responsibilities of a larger faith formation office. [youth ministry]

Saturday July 14

EXHAUSTED
  Yesterday was a very good day.  A nice bookend presentation to Sunday’s effort and a hosting of Bishop Malooly at High-LI. Yet, I am probably closer to a medical diagnosis of exhaustion than I have ever been in my life.  It’s a little scary.  I’m a little concerned about driving home later today. May God grant all of us some justified sleep. [work day]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: COLORADO
** Colorado Springs is getting ready their Fishers Discipleship Conference which features keynote speaker D. Scott Miller.
** Denver (home to son Clark’s Totus Tuus program) is gearing up for the Equipp Catholic Youth Ministry Conference.
** The Pueblo site reports that The Dioceses of Pueblo and Colorado Springs have received a grant to promote ministry to young adults. [youth ministry]

Friday July 13

BREAKING NEWS
The Archdiocese of Baltimore has a new spiritual leader.  Archbishop Edwin O’Brien from the Archdiocese of Military Services USA will be moving up I-95 from his Washington DC base to join the Premier See. Rocco, of course, has got the lead here and here on the whole story. Cardinal Keeler has sent a letter, which included the following: I have known Archbishop O’Brien for more than 20 years.  He is a man of deep faith who has accomplished many great things in his service to the Archdiocese for the Military Services and the Universal Church.  He served as a chaplain in the United States Army and as rector at two seminaries prior to his ordination as a bishop.  I am confident you will welcome him warmly and that he will be able to count on the truly outstanding priests, religious and laity of this historic Archdiocese. . . He will be installed as Archbishop of Baltimore on October 1, 2007.  See the Catholic Review as well as the Sun articles here and here. [church]
CONVERGENCE
  Long ago, there was a dream about finding ways to bring High-LI and the Justice Action program together. It happened yesterday at the noon mass at the Basilica with newly-named Archbishop O’Brien. It’s a small little starting point brought together by unusual circumstances. JAW finishes tonight, High-LI tomorrow. [work day]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: CALIFORNIA (SOUTH)
** Among the services that Fresno offers is the “Profetas Juveniles” programming for KNXT-TV Channel 49
** The Monterey site reminds is that youth ministry "must be relational. It must be relational between the minister and God, between the minister and the young people, between the young people and God, and between the young people themselves."
** Los Angeles has a page organized around your role in youth ministry.  Maybe you coordinate confirmation Perhaps, you are an adult volunteer.
** Orange lists out an extensive variety of resources.
** Meanwhile, San Bernardino offers a seminar in Pastoral Practices of Comprehensive Youth Ministry, an intensive 9 month/60 hour course for Directors and Coordinators of parish youth ministry
** Down in San Diego, they will be conducting their leadership camp, Camp Emmaus, in early August. [youth ministry]

Thursday July 12

HITTING THE RHYTHM
  Nothing much to report…  We are just really getting into the flow of life here at High-LI.  Another late night card game (Hearts double-decked) with a third place finish.  Got up early this morning (like every morning) to fuel up and blog.  While in the car, the radio breaks the news.  (See above)  [work day]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: CALIFORNIA (NORTH)
** Oakland has a basic introduction site which makes mention of their W.E. L.E.A.D. (Weekend Leadership Enhancement and Development) Retreats – leadership development for youth parish leaders
** Over at Sacramento, the Youth and Young_Adult Conference is an overnight event at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. Speakers include Pam Stenzel and Marissa Espanoza. Curtis Stephan is the musical headliner. 
** Santa Rosa‘s office web-page offers a simple listing and a link to Pope Benedict’s WYD letter.
** Over In San Francisco, Youth Leader is underway.
** San Jose has a great picture of young people walking a labyrinth and the site high-lights immersion programs for both youth and adults.
** The Stockton office also serves as a liaison between parish youth ministers; and provides networking and fellowship opportunities for those involved in youth ministry.  [youth ministry]

