NCYC '09

Steve Joerger, 18, and Sam Schiltz, 17, from St. John Neumann in Eagan.

So, why does anyone go to NCYC in the first place?

I asked some students from St. John Neumann in Eagan and Holy Spirit in St. Cloud that question – so why are you going in the first place?

From a story I wrote in this week’s Catholic Spirit:

This the largest gathering of Cath olic youth in the country,” said Bill Dill, youth ministry events coordinator for the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life.

The 2009 conference’s theme is “Christ Reigns: In Us, Among Us, Through Us.” The schedule includes speakers, music, workshops and liturgies. The events will be held at the Sprint Center and Kansas City Convention Center.

“It’s [about] coming together and seeing how big the church is — seeing that there are other Catholics whose faith is important to them,” Dill said.

The 122 youth and chaperones attending from the archdiocese are from 12 parishes, including St. John Neumann in Eagan.

Although most youth attending NCYC simply register through their parish or the archdiocese, St. John Neumann youth minister Steve Grass and his wife, Annie Grass, invited 10 youth leaders to attend.

“They’re either people who are very active in leadership roles or they are mainstays in the high school program,” Annie said.

Steve Joerger, 18, and Sam Schiltz, 17, are both high school leaders in St. John Neumann’s middle school club. Schiltz also taught religion class for several years.

Neither has been to NCYC before, but both have great expectations garnered from the experiences of friends who previously attended.

“I’m excited just to see how many people are there,” said Schiltz, a senior at Eagan Senior High School. “We’re all there for the same reason.”
Joerger, a senior at Apple Valley High School, said he hopes NCYC helps him grow closer to God.

“With some of my friends, it’s hard to find common ground in the faith,” he said. “A lot of my friends are Christian, but it’s hard to find Catholic friends who I can really relate to.

“I think it will be an amazing experience — everybody’s Cath olic, and you can share your faith with everyone even more so than you can in your everyday life.”
It’s a sacrifice for both Joerger and Schiltz to miss school, they said, but they expect the extra homework and time away from test preparation to be worth it.

Not the future, but now

“Hopefully, [NCYC] will give [the attendees] a sense of their place in the church,” Dill said. “They’re not the future of the church, they are the church.

“They have a role, they have a place in it, they’re important to the church,” he added.

Dill also hopes that NCYC inspires youth to get more involved in their parishes, he said.

This year’s conference will be the third conference Annie Grass has attended as an adult leader, and she’s seen the youth take on greater leadership roles when they return, she said.

Dill added: “We want them not just to be recipients of the Gospel and of ministry, but to become ministers themselves, to continue to help the church grow.”

And from the St. Cloud Visitor:

Scott Frieler, the youth minister at Holy Spirit in St. Cloud, is taking three high schoolers from his parish to the conference.

Brandon Cash, 15, and Jonathan Chalpusky, 16, met Nov. 12 to tie-dye t-shirts at St. Anthony’s Parish Center, where their youth group meets. They planned to put their names on the back and wear the shirts during the conference.

Another member of their parish youth group, Alex Cable, is also going with them.

As they dripped dark purple and green die onto their bundled shirts, Cash and Chalpusky talked about their excitement in anticipating the conference.

Both are looking forward to meeting Catholics their age from around the country and learning more about their Catholic faith, they said.

Chalpusky hopes it the experience will help prepare him and his classmates for their upcoming confirmations, he added.

The Holy Spirit youth raised about $625 each to cover the cost of the conference through a few creative fundraisers, including a fudge sale and selling “stock” to “stockholders,” to whom they served a dinner.

Holy Spirit also contributed $120 toward each student’s cost, and the Knights of Columbus also provided funding.

Chalpusky and Cash are also hoping to get to know other Catholic youth from the St. Cloud diocese, they said, especially older students who might be able to provide guidance from their own life and leadership.

Digging deeper

“[NCYC] is such a different scale than what we can offer in our parishes,” Frieler said. “You’ve got the best of the best [musicians and speakers] there, so it’s really a unique opportunity.”

Attending the conference might encourage youth to dig deeper in their own hearts and faith lives, said Kent Schmitz, diocesan consultant for youth ministry and religious education.

“[This age group] is pulled in many, many directions,” Schmitz said. “They’re trying to build upon their future, they’re trying to learn, they’re trying to be accepted by friends, they’re trying to find their own way — they’re at that age where there’s just a lot hitting them.

“Having that opportunity get that extra support around their faith is extra special for them, because it’s just challenging,” he added.

In the midst of all the things demanding young people’s attention, faith often “takes a back seat,” Schmitz said.

Cash hopes to bring what he learns back to the community in order to inspire other youth to get involved at his parish, he said — “Just to be there to say, ‘We’ve seen this, we’ve done this, and we’re here to share it with you.’”