Youth readying for national conference

When the winds of change begin to blow, hundreds of teens from the Albany Diocese will be there to feel them.

"Winds of Change" is the theme of this year's National Catholic Youth Conference, Oct. 27-30, at the Georgia World Congress in Atlanta.

Around 24,000 teens are expected at the event, including representatives from parishes in Oneonta, Ballston Lake, Albany, Saratoga Springs, Troy and Watervliet, among others.

Teens will shine

The biennial conference, hosted by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, includes Masses, workshops, discussions, games and service projects.

"It's a great time for teens to shine and be recognized by the Church for their faith," said Michelle Stefanik, assistant director of youth ministry in the diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis.

Faith formation directors and youth ministers say the event allows teens to explore their Catholicism in an encouraging, exciting environment.

Paying their way

Teens usually pay their own way to the conference by hosting such fund-raisers as spaghetti dinners, fashion shows, bake sales and car washes.

"They've been working for two years to go to this," Ms. Stefanik said. "It's going to be a privilege [for them] to be shoulder to shoulder with people who want to be there because of their faith."

"It's a way for young people to see the big Church together," agrees Eileen Davenport, faith formation director at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Watervliet/Green Island. "Sometimes, it's really hard for them, especially in [public] school, to be very vocal about their Christianity. [In Atlanta], they're with 20,000 other young people."

Alliance

Mrs. Davenport, who became youth minister in Watervliet/Green Island in September, is also shepherding teens from St. Clement's parish in Saratoga Springs, where she formerly worked.

The two parishes formed an alliance a month ago, when two teens from St. Clement's dropped out due to moving out of the area.

Faced with two open slots, the young pilgrims at St. Clement's decided to sponsor two teens from Immaculate Heart of Mary, which hasn't previously sent representatives to NCYC.

Change of heart

Youth Minister Ruth Moon will chaperon five students from Our Lady of Grace parish in Ballston Lake.

"I love that [teens] go to a different community and learn about the needs in that community," she said. "They come back with a heart open to helping others. They come back changed."

At the conference, teens engage in a number of service projects, including making "care packages" for kids in foster homes, teens whose families are serving in Iraq, youth made homeless by Hurricane Katrina and teens living at St. John Bosco Home for Boys in Jamaica.

Getting together

For many delegates, the conference is about fellowship.

"When they come together and find so many youth congregating in one place as fellow Catholics, it's just very rewarding," said Mrs. Moon. "It's a meaningful, shared experience, and they get a lot out of the workshops. It's fun and cool to be Catholic."

Many youth are asked to speak at Masses when they return or to provide service hours.

"They'll get a lot more out of it" by thinking about what they're going to tell parishioners, Mrs. Davenport said. "The theme is 'Winds of Change,' and they need to think about what that means to them. For the kids in Watervliet, that's huge, because their parish life is changing" after parishes there were merged.

Ms. Stefanik hopes that teens will take their newfound enthusiasm back to the parish, showing pictures, telling stories and sharing reflections about the conference.

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