Wednesday July 11

FRANK PERRY IS
"INSIDE THE YOUTH MINISTERS’ STUDIO"
<<Enter the studio here.>>  Here’s to all the long-serving parish youth ministers, especially those who have served as volunteers or part-timers.  They, like Frank, are the un-sung and under-sung heroes of the field.  God’s blessings upon each and all of you. Today, Frank gives voice to your hopes and concerns, give a listen. [studio]
A PLAN COMES APART (SLIGHTLY)
  The three track plan has always long been likened to Star Trek three-level chess.  We had under-estimated the time needed for communication skills videotaping, so there were trafficy back-up in the video-taping hallway.  All right, add another note for the future. . .  One additional note, finally played late-night cards last evening – -  winning at hearts by successfully "shooting the moon!"   [work day]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: ARKANSAS
** Little Rock has a junior high event with Jamie Dillon and a senior high event with Doug Brummel and Mark "The Bible Geek" Hart this past spring. This summer, they will host c2si- Catholic Charities Summer Institute: a hands-on learning experience of social justice. [youth ministry]

Tuesday July 10

A PLAN COMES TOGETHER
  So, amongst the many changes in the newly redesigned High School Leadership Institute – - – is the "base community."  With young people traveling in many different tracks, they come together at day’s endfor faith sharing, story telling, and prayer.  In the planning stages is always seemed to be a bit of a challenging sell… tonight, the experience seemed to be an overwhelming success.  [work day]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: ARIZONA
** Phoenix is encouraging participation in the Discipleship Leadership Academy in August at the University of St. Thomas up in St. Paul, MN.
** In Tucson, it was difficult to find much directly aimed at youth ministry.  They did have, however, the makings if a cool multimedia platform on their iDiocese site.   [youth ministry]

Monday July 9

WE’RE OFF
The revised schedule for High-LI after a year’s preparation, changing, and rearranging is . . . finally underway.  We are now officially living out the change. It’s all happening and it’s cool to see.  [work day]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: ALASKA
** Anchorage held the Alaska Catholic Youth Conference in June and has begun to offer CMD’s Certificate in Youth Ministry Studies program
** Fairbanks is looking for a Diocesan Youth Minister.  This position will work primarily in the Fairbanks area, rural road system, and Northwest coast in developing youth and young adult ministry programs for individuals from junior high school age to approximately 30, along with serving as a resource throughout the rest of the Diocese.
**  Mary and Rich Stone are leading the Juneau World Youth Day trip.  A WYD fund-raiser is occurring right on the diocesan front page. [youth ministry]

Sunday July 8

HERE WE GO
The High School Leadership Institute (High LI) staff met yesterday and had many tasks readying for the young people (including getting wireless running!)  Please pray for the staff and young people who gather for this event this week as well as for the staff and kids of our Justice Action Week (JAW), also meeting this week!  [work day]
THE STATES OF YOUTH MINISTRY
For the next seven-plus weeks, we will be touring the United States, visiting each and every diocese, and hopefully, their diocesan offices of youth ministry. Of course, youth ministry is not about the programs but about the relationships.  Programs, however, is what shows up, sometimes, on diocesan web sites.  With youth and younger youth ministers being more tech/web-friendly, we should be better about utilizing the web as a venue for communication.  Let’s see how well we are doing…  [blogging]
STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY: ALABAMA
** The Birmingham office of youth ministry is part of the Catholic Education and Lifelong Formation department.
**  The Mobile office has a cool web-site name (www.go2mass.com), was accepting applications for a new director until June 22, and is gearing up for World Youth Day.  Meanwhile, from the diocesan main-page, we note that in July a team of 13 youth and 7 adults will travel from Mobile to Akil, Yucatan, Mexico to serve the community of St. Ines Catholic Church. [youth ministry]

