On Saturday, Nov. 9, the Office of Evangelization and Discipleship presented “Recharge,” a day of formation and strategic planning for the parishes of the Diocese of Raleigh. More than 50 parishes were represented at the event that took place at St. Mary Catholic Church in Goldsboro, NC. There were approximately 130 participants who participated in either the English or Spanish tracks.
The keynote speaker for the English track was Michael Marchand, co-founder of Project YM. Michael is known throughout the country as a dynamic speaker on youth ministry topics. He founded “Thrive,” the online youth ministry formation tool, and also helps run “Catholic Youth Ministry Discussion,” an online community of over 6,000 Catholic youth ministers. He presented on the unique challenges of serving the youth of Gen Z and current best practices in youth ministry.
In the afternoon, Andy Baker provided a presentation on the diocese’s vision for youth ministry, based on the current best practices mentioned by Mr. Marchand, and focused on engaging the youth and bringing them through an intentional process of conversion to Jesus Christ and His Holy Church. The rest of the afternoon was spent in strategic planning, in which Mr. Baker brought the parishes through a process of discernment, planning and first steps to take in order to either improve their existing youth ministry or begin a new youth ministry where there currently is not one.
The Office of Evangelization and Discipleship will now accompany the parishes in developing their plans and implementing their first steps.
