Love your volunteers.

Get past the business language of this video and recognize that our business in not just about the kids but about the adults with whom we collaborate. “The person who is my primary customer is the
person who works with/for me (adult volunteer), who is serving that customer (the kids).”

“We are a Life Success Company. My business is making the
people who work for me into successful human beings, and transforming their lives in a
valuable and useful way.”

Love your volunteers.  Transform their lives in a valuable and useful way.

Yikes, we have been at this sate of Youth Ministry tour for four weeks now and we are, with this return state to the bluegrass state, we are only fourteen states down… less than a third along the way

+ Covington is hyping up World Youth Day.

+ And so is Lexington where last year they held “Sundaes on Sunday” with Celebrity Super Scooper the Most Reverend Ronald Gainer – Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Lexington Bishop Gainer will be scooping ice cream and greeting guests.

+ Louisville  has a resource for Creating Dialogue

+ The Owensboro Office of Youth Ministry will come and conduct a Building a Youth Ministry in your parish.

As we are touring the states, it seemed appropriate to look beyond our borders.

YANGON, MYANMAR — The Catholic Religious Conference of Myanmar (CRCM) has organized a program to train young sisters as youth trainers.Twenty nuns from ten different congregations took part in the participative June 10-17 course.

Topics included human development awareness, leadership skills, environmental awareness, facilitation skills, public speaking, creative dramatics and creative liturgy. “I am confident that the participants will gain skills to accompany young people in their spiritual and human development journeys,” Missionary Sister of the Columban (MSSC) Sister Ashwena. “We need more skills and knowledge to work with today’s modernized youth,” Reparation Sister Anastasia, who works with young people from the Taungnu diocese, added. Read more of the Union of Catholic Asian News article.

KNOCK, IRELAND — A three-day festival of faith and fellowship was held last weekend for youth from around Ireland. The Shrine of Our Lady of Knock was the site for the annual event, this year focused on “Walk by Faith.” The three-day program included talks, workshops, prayer, reflection and music. 

“The festival presents young people with the exciting opportunity of gathering with others to reflect on their Christian faith and the significance it has in our life journey,” Bishop Bishop Christopher Jones of Elphin said. “[...] We pray that it will help many young people to discover in their lives a lively, loving relationship with Jesus Christ and his church.”

Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam said the annual festival is a “most welcome development of recent years.” “It is an ideal opportunity for so many young people to come together in a faith context, to meet, to have a positive experience of Church, to pray, to celebrate and to have fun,” the archbishop noted. “Young people are the future of the Church and they deserve the best in presenting to them the wonderful treasures of our faith.” Read more from Zenit News Agency and the Irish Independent.

We find ourselves back in Kansas again.

+ In Dodge City this weekend, they will have a local celebration of the 15th Year TEC Anniversary

+ Thus far, the Kansas City, Kansas site is one of the more attractive sites on our tour.  Congratulations.

+ The New Youth Ministers and Religious Education Coordinators Orientation at the Chancery in Salina occurs August 26.

+Are those kids “singing in the rain” of the featured picture of Wichita? Thumbs up!

In visiting “somewhere over the rainbow,” is there anything else we should know about?  Comment away!

I’m thinking that there are so many summer workcamps and that this recent news item demands our attention:

College students today are less likely to “get” the emotions of others than their counterparts 20 and 30 years ago, a new review study suggests. Specifically, today’s students scored 40 percent lower on a measure of empathy than their elders did.

In engaging students, we must not fall into the trap of making it about them and encouraging their own “feel good” interpretation of the moment. It’s too easy.  Service is about the other (their needs and the systematic choices made within society that cause the needs.)  More importantly, service is about the Other as in the One who suggested “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.”

Before coming to Maryland fifteen years ago, the Hawkeye state was home. I’ve made a few real life visits back and, of course, the occasional virtual trip.

+ Catholics in Action is right in the middle of gathering nearly 100 folks in Davenport for three days of service, prayer, learning and fun!

+ The Jesuits are bringing their “Hearts on Fire” tour to Holy Trinity Church in Des Moines this summer. The focus is on living faith in daily life with the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, featuring The Jesuit Mission Band,

+ Proud to note that the Iowa dioceses, including Dubuque still very much host the Christian Leadership Institute, a program that I helped to bring with program author Brian Reynolds very early in the development of CLI.

+ And, in Sioux City, they offer the St. Timothy award for youth while adults can receive the St. Don Bosco.
Comment away, folks… anything else we should know about Iowa?

Here is a tutorial on the all important High Five.  
Enjoy and learn! 
  
(Oh, and I have not fully investigated this, but I am reasonably confident that the “around the back, through the legs, palm spit, piggy-backer” variation on the high-five is in violation of most child protection standards.)

God is not dead.

He isn’t even tired.

– Charles Rice,
Notre Dame professor
(h/t Ironic Catholic)

And we return again to the Hoosier State, a place for basketball and, seemingly, conferences.

+ In the land of Evansville Source and Summit is the name of the annual winter retreat that focuses upon, you guessed it, the Mass

+ Seems like the While over in Fort Wayne – South Bend, each of the small groups blogged about their experiences at the BCX (Be Christ to Others) conference.

+ Gary diocesan director Kevin buys the first round of beverages on the first Monday of each month for YM Coffee Talk, a gathering for anyone in ministry alongside middle and HS youth.

+ The CONSUMED conference in Indy (Indianapolis) was a great success! Check out the video, blog, and news article!

+ Called to Duty in the name of the Lafayette Diocesan middle school Vocation Retreat.

Comment away- – anything else to report from Indiana?

This morning, I had the honor of appearing on Relevant Radio in the 8am hour.   Sean Herriott is the host of “Morning Air” and we had a great half-hour conversation regarding  youth ministry and the future (shocker: two of my favorite subjects!) Listen to the streaming file and Download the .mp3.

Here are some of the things that I referenced in the conversation.
> A Church for Young People
> CARA Study regarding 2010 Ordinands
> Youth Ministry 3.0 the book and my take 
> Abandoning Young People
> Parents Aren’t the Enemy

Thanks to Doug Thompson and to Roy Petitfils for making the connection.