Saturday July 7

REDRAWING THE MAP – THE STATE OF YOUTH MINISTRY
Having discovered this map of US Catholic dioceses (that was designed by Columbus diocesan youth leader Mark Butler) will lead us all into a virtual tour of the US Catholic youth ministry diocesan offices- -  as soon I can get hooked up to the internet again. [church]
MAP OF HATE
The Southern Poverty Law Center has developed this map identifying where "hate groups" are located.  Click on your state to see. Find the map here. [culture]
OFF THE MAP
I’m leaving this morning for the staff day of High LI (the High School Leadership Institute)  While there has been wireless available previously, who knows??  Regular readers should be advised the irregular blogging might be the norm this upcoming week. With wireless, you’ll get daily reports from the new, revised High LI. [work day]

Friday July 6

THE DEATH OF HARRY POTTER?

It is prophesied in the blogs. In book 7, will Harry Potter die?  It has been suggested that his death will be a noble one, a death both sacrificial and necessary to save the world from the satanic Lord Voldemort. Might we expect Harry’s death to show that his character’s path is modeled on the Gospel accounts of Jesus, and, more significantly, that the link between him and wizardry-school headmaster Albus Dumbledore is patterned on the most essential relationship in the Christian Bible — that between Jesus the Son and God the Father?  Read more here. [culture]
THE DEATH OF DANIEL PEARL
Watched A Mighty Heart which was the story of Mariane Pearl and the terrorist kidnapping of her Wall Street Journal-ist husband Daniel on Karachi in 2002.  Angelina Jolie will probably get an Oscar nod for her portrayal.  She has a quiet, Buddhist-centered calm about her during most of the movie which all comes unraveled when she learns that her husband has been murdered. Summer Movie Count: 9 [culture]
LITURGY OLD-SCHOOL STYLE
Tomorrow, Saturday July 7, the Vatican Information service will transmit a special service for the publication of the Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio data" of His Holiness Benedict XVI, "Summorum Pontificum," concerning the use of the pre-1970 Roman liturgy. The document will be accompanied by an explanatory Letter from the Holy Father.  As usual, Rocco provides the heads-up here. [church]
FOR WANT OF A SCROLL BAR
Wednesday, the podcast cuts out 2/3 of the way through.  Thursday, the scroll bar goes missing, freezing up the page. Friday, we are conducting a lengthy meeting of the entire web-site staff in an attempt to address these concerns. Clearly, the 20,000 party is having its own hang-over.  [blogging]

Thursday July 5

RATS

  Still excited about Ratatouille.  I know, I know, it’s uncomfortable watching rats in a kitchen (… not unlike snakes on a plane or sharks in an ocean…) Nonetheless, here‘s some YouTube encouragement to check out the film.  Further, Bob Carlton has a reflection on the message for adult viewers: In Ratatouille, a pivotal character is Anton Ego, who is the most revered food critic in all of France.  The word critic comes from the Greek κριτικός, kritikós – one who discerns.  Our world nowadays is filled with critics, but sadly they view their role as more often to destroy than to discern.  Befitting the Freudian view, these critics are focused only on the external reality of what they criticize, ignoring the context or the artist themselves. Read it all here. [culture]
MARRIAGE AND HOMOSEXUALITY
An interesting read (which is not necessarily presented here as official Church teaching) can be found on Commonweal regarding the Church and homosexuality.  Key quote: A start would be to adapt Galatians 3:28 and state that “in Christ there is neither gay nor straight”-and on that basis, to begin to ask serious questions concerning the holiness of the church, applying the same criteria on both sides. If porneia among heterosexuals includes promiscuity, violence, and exploitation, then the church must condemn similar forms of homosexual activity. If the church condemns the bath-house style of gay life, it must also condemn the playboy style of straight life. Similarly, if holiness among heterosexuals includes fidelity, chastity, modesty, and fruitfulness, we can ask whether and how the same elements are present in same-sex love.  Real more here. [church]

Wednesday July 4

CLARK MILLER IS  "INSIDE THE YOUTH MINISTERS’ STUDIO"

