YOUTH LEADERS CONFERENCE
Living as Missionary Disciples
7:00pm Friday, February 23 to
7:00pm Saturday, February 24, 2018
REGISTRATION DEADLINE FEBRUARY 16
All adults who lead or assist in youth ministry and catechesis for high school youth are invited!
For more information and Registration form CLICK HERE
*NOTE: The conference ends on Saturday evening but you are welcome to stay overnight at The Landing for no extra charge. Several of us will be staying Saturday evening and this may be your opportunity to enjoy some light conversation and fun with other youth ministers or schedule some planning time with your team.
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Rite of Election
St. Agnes Cathedral, Springfield: Sunday, February 18 at 3:00pm
St. Mary Cathedral, Cape Girardeau: Sunday, February 25 at 3:00pm
DEADLINE for Turning in Lists:
Pastors and RCIA Directors, please submit the following information for each Candidate and Catechumen from your parish:
First and Last name, address, phone number, designate as Candidate or Catechumen, designate which Cathedral service you will be attending and list name of sponsor. This information should be returned to the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis by email, fax, or postal mail no later than FEBRUARY 2. If you have any questions call Kim at 417-866-0841 or contact Kim by e-mail at [email protected].
CLICK HERE if you would like to use our downloadable spreadsheet through Microsoft Excel. Just download the form, enter all of the required information, save it and email it to [email protected].
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Make Plans to Join the 25th Annual
Diocesan Youth Conference!!!
Parish leaders should have their registration forms and payment turned in to the Office of Youth Formation by March 2, 2018 for the discounted rate.
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Upcoming Cursillo Weekends in the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau:
Location: the beautiful Pinecrest Camp and Conference Center, Fredericktown, MO (www.pinecrestcamp.org)
- Women's weekend - February 22-25, 2018
- Men's weekend - March 22-25, 2018
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SAVE THE DATES!
Spring Catechetical Workshops for all Pastors and Catechetical Leaders
Our Sunday Visitor will be helping to sponsor a special guest speaker for our Spring Catechetical gatherings. Denise Utter is a nationally known writer and speaker advocating for family integration in faith formation. She has also served as a DRE in a parish, and as an Associate Director of Family Faith in the Religious Education Office for the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois. Denise will be presenting some information, training, and resources for making our faith formation programs more engaging for the whole family so that families are better equipped for living and sharing their Catholic faith.
In an attempt to meet the needs of the various schedules of our clergy and ministry leaders, we are offering four workshop sessions to choose from:
Tuesday, May 1 - Catholic Center in Springfield 9:00am-12noon
Tuesday, May 1 - Catholic Center in Springfield 6:00 - 9:00pm
Thursday, May 3 - St. Mary Cathedral, Cape Girardeau 9:00am-12noon
Thursday, May 3 - St. Francis Xavier, Sikeston 6:00-9:00pm
More information will be coming. For now, PLEASE SAVE THE DATES!
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E
VANGELIZATION AND CATECHESIS
INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
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New to the diocesan library! And available to borrow.
Symbolon The Catholic Faith Explained,
Too often we try to live a faith we don't know or understand. Some of us stumble along with it, going through the motions. Others simply walk away. That's why the time is right for
Symbolon: Knowing the Faith, e
xplains the essentials of the Catholic Faith in a way that will inform our minds and inspire our hearts. Presented in ten sessions that are ideal for parish catechism, family instruction, and personal devotion.
If you would like to borrow this from our Resource Library contact Kim Brayman at
[email protected] or (417) 866-0841.
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Getting Ready for Lent
Resources for Lent can be accessed by clicking on the links below:
For those using Formed.org, please be sure to check out the wonderful resources for Lent on that site.
*During the season of Lent this year, Bishop Rice has invited all Catholic Schools, PSR programs and Youth Ministry programs to participate in the diocesan "Lenten Mission of Mercy to Help the Homeless" (the Eden Village Project). This mission is a wonderful opportunity to invite the youth in our parishes and schools to engage in the practices of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer during Lent. Packages were sent out to parishes and schools last Friday.
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Twelve Ways to Encounter Christ
in the Classroom
So much of what religious educators do, however, focuses almost entirely on education and not encounter. As a result, Christ becomes just another idea to learn like everything else in school.
As catechists and religion teachers, we can get distracted by curricula, textbooks, tests, and the many other things that make us think our role is only about education.
It is not. It is about an education that leads students into an encounter with Christ.
