Florida Catholic | Youth Conference Leadership Training Available

Youth conference leadership training available

LINDA REEVES | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PALM BEACH BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 03.21.08

BOCA RATON | The Diocese of Palm Beach is teaming up with the youth outreach office of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio to offer teens training for lasting skills to assist them in being better Catholics, leaders among peers and future ministers of the church.

“This is a brand-new program,” said Liz Montrola, a parishioner of St. Peter Parish and volunteer helping the diocese organize the program. “It is the first time that it is being offered. It is totally awesome.”

The new youth training program is called Franciscan LEAD, which stands for leadership, evangelization and discipleship. The weeklong program is planned for June 9-13, the week before the diocese’s first three-day Steubenville Florida youth conference, scheduled to begin June 13 at Lynn University and Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton.

“Franciscan LEAD is a new direction. It will be launched at every one of our 19 summer conferences around the country this year,” said Kristi McClintock, a Franciscan University marketer who helped design the program. “We feel like youth ministry is now about discipleship — how to pray, how to develop your own personal relationship with the Lord, how to share faith with peers.”

Five trained youth ministers from Franciscan University will conduct sessions. The week’s workshops will focus on Scripture readings, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the lives of the saints. Discussion topics will include developing a prayer life, overcoming sin through the sacraments, deepening faith and answering difficult faith questions.

The Franciscan LEAD workshops will be limited to 24 participants, 12 boys and 12 girls, to be selected through an application process. Applicants must be registered for the Steubenville Florida weekend conference. The cost for the Franciscan LEAD program is $325, in addition to conference expenses, and includes the workshops, accommodations and meals for the week of June 9-13. Selected youths will be responsible for transportation costs. Applications are due by May 1, and must be submitted by an adult group leader who is recommending the teen and will be attending the conference with the teen.

“We are looking for strong leaders who are active in their parish. Applicants must be a junior or senior. The group leaders know the kids better than we do. We are relying on them to help us make the selection,” said Kathy Twist, a parishioner of the Cathedral of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Palm Beach Gardens who is the diocese’s director of Steubenville Florida and is on the workshop selection committee. “This is such a new program. We are learning as we go. Hopefully we are forming future youth ministers.”

The workshops will end Friday afternoon in time for the weekend rally. The teens will join with youths of their parish groups for the weekend with new skills and spiritual tools.

“I like the fact that it is about leadership,” said Carlos Sacasa, a young adult minister at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish involved in campus ministry at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach. “It is teaching about evangelization. They (the youths) can apply it — take it with them. They can put it into practice. They can take it back to their parish(es). It is a good program.”

ATTENTION YOUTHS

Two major, related youth activities co-sponsored by the Diocese of Palm Beach and the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, will take place at Lynn University and Pope John Paul II High School in Boca Raton in June.

STEUBENVILLE FLORIDA:

What: Three-day youth conference, themed “Witness,” open to all youths in grades eight through 12. (Youths must be in groups with an adult leader and adequate supervision.) It will feature national speakers and performing artists, catechesis, eucharistic adoration, sacrament of reconciliation, and Mass with main celebrant Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito.

When: Friday, June 13, through Sunday, June 15. Registration deadline is April 11.

Cost: $145 registration fee includes conference and meals, but not lodging.

Information: Go to www.steubenvilleflorida.com, call 561-670-1455 or e-mail steubenvilleflorida@diocesepb.org.

FRANCISCAN LEAD:

What: Five-day leadership, evangelization and discipleship training for 24 selected participants in the Steubenville Florida youth conference.

When: Monday, June 9, through Friday, June 13. Application deadline is May 1.

Cost: $325 registration fee includes training, meals and lodging.

How to apply: Only group leaders can recommend and submit a teen’s application for consideration.

Applications and instructions will be sent by workshop organizers to all group leaders who register for Steubenville Florida.

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Youth conference leadership training available

ATTENTION YOUTHS

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