Youth Ministry falls under the COMMISSION for FORMATION, LIFE and APOSTOLATE of the LAITY

 

Vision

Youth passionately committed to and working for Christ.

 

Mission Statement

To invite, challenge and empower the youth of the parishes of the Diocese to transform the communities and the world.

 

Goals

• To empower young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today

• To strengthen the total personal and spiritual growth of young people

• To help the youth to become proud of being Catholic

• To encourage youth to grow in faith and understanding of the Scriptures.

• To support the youth in deepening of the spirit of personal and community prayer

• and to enable the young people to become the evangelizers of others (Missionary Disciples)

 

COMPONENTS OF YOUTH MINISTRY

 

The Youth Ministry, to fulfill the above goals, should implement the following components:

 

Advocacy -  responding to the needs of youth and their families, act with or on behalf of them for the change of their life situation.

Catechesis – guiding the youth towards maturity of their faith through suitable teaching that helps them to develop their own personal faith identity.

Community Life – creating the community environment that is contributing to building up the good relationship between youth and adults in the Church and in the society.

Evangelization – through personal relationship with Jesus and witness to the values of the Gospel,  the proclamation of the Good News to other youth and inviting them to join the Community of the Catholic Church (Missionary Disciples).

Justice and Service - guiding young people in the development of a commitment to a life of justice and service grounded in their faith in Jesus Christ, in the Scriptures and in Catholic social teaching.

Leadership Development/Enablement - recruiting, training, and supporting youth and adult leaders in youth ministry; empowering youth for leadership and ministry with their peers.

Pastoral Care – pastoral caring for youth and families in crisis through support, counseling and providing guidance as youth face life decisions and make moral choices.

Prayer and Worship - assisting young people in deepening their relationship with Jesus through spiritual development, personal and community prayer life and worship.

 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COMPONENTS AND FORMATION PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES

 

Aim: To help the youth to become better persons and better Christians

 

The programmes and activities of youth ministry should contain the following elements but not limit to them:

 

 a/ Personal and community spiritual growth programmes:

 

+ Education for Life programme,
+ retreats helping spiritual personal growth in relationship with Jesus and other people, + deepening of personal prayer and worship as youth and Christian Community – participation in Holy Mass and prayer services, use of music in worship
+ workshops to help in recognizing personal vocation: to marriage, priesthood or religious life,
+ training in teaching of the Church on different topic related to young people’s life, workshops on the Theology (Spirituality) of the Body,

+ Weekly/monthly meetings of youth groups for common reflection on the Word of God and implementation in the local life situation

+ Knowledge of the life and message of the Patron Saints: John Bosco, diocesan and parish saints, your own saints whose name you have.

 

b/ Evangelization and outreach formation and activities:

 

+ Training in Evangelization spirituality and skills – Paul course and others

+ counselling and training in relationship to others, as relationship to parents, other youth, sexual relationship, marriage counselling, issues related to AIDS, conflict handling, peacemaking  and so on.

+ Leadership training and team building workshops, career guidance, human development – who am I – towards God, myself and others,

+ topics related to Youth’s present situation and life experience

 

 

c/ Social activities and formation
 

Aim : To promote healthy fun and enjoyment, and service to others in a Christian setting
Activities:

Sports activities on different levels, sing along, video shows of valuable films, cinemas, social outreach to support the sick, orphans and the needy, choirs’ concerts/competitions, youth camps, etc.

 

d/ Fundraising activities
 

Aim: Makes young people financially self-reliant and co-responsible for their group.

Examples of the activities:

Cake sales, concerts, car-wash, selling of - chips, boere-wors roll; video shows, plays, dances, marathons /fun walk , handworks, camps, fundraising (umphephezeliso) for youth activities on the diocesan leven

 

MEMBERSHIP

 

The Youth Ministry of Umzimkulu Diocese embraces all the young people of age between 14 and 35, including the youth that belong to Sodality of Children of Mary, Youth of the Sacred Heart, YUFRA, members of choirs or other associations. 

 

Subscriptions:

 

The affiliation fee of R200 should be paid annually by each parish and these funds will be used for the expenses of youth ministry and reviewed annually. All young people and mentors should register with R30 (which will be reviewed annually) to their parishes and this money should be paid annually and will be the part of the youth fund for the youth activities and R10 of the amount goes to Deanery and it is reviewed annually. This subscription money should be accompanied by the form which is signed also by parents.

 

Uniform

Females: Red golf T-shirts and black skirt just above the knees and black stockings.

Males:  Red golf T-shirt and black trousers

Shoes: closed black shoes for males and females (height doesn’t matter)  with socks/stocking

The golf-shirt: In front - Logo of the diocese; back - Youth passionately committed to Christ. The red golf t-shirts will be sold by the youth desk.

The uniform should be worn on diocesan, deanery level events and on parish youth meetings/celebrations.

 

Annual Re-commitment of Youth Members.

 

Youth members to commit/pledge themselves on a yearly basis on a specific month.

