Overview

The Certificate in Youth Ministry Studies Program is a ministry education program for adults in ministry with youth in both parish and school settings. This program is designed for adults involved professionally or as volunteers with younger (10-14) or older (14-19) adolescents in a parish or school setting. It equips leaders with the knowledge, skills, practical tools, and techniques needed for creative and comprehensive ministry with youth.

The program includes eight courses.  The primary aim of the program is to promote personal, spiritual, and ministerial growth. The Certificate program is utilized in a number of ways:

• as an integrated formation program leading to a Certificate in Youth Ministry Studies

• as an enrichment or continuing education program for veteran leaders

• as a workshop series which can be taken on a course-by-course basis by professional or volunteer leaders

Program Benefits

Participating leaders will experience the following benefits:

Confidence. Participants feel more confident in their youth ministry role because they have integrated and applied the most recent and innovative theory and approaches into their own setting and responsibilities.

Competence.  The comprehensive sequence of courses provides a solid foundation of theory, theology and practical approaches, which can be applied in any parish or school youth ministry setting.

Credibility.  This is a nationally recognized curriculum, offered in over 30 sites and sponsored by over 50 dioceses, whose graduates are in parish, school, and diocesan leadership positions all over the country.  Students who successfully complete the requirements of the program receive a Certificate in Youth Ministry Studies, indicating the completion of this course of study

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Year Two Courses

Fostering the Faith Growth of Youth through Evangelization and Catechesis  

Fostering the Faith Growth of Youth through Evangelization and Catechesis develops the foundations and practices for nurturing faith growth and Catholic identity in young and older adolescents through evangelization and catechesis. Participants will explore a variety of ways to learn about and from Jesus and how to promote a living relationship with Jesus in the lives of adolescents. They will examine a contemporary approach to developing Catholic identity and Catholic practices in the lives of adolescents today. Participants will experience and analyze the "postmodern" culture and develop strategies for faith formation with adolescents in a postmodern world. They will learn creative approaches for evangelization and catechesis and develop skills and methods for evangelizing and catechizing adolescents.

June 3-4, 2013 – Tom East – Instructor

Fostering the Faith Growth of Youth through Justice and Service
Fostering the Faith Growth of Youth through Justice and Service explores the foundations for fostering a justice and service consciousness and spirituality in youth drawn from Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching, adolescent development, and contemporary catechetical principles. It develops skills for creating integrated, action-learning models for the justice and service component of a comprehensive youth ministry.
June 5-6, 2013 – Joan Weber – Instructor

Fostering the Faith Growth of Youth through Prayer and Worship

Fostering the Faith Growth of Youth through Prayer and Worship investigates the foundational role that prayer and worship have in fostering the spiritual growth of youth. Participants develop understandings and practical skills necessary for: (a) preparing liturgy and worship experiences, (b) fostering the prayer life of youth and preparing prayer services, and (c) understanding the role of youth retreat experiences. Participants will apply these understandings by developing a realistic and integrated approach to worship within a comprehensive ministry to youth.

July 8-9, 2013 – Tom Tomaszek - Instructor

Fostering the Faith Growth of Youth through Pastoral Care
Fostering the Faith Growth of Youth through Pastoral Care explores the principles and methods of caring for young people from various cultures and for their families. The course develops an understanding of the breadth and depth of pastoral care, of family systems and adolescent development, and of the role that cultural identity plays in the development of adolescents. The goal is two-fold: (a) to promote healthy adolescent development from a pastoral care perspective, and (b) to develop preventative interventions for families with adolescents.
July 10-11, 2013 – Sr. Carolyn Mary Coll– Instructor