If our students spend their childhood in religious education classes and Catholic schools without forming a relationship with Jesus Christ, then we have failed. Read more of this article from thereligionteacher.com
CLICK HERE
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Connecting with Families through Faith Formation
"Faith-formation ministry needs to be not so much about catechizing children as about evangelizing households. . . Please note that this paradigm shift is not, ultimately, just about getting parents to value their children's faith more deeply. It's about getting parents to experience Catholic faith more deeply-in themselves!"
Tom Quinlan
(Director of Religious Education for the Diocese of Joliet)
For ideas on how to evangelize households, CLICK HERE
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Evangelization for Everyone
We reach about 25% of Catholic parishioners with the Gospel message at Sunday Mass each week and about 7% of our parishioners through small faith sharing groups. How can we get the Gospel message to those who are not attending Mass regularly or entering the church doors. One possibility is through electronic media.
Bishop Robert Barron has developed one avenue for doing this.
CLICK HERE
to get a glimpse of his new program for reaching out to communicate with those beyond the church doors.
What other ways can you reach out those beyond the church doors?????
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More from Roy Petitfils
Did you miss the live presentations provided by Roy Petitfils throughout our diocese in December? You can now watch the video of his presentation for adults which was held at Holy Trinity parish on December 4. The presentation was entitled, "What Your Kids Want You to Know but Won't Tell You". Go to our diocesan website at www.dioscg.org to view the video of this presentation.
Want to hear more from Roy? Check out his free podcasts on various topics related to teens.
CLICK HERE
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Retain Catechists and help them be more effective!
41 Parishes and 22 Schools are well on their way to becoming certified. Are the catechists and teachers at your parish or school enrolled?
Need help? Call us!
After the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis page opens, click on the image similar to this one to find information and forms
for the new process.
If you are unable to print this information, please contact Rick Barnhart at
[email protected] or Kim Brayman at
[email protected]
or call (417) 866-0841 to request copies of the booklet or forms.
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Bulletin Announcement
Put this in your bulletin now! Registering now for Cycle 7, 2017
Catechist Certification and Adult Faith Formation courses online!
The Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation (VLCFF) is a program of the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives at the University of Dayton. The VLCFF offers online adult religious education and faith formation courses in support of the Church's catechetical ministry. This means that you can deepen your faith at a time and place convenient to you via the internet.
The Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau partners with the VLCFF to extend these opportunities to all the faithful in our diocese at $50.00 per course. Courses may be taken for undergraduate credit
(for an additional fee) and courses qualify for credit in our diocesan Catechist Formation Process.
Classes held:
March 4 - March 24, 2018 (Seminar only)
Sample Courses for Cycle 2include
:
- Mercy**
- Catholic Identity and Culture**
- On Bended Knee**
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- Overview of the GDC and NDC**
- Designing a Parish Catechetical Plan**
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**Courses recommended for catechist certification by our diocese
*You may apply for a diocesan Lay Endowment Grant for reimbursement upon successful completion of a course. This newsletter has more information about the grant.
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Diocesan Lay Endowment Grant
You may be eligible to apply for a Lay Endowment Grant to receive a reimbursement for course fees for the University of Dayton VLCFF. Click the links below for more information.
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Please help us to get the word out:
CAMP RE-NEW-ALL NEEDS ADULT VOLUNTEERS! 
We are excitedly gearing up for Camp Re-NEW-All 2018! Much of the success of our diocesan camps can be attributed to the generous assistance of our many wonderful adult volunteers. Please consider joining in a week of fun at camp by donating a week of your time and talent at one of our diocesan camp locations this summer.
CLICK HERE for a full listing of available volunteer staff positions
CLICK HERE for an adult staff application
Camper and
High School Staff Applications are being accepted now.
(Note, these should be printed on LEGAL sized paper.)
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Lenten Lock-In
The Diocesan Committee for Youth Adventure Programs is hosting a Lenten Lock-In for all youth involved in Boy Scouts, American Herit
age Girls, Trail Life USA, Girl Scouts, or similar programs.
When: Saturday/Sunday: March 3-4, 2018
Where: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish
Who: All youth involved in a Youth Adventure Program
(scouts, AHG, TLUSA, etc.)
- Elementary students are participants, middle and
high school students will serve on the team.
For more information, contact:
Christine O'Dell (417) 773-4445 or Shelly Pichler (417) 838-2730.
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YDisciple - Youth Ministry Platform on Formed.org
If any of your parishes have purchased a subscription to
Formed.org, you have access to a wonderful youth ministry platform on that site known as YDisciple. It offers training, resources, and suggestions for developing discipleship groups in your Youth Ministry program.