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YOUTH MINISTRY STRUCTURE

 

DIOCESAN YOUTH  FORMATION TEAM

Membership of Diocesan Youth Formation Team:
Bishop, Diocesan and Deanery Chaplains, Diocesan coordinator, Evangelization Formation Coordinator, Mentors’ Coordinator,  Secretary, Fundraising Animator,  two representatives from each deanery, Team of Trainers and others according to needs or development of Youth Ministry.
 

DEANERY ANIMATION TEAM

Chaplain, Coordinator, Mentor, Secretary, Fundraiser, Representatives from all the parishes of the Deanery.

 

PARISH YOUTH ANIMATION TEAM

Priest, coordinator, vice coordinator, secretary, fundraiser, two mentors, Animators from each ministry component (see attached organogram).

 

ROLES/DUTIES

 

Diocesan Chaplain

He is a Spiritual Father of the youth / young people in the Diocese.   He has to be a person who has passion in the youth ministry. He has to be an exemplary person to the youth of the diocese. He unifies the youth activities within the deaneries. He is the link between the clergy and the diocesan youth team. He works hand in hand with the diocesan coordinator and the team of the diocese. He monitors the activities of the diocese together with the coordinator. He is part of the diocesan team. He supports the coordinator in all the activities of the youth ministry.

 

Deanery Chaplain

 

The Deanery Chaplain is the spiritual father of the Youth in the area if his care. He is responsible for spiritual development of the Youth, their mentors and the whole communities the young people live in.

The Qualities of the Chaplain:

The Chaplain is driven by passion, love, zeal, and ambition to make Christ known and loved by young people that are entrusted to his care and support. He must be an exemplary person to the youth  i.e. (integrity, prayer, spiritual, endurance, tolerance and healing). The young people need to know that the chaplain loves them, trusts them, understands them, listens to them and communicates with them.

 

Chaplain’s Main Activities:

1/ If there is no Deanery structures the Chaplain is responsible for the facilitating of the initiating of such structure and training youth leaders and mentors in fulfilling of the tasks. He becomes the mentor of the Deanery Coordinator and the team.

2/ The Chaplain is the integral part of Deanery Team and offer them expertise and support, but not taking over the role of Deanery Coordinator.

3/ The Chaplain is the integral part of the Diocesan Team together with 2 representatives of the Deanery Team.

4/ The Chaplain with the Coordinators do visits of the parishes to check the youth ministry and offer support the parish priests and youth teams.

 

Diocesan coordinator

The Coordinator is a person who works hand in hand with the diocesan chaplain and the team in assisting the Bishop in developing and supporting the youth ministry in the diocese so that it is the vibrant and effective ministry in bringing of the youth to Jesus Christ and his Church.

• He/she coordinates all the activities on a diocesan level together with the team.

• Facilitates the meetings of the diocesan team and deanery meetings which has been called by the diocesan team. 

• Is a link between our diocese and other dioceses of SACBC.

• Gives direction to the parish youth teams.  

• Is a trainer together with the team of trainers.

 

Tasks of the Diocesan Team:

• to give guidance to the youth leaders, mentors, animators.

• to give formation and training to the leaders, mentors, animators of the parishes.

• to organize the youth activities on a diocesan level.

• to encourage leaders, mentors, animators  to work holistically in their ministry,

• to listen to the concerns of the youth as a whole,

• to give facilitate the searching of the solutions where there is a problem.

 

Deanery Coordinator.

• Coordinates the Youth Ministry in the Deanery area together with Chaplain and Deanery Team.

• Organizes the trainings of parish youth teams on the deanery level in cooperation with diocesan team.

• Is the part of the diocesan team.

 

Parish Coordinators

• Coordinate youth ministry activities in the parish

• disseminate information to parishes,

• Make sure that deanery and diocesan youth ministry programs are implemented in the parish.

• plan and organize parish youth activities with parish priest as their chaplain, mentors and the team of animators.

• they are a link between the youth ministry in the parish and the diocesan/deanery coordinator.

• They organize the parish youth training in skills of different components in cooperation with coordinators of deanery and diocese.

• they are representatives to Deanery Team

• they facilitate parish meetings of Youth,

 Mentors

• they strengthen and support the youth in their leadership role

• they encourage the training of the group leaders

• they deal  with confidentiality in the matters related to the youth

• They support the facilitation of development of possible young leaders in the group

• they help the youth to prepare for a good meeting

• they help the team to assess the quality of the meetings,

• they help the youth to share in their responsibilities in caring for the young people in their area / parishes,

• They play a vital role in looking for the solutions in case of conflicts.

• The are the link  between the youth and adult members of the community

• they are the soul of the team but like all souls, must make it a point to remain invisible

 

TERM OF OFFICE FOR ALL THE TEAMS

3 years and not more than two terms

 

 

NB. In all levels of youth ministry in our diocese team spirit plays a vital role and each one has to take an active part.

 

Every Parish of the Diocese of Umzimkulu is obliged to follow this Youth Ministry Policy.

 

 

Approved at AGM of Youth Ministry at Emaus Mission on 6th of December 2014 and presented for implementation in the parishes.