<<Enter the studio here.>>  Six months ago, the pod-cast experiment of Inside the Youth Ministers’ Studio began on the third day of the new year. Our guest, at that time, was someone for whom I have the utmost respect as a tested and treasured member of our Catholic youth ministry community: Irene Friend.
   As we begin the next six months, on this fourth day of our seventh month, we now turn to the youngest guest in the studio who is just five days short of his twenty-first birthday: Clark Miller.  The intent of the podcast we not only to collect voices of our past and present; but with the questions about discipleship, to also speak of the future.  Welcome, Clark! [studio]
20,000
  On Tuesday, we (blog-reader and blog-writer) surpassed 20,000 page views. The odometer turned with a visit from a server out of Truckee, CA (near Lake Tahoe) at 10:17:06 am pacific time.  It’s all so cool.  The counter has been fun to watch recently with visits recently (of the last 100 at this writing) from Richmond, British Columbia, Canada; Copenhagen, Denmark; Egypt; New Delhi, India; and Singapore. Again, thanks for checking out the site! [blogging]
MILLER KIDS HAVE BROKEN "INSIDE THE YOUTH MINISTERS’ STUDIO"
The kids are in their second of three weeks of making cameo appearance on the podcasts.  Last week, the oldest, Nichole, offered introductions.  Where will my son appear this week? [studio]

Tuesday July 3

MILESTONE
  Sometime today, all things being equal and if the world wide web doesn’t do a complete collapse, this web site will surpass 20,000 page views. Thanks for checking out the site! [blogging]
WORLD YOUTH DAY
  The World Youth Day cross has arrived in Australia. (Click on picture to enlarge)  The story is told here.  Meanwhile, the World Youth Day theme song has also been released.  It was written and sung by the first winner of Australian Idol. The song, with accompanying WYD promotional video, can be found here on YouTube. [pope/WYD]QUOTABLE QUOTE RECAP
  Here’s a mash-up of discipleship quotes from our first six months of the Inside the Youth Ministers’ Studio: There is a difference between being a believer and a disciple. Discipleship involves being in a relationship with Jesus, following Jesus, and integrating Him into our lives as Lord and Savior. We become Christ for others; recognizing both the joys and challenges of being a people of Good Friday as well as resurrection.
   Our ministry with young people, therefore, is providing adults who are living their faith as disciples of Jesus Christ. As church, we know that they each have gifts and talents and that gifts come from God. We are calling them forth, challenging them, encouraging them and walking with them.  It is about an invitation to a day-to-day discipleship and the church is a place where they should discover it, embrace it, learn more about it and develop the skills an tools to live it.
   Our prayer becomes "Help me get out of the way Lord.”  [studio]

Monday July 2

VATICAN PRESS OFFICE WORKING OVERTIME

Beyond last Friday’s presentation of the pallium to newly named archbishops, Pope Benedict has sent a letter to the 8-12 million Catholics in China who are attempting to remain faithful under a Communist government.  Meanwhile, everyone is gearing up for the Motu Proprio on liturgy  which makes it important to note the differences between the Tridentine Mass and the Roman Missal.  In Cardinal Sean’s blog, he offers his own early analysis: "I told my brother bishops that in the United States the number of people who participate in the Latin Mass even with permission is very low. Additionally, there are only 18 priories of the Society of St. Pius X in the entire country. Therefore this document will not result in a great deal of change for the Catholics in the U.S." [church]
QUOTABLE QUOTE
(In honor of the first half year of Inside the Actor’s Studio – - who’da thunk it would have lasted this long?? – -  we are re-running the Quotes to Note)  From Kristin Witte: Young people can’t be in healthy relationship with Christ and in healthy relationship with others and in healthy relationships with themselves unless they understand the basic tools of relationship. . .  We need to intentionally provide models of healthy adults so that they can light the way for healthy teens. [studio]

