If you are Catholic
And you are 35 or under
If you have wondered what it is like to love the unloveable
Help with your hands and your heart
Not just your head
Love and Live the Scriptures not just understand
You may wish to meet others like you.
Ten Ways to Prepare
for Franciscan Youth and Young Adults (FY/YA) in Your Fraternity
1. Ongoing Formation Sessions. We will soon have several sessions for Ongoing Formation in the area of Franciscan Youth and Young Adults available to fraternities. Please spend time on this important topic of discussion. There is one attached to get you started.
2. Search for a Fraternity Animator. At this point, the Animator might simply be a contact person. This will be someone willing to study the recommended FY/YA documents found on the CIOFS website, and act as a liaison between your fraternity and Regional Executive Council. Eventually, the Animator will need to be someone who works directly with youth as a mentor. The Commission will in the future provide training, materials, and resources for Regional Animators to share with you.
3. Evaluate yourselves as a fraternity. Are you a vibrant community? Do you enjoy stimulating ongoing formation? Is your formation team strong? If a new person, especially a young adult, visited your fraternity, would they want to come back? What changes should you make?
4. Determine your method of outreach. Have you created a list of already established programs/groups that you would be able to approach as volunteers? You might offer to cook for a retreat; give a presentation; carpool or chaperone if it’s a younger group; host a movie night with discussion after; or plan a JPIC activity and invite younger folks to join you. Your involvement might be different from fraternity to fraternity within your region. (Youth/14-17, Young Adults/18-35)
5. Share your ideas and successes. If you have participated as Franciscans in an event with youth or young adults, have you notified your region and the FY/YA Commission to spread the news and pics across the country? (You may share pics of underage youth as long as they aren’t used for promotions or fund raising. Otherwise you will need a consent form, which the commission will look into.)
6. Get certified in a Child Protection program! Have those willing to work with youth (under 18 yrs. old) in any capacity, no matter how small, completed the requirements your Diocese requires, such as Virtus training and background checks? Perhaps consider going through required training as a fraternity so you are all prepared. Send proof of your certification to your Regional Animator.
7. Start looking for Spiritual Assistants. Each official Franciscan Youth group will need to be sponsored by a fraternity, and have an Animator and Spiritual Assistant. Spiritual Assistants to a Youfra group require the same training as those who serve fraternities, and can be one and the same person.
8. Take-it-step by step. For those starting YouFra groups, either youth or young adults, please be sure to contact the commission so we can help you with the appropriate process! Purchase a Guide for Franciscan Youth/Young Adult Ministry (Smoky Valley), and purchase or download the documents by our bishops entitled, Renewing the Vision (youth) and Sons and Daughters of Light (young adults).
9. Distribute the FY/YA Mission Statement. Spend time discussing. A power point with an explanation for each point in the mission will be available soon.
10. Pray, pray, pray! Our youth and young adults, and the older folks who are stepping up to serve them need our prayers. We need to be united as a nation in our holy intention to bring the Gospel life to youth we encounter and in our desire to be a joyful and active presence in their lives.