National Catholic Youth Conference - get ready for the time of your life!

by Bill Casey

The National Catholic Youth Conference, often referred to by parishes across the nation as NCYC, is the largest Catholic group of youth gathering in one place in the United States. The event is sponsored every other year by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. We are happy to announce that in the New Ulm diocese there will be 34 parishes involved and going to this national event. We have nearly 700 registered participants, that is 15 buses, departing for the conference on December 5, 2001 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Over the years the growth of the number of 9-12th grade youth going from the New Ulm diocese to the conference has grown. The diocesan Youth Ministry Office began taking youth to the conference in 1995, when the national event was held in Minneapolis. We had about 200-250 participants the first year and the number has continued to grow. The last NCYC was held in St. Louis Missouri in 1999 and the New Ulm diocese took 565 participants and had the 4th largest group in the nation. For a small rural diocese in the Midwest that is a fantastic response! Because of the change of dates of the conference to December it was anticipated that the number would not be as large, but it has grown significantly. The overall number of participants for the conference has grown larger by the year. In 1995 when the group went to Minneapolis there were about 10,000 participants from all over the nation. The last conference in St. Louis had about 22,000 registered participants and the conference in Indianapolis is expected to draw 25,000-28,000 people.

There are so many positive experiences as a result of the conference that youth are very interested in going back from year to year. The quality of the music, liturgy, and keynote speakers is getting better with each conference. There is such a wide variety of experiences at the conference for youth to get involved in. Youth get to meet others from all over the nation in an uplifting and safe environment. The worship and liturgy experiences are very energizing. Where else can you find thousands of youth giving praise to God through their prayer gathered in one place? There are workshops youth can go to during the day and a large center filled with a wide variety of activities that youth can pick and choose from. One of the keynote speakers is Angela Perez Barquio, who holds the title of Miss America. So there is a wide variety of experiences going on for youth, from dances, comedy clubs, and music to serious activities and presentations by well-known leaders.

For months parishes across the diocese have been planning and registering youth. There is a lot of great cooperation in many parishes as people young and old get connected in the building of the faith of the youth. As the months go on, the diocesan office tries to keep up on all of the latest information to pass on to the many registered parishes. The latest information received is the CD and sheet music for the conference. The theme and music for "Hope At the Crossroads" was produced by GIA Publications. A number of the parishes in the past have used the music from the theme in their preparations so the youth would know the music before they arrived at the conference. The excitement in preparations over the many months all becomes worth it when the youth and the adult leaders come home and share their many faith-filled experiences that they had on the pilgrimage. So to all of the registered participants, get ready to load your buses as we head for Indianapolis for the time of your life!