If you are a local youth ministry contact, keep an ear open for what’s happening at your local high school(s) on Wednesday, September 24.

See You at the Pole is a student-initiated and student-led movement that started in the Ft. Worth suburb of Burleson, Texas, in 1990. SYATP brings students to their school flagpoles to intercede for their leaders, schools, and families, asking God to bring moral and spiritual awakening to their campuses and countries. Last year, more than 2 million teenagers met for See You at the Pole in all 50 states.

If you’ve got the time… what can possibly be the harm in showing up…?  You might connect with a catholic kid?  You might network with a neighboring Christian youth worker?  You might join others in prayer?

For more information, www.syatp.com/home/

  Today is the Youth Contact Meeting.   Actually, we do two.  This first one is in central Maryland and then we repeat it closer to the beltway next Saturday.  It is always a joy to train together as an office staff  (well, it’s usually a joy- we are talking five pretty large personalities!)

We always have some give-aways.  You’ve already seen the unveiling of the Directory of Services. 

This is also where we premier the promotional video for our Annual Pilgrimage – an event that finds over 1,200 young people walking through the streets of downtown Baltimore on “Palm Saturday.” As you can see, it’s great way to kick off Holy Week.

Local youth ministry connection and award-winning filmographer Chris Strackbein helped put this bad boy together.  Nice job, don’t you think?

On Tuesday, the staffs of the diocesan offices of youth ministry of Region 4 gathered for networking and in-servicing.  Our speaker was Steve Thomas.  Steve took us through the True Colors personality test about which I imagine our office will still be discussing i the future.  Here is a video moment (still playing with my camera) where Steve talks about team, the greatest asset on team (it’s not people), Terrell Owens, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and why there most certainly is an "I" in T-E-A-M.

This is a good opportunity to brag on the team with whom I serve and minister. We are a great group, full of lively and engaged personalities.  And, yes, almost most days, it is as fun as one might imagine to work in our office…  We do work very hard, but the fact that we like each other really does make a difference.

After the storm comes time to chip in, folks.  A note from the Lone Star state that needs not stand alone in times such as these:

Greetings from Galveston-Houston!

As you have witnessed on national television, several areas within the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and the Diocese of Beaumont were heavily hit by Hurricane Ike. The amount of damage that has occurred from a category 2 system is almost surreal. As seen on the media, the hardest hit areas of the Archdiocese were Galveston Island, Port Bolivar, and Crystal Beach. Within the Diocese of Beaumont, Chambers County was hit hard. All of these areas are connected to the Gulf of Mexico or Galveston Bay. Major parts of the city of Houston and the surrounding metropolitan
area continue to be without power and some without water. Despite these odds, the spirit of the people continues to remain strong and hopeful. We thank you for your prayers and concern and inquiries about how we can be assisted.

At present, financial resources are being requested to assist those without power and those whose homes were destroyed get back on their feet. Donations may be sent to:

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
Hurricane Relief
P.O. Box 907
Houston, TX 77001-0907

If youth ministry programs would like to send Gift Cards to assist families with groceries and medications, please note the following types of pharmacies or companies (Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, HEB, or generic cards such as Visa and MasterCard). These too should be sent to the address above. I simply ask that you also send a note to me about the donation so that we can make note of the assistance from our national youth ministry community.

All financial donations with be shared with the Diocese of Beaumont. Donations of clothing are being handled internally through the St. Vincent DePaul Society.

Again, on behalf of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, thank you for your prayers for the Church of Southeast Texas.

In Him,
Brian K. Johnson

One of my favorite creative tasks at the beginning of the year is the Directory of Services.  Hard copies of it went up to the bishops’ offices this afternoon and virtual distribution occurred through the ‘net.

Here’s director Mark Pacione’s cover letter:

Recently, Pope Benedict met with young people in France and encouraged them:

Be witnesses of God, for, as young people, you are fully a part of the Catholic community. …
The Church has confidence in you, and I want to tell you so!

This weekend and next our Division hosts the annual Youth Contact Meetings. This gathering of the adult youth ministry contact from every parish will focus on enhancing our partnerships with parents and families in our ministry.

These days are also an opportunity to promote the programs and services of our Division. Towards that end, we publish our Directory of Services for 2008-2009.   We present this to you so that you might increase your awareness of what is available in youth and young adult ministry.   We all share in the Holy Father’s continuing commitment to communicate the Church’s confidence in young people. 

You can find our Directory of Services on-line at here.   We drove our IT folks nutty today.  If that doesn’t work, you should be able to right click the link found at here

Our friends at the USCCB have developed a web-site, www.faithfulcitizenship.org, based on the bishops’ document and call towards political responsibility.  It is filled with lesson plans, prayer and worship aids, video (featuring Steve Angrisano) and educational pod-casts.  The site seems pretty deep with resources.

While checking it out, note that the bishops feel strongly enough about the value of the site that they are offering a chance at
an i-pod to those who sign-up for their list-serve.

Barb chimed in on the What’s Going Right question from Tuesday.  Comment section on the question is still open, folks.  As along as it receives comments, I’m gonna continue to bump up the link to the top.

Over at Youth Ministry Ideas, there are offering a raffle for $15 if you post up about this contest.   I have now done that.  I feel so cheap and used.

However, if I win, please know that I will double-down on the amount and do the same thing here!

Local CYM Wayne and I were meeting yesterday afternoon regarding a ppt presentation for parents and teachers that will be related to our upcoming Technology Procedural Recommendations (We expect a January release in anticipation of April’s Child Abuse Protection Month.)

Got home and read this report regarding the anticipated demise of the home landline phone. USA Today reported that “About 75% of teens plan on having a mobile phone as long as they live, and about 40% believe a mobile phone is the only phone they’ll ever need.”  Other stats from the report (found here) include:

•    79% of all teens have a mobile device.
•    About 15% own a smart phone.
•    Almost half say they would “die” without their mobile phones
•    90% text message; about half said they could text blindfolded.

Yesterday, at the Youth Specialties Blog, Adam McLane asked “What’s going right with youth ministry?” Hey, good question… Got some good news about what’s going good? Share away in the comments…