You can check out a special webinar on Thursday, March 15 at 1:00 pm CST. The webinar is entitled "One Size Doesn't Fit All: YDisciple in Your Context" and it will feature parish leaders from all over who
are doing small group Discipleship in a variety of settings.
Topics will include:
Middle School
When You Can't Meet in Homes
When You Already Have a Thriving Youth Group
Rural and Small Parish SettingsAdult and Children's Discipleship
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SOCIAL JUSTICE AND RESPECT LIFE
INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
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INTRODUCTORY SESSION to the CREIGHTON MODEL of FAMILY PLANNING
Women and married couples in the Springfield area who are interested in learning a 100% natural method of fertility awareness and natural family planning are invited to attend a two-hour introductory session for the Creighton Model of FertilityCare. These introductory sessions will be available on Sat., Jan. 27; Sat., Feb. 10; and Sat., March 24 from 2-4 p.m. in the Pallotti Center at The Catholic Center in Springfield. The cost is $40 per woman/couple. Attendance at one of these sessions will satisfy the diocesan marriage preparation requirements for natural family planning. For registration or questions, please contact Caitlin Blaine, FCI, at
[email protected] or
(417) 234-2612. A flier for distribution can be found
here
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2018 Code of Conduct/Children's Virtus Lessons
2017 Code of Conduct
Each year all parish/school employees (whether or not they work with children), and all volunteers who work with children (i.e. catechists, youth group adult members, Knights of Columbus members, etc.) must complete the current Diocesan Code of Conduct. Hopefully, all of your volunteers and employees would have completed that. Please ensure that volunteers complete the questions and sign page 4 of the document. Turn page 4 only into your local safe environment coordinator. He/she will in turn send the form to our office via mail or fax
Due date was December 1, 2017.
Mail to:
Office of Child & Youth Protection
601 S Jefferson Ave
Springfield, MO 65806
Fax: 888-820-6032
If you are in charge of a program such as the Parish School of Religion, Youth Program, Confirmation, etc. please turn in your list of volunteers to the local safe environment coordinator at your parish along with the signed Codes of Conduct from your volunteers.
Click here for Local Safe Environment Coordinator list.
Children's Virtus Lessons
Lesson 2 is to be taught by during the 2017-2018 school year. Please note that the lesson has enough material that it can be split into two sessions. It is suggested that Lesson 2 is taught before December 16, 2017 and during the spring, review Lesson 2 with the children and include activities not covered during the fall session. The second part should be completed by March 16, 2018. The lessons are required for each child in Kindergarten through 12th grade who attends Catholic School or any parish religious education class. VIRTUS lessons are available to those who have the "Educator" tab on their VIRTUS accounts. If you need help with the VIRTUS lessons for children contact the our office. The lessons are new. Please destroy copies of previous lessons. Principals and Parish Catechetical leaders should insure teachers and catechists use the new lessons this year.
Report of Completion and Employee/Volunteer List (Due April 15)
School Report of Completion
click here
Parish Report of Completion
click here
Compliance Guidelines for Training
For further explanation on required training,
click here for a Guidelines.
This information and more can be found on The Office of Child and Youth Protection
Web Page
Thank you all for the continued support of this mission and Ministry. If you have any questions please contact the Office of Child and Youth Protection at (417) 866-0841 or the Director, William Holtmeyer, Jr., MS, NCC, LPC, CEAP at [email protected] or Rosie Francka [email protected].
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List of Upcoming VIRTUS Trainings
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Are you prepared? Holiday activities bring additional risks.
The end of the year is a time for fun and festive holiday celebrations - often a time for bringing individuals together from all over to your parish/school for different events, parties, and activities. While your parish/school's existing monitoring plans are likely effective for everyday activities, your typical day-to-day procedures might not be sufficient to ensure the safety of the youth/vulnerable adults in your programs during this high-traffic time of year.
Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind as you plan an event at your facility:
- Remind employees and volunteers of your program's monitoring plans and revise plans where necessary based on new activities.
- Block off all unused locations so that there are no areas where program participants can find privacy with one another or where one adult could find privacy with a program participant.
- Identify the "hot spots" within your facility where supervision is difficult.
- Designate specific employees to walk through "hot spots" while events are taking place to watch for any high-risk or unusual activity.
- Do not allow unmonitored access into the building through the back or side doors.
- Have a formalized procedure for checking visitors in and out of your facility.
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Contact Us:
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Office of Evangelization, Catechesis,
and
Youth Formation
Director: Lynn Melendez
Assoc. Director: RickBarnhart
Assistant: Kim Brayman
Assistant: Katie Newton
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Office of Child and Youth Protection
Director: William Holtmeyer
Assistant: Rosie Francka
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