Week of January 13, 2008

DRE/YM Pro Day Registration: The deadline to register is this Friday, Jan. 18. If you have not yet registered for the Jan. 26 DRE/YM Professional Day at OLC in Merrillville , please do so ASAP. Help advocate for the professionalism of the field of youth ministry...attend this day set aside for the professional development of youth ministry. We welcome to our diocese Mr. Joe Gall from the Archdiocese of Detroit, who will facilitate a process on high school-aged catechesis, one of the most important priorities of Bishop Melczek. Web/email, click here for the info page for this day, where you can also find the PDF for a flyer and reg. form. YM's should follow the same registration process as DRE's, submitting forms to Frank Zolvinski in the diocesan Religious Formation office.

The Best $15 you'll spend this year: The 2008 Youth Ministry Resource Manual, Our God, the Great I Am, will help our young people know God as creator, challenger, comforter, and friend. The sessions are developed so that YM, campus, and catechetical leaders may address the many salient ways we encounter God through Scripture, sacraments, the discernment of gifts, in our family and friends, by serving others, and in the Eucharist. The sessions address a multitude of teaching and learning styles, as well as a variety of ways to engage young people. Also includes: a process for discerning servant leaders, a confirmation retreat, an intergenerational session for families, liturgical suggestions throughout the year, prayers, blessings, suggestions for celebrating Nat'l World Youth Day Sunday on Oct. 26, and much more. Visit nfcym.org.

TAPT registration is now open! Promotional posters and registration information packets for youth ministry leaders have been mailed to those on the print mailing list. If you need additional posters or registration booklets, do not hesitate to ask, or visit www.garytapt.com to print out additional flyers/posters. The 20th annual Teens Are People Too retreat is March 7-9. Registration is easy: just send your teens to www.garytapt.com to sign up, it’s that simple! You can also promote by pasting this announcement in your communications with teens, and then hand this over to your parish’s bulletin editor, too!

H.S. teens are invited to attend TAPT, a Diocesan Catholic weekend retreat, held March 7-9 at Camp Lawrence , north of Valparaiso . Retreat activities include: talks, discussions, prayer, recreation, Reconciliation, and Eucharist. TAPT is designed to bring teens into a more intimate encounter with the Incarnate Jesus Christ. Cost: $65 ($75 if you register after 2/22). For complete details, visit garytapt.com , or contact Kevin Driscoll at the Diocese of Gary Office for Youth: 219-769-9292 x229.

CYX website is up & runnin’: As the temps dip to the single digits this weekend, warm your brain with thoughts of July! Planning is well underway for the 2008 Catholic Youth Xperience, and every effort is being made to give you and your teens not only a great conference, but to make them truly feel like they were a part of World Youth Day in Australia ! Check out the first CYX 08 promo video, which uses footage from an official WYD video, & more at www.catholicyouthx.com

Teen sex study: (Reuters Health) Teens ages 12-17 with positive attitudes about delaying sexual activity usually are less likely to become sexually active within the next year, according to a study in the Jan. issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Among a number of findings, some reasons cited for teens being less likely to initiate sexual activity include: they thought that their friends were not having sex; they had not met the right partner; their parents and health care providers objected to it; and it was against their personal beliefs. The survey also indicated that teens "were almost universally fearful of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections," but researcher Susan Gray said the concern did not affect their decision to have sex in the next year. "Teens' beliefs and attitudes about sex determine their sexual intentions, and their sexual intentions determine their sexual activity," Gray said, adding that parents and educators should do more than warn teens about pregnancy and STDs if they want to promote abstinence successfully. (Web/email: read the full report here)