Sunday July 1

RATS
The need-to-be-named MEGHAN departs this morning – - which always involves a touch a sadness. The joy was yesterday – - Pancakes for dinner, walking around the hometown’s 40th anniversary celebration, and the surprising best movie of her visit (yes, a different movie in a different theater each day) which also was the only non-sequel, Ratatouille! Summer Movie Count: 8 [family & friends]
WHAT ADULTS WANT
One such presumption: the oft-repeated phrase that adults want to "learn more about their faith." In actuality, "they want to learn more about how to be a disciple of Jesus." Also, people’s membership in a parish is not based on shared knowledge, he added, but on a desire to be in relationship and dialogue with other disciples. Tom Zanzig discusses adult faith formation here. [church]
QUOTABLE QUOTE
From Canada’s own, Clay Imoo:   I think that to live as a disciple, I believe, is to follow Jesus, and to believe in Him as our Lord and Savior.  I also use the term that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and that we need to challenge our young people to imitate Christ in their daily lives by what they say, how they act, how they think, and how they treat one another. We’ll never be Christ and we’ll never be perfect. [studio]

(taped by phone 07/05/07)

BIO: Sr. Ann is about to begin a new ministry at Salesian High School in Redmond, CA.  She has previously work in the local and diocesan scene in San Antonio, TX

QUOTE TO NOTE: One of the main things that we use as a tool  that Saint Don Bosco gave us was the whole idea of accompaniment, walking along with, journeying with, a young people.  So, it is not necessarily only in the classroom, in the formal situations; there is the Saturday kid’s clubs, which he called at that time oratories.  (These are) the informal time where we are with young people, we pay attention to what young people love, (and) we educate ourselves because we (adults) are not there anymore.

OBSCURE FACTOID: Sr. Ann has been the token Catholic, the rare woman, and the only nun of a national ecumenical group addressing the needs of middle school youth ministry.

BEHIND THE SCENES: Poor Ann, she called attempting to conduct NFCYM business with me and got suckered into a podcast interview

BLOG REFLECTION: can be read here for July 18th.

(taped by phone 06/14/07)

BIO: Frank is the Youth Minister at Holy Cross in Palmetto, FL. He is Meghan’s, my youngest daughter, youth minister. 

QUOTE TO NOTE: Through my baptism and confirmation, I accepted a responsibility I have accepted the responsibility to live out the precious gift of the  of the Catholic Church and the faith of the Church.  My (own) obligation is to pass that along to the young people.

OBSCURE FACTOID: First met Frank in the hallways of the National Catholic Youth Conference in Atlanta, GA.

BEHIND THE SCENES: Frank was a tough “get.”   I fear he was intimidated by some of the name previous visitors of the studio podcasts.  The great thing about Catholic youth ministry is that we most often are very democratic and attempt to ensure that we all have a voice.  It was a honor to include Frank among our list of studio guests.

BLOG REFLECTION: can be read here for July 11th.

(taped 06/12/07 by phone)

BIO: Clark is a college seminarian for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  He is presently in his second year with the Archdiocese of Denver’s Totus Tuus program.  He has been involved in Catholic campus ministry at the University of Maryland – Baltimore County. In 2006, the Division of Youth and Young Adult Ministry recognized him with the Messenger of Light award.

QUOTE TO NOTE: (While at Totus Tuus,) We’re doing catechesis. Catechesis is a great word, which I just learned recently, come from Greek, and apparently, so I am told, it comes from the word “to echo.”  So, to be a disciple is to be a catechumen for your entire life, to be echoing the Master. The Master, is, of course, Jesus.

OBSCURE FACTOID: Clark is the only podcast guest for whose birth I was present.  Heck, he’s the only podcast guest for whose conception I was present! (My kids have taken over the studio!!!)

BEHIND THE SCENES: This was the first phone interview that I did with an audience.  Last week’s guest, Kristin Witte, sat in the office during Clark’s taping. . .  Had to edit out two or three times when she broke out in laughter. . . At the very end, one got through

BLOG REFLECTION: can be read here for July 4th.