This afternoon, Ennie had the opportunity to speak to high school seniors about their faith lives after high school. He started off by talking about how it is easy for us to become dependent on youth group (and conferences like this) to keep our faith alive.
While the majority of conference attendees were enjoying entertainment with Fr. Leo, over 500 students & chaperones chose, instead, to attend a session focused on how to share faith with friends. Obviously, the teens & adults attending this presentation were serious about bringing the Gospel to their loved ones.
While acknowledging that sharing faith can be awkward, Jimmy asked the crowd a thought-provoking question, “If you had five minutes to share the Gospel with someone, what would you say?” Continue reading
This morning, Mass was celebrated for all of the volunteers and ministry team, in anticipation of the arrival of the teens this afternoon. Bishop Rice presided and our music ministers were Adam Bitter on guitar and David Radley on the violin.
The homily began with Bishop Rice thanking all of the volunteers for their time. He reminded everyone that this weekend is all about the young people and that our job as volunteers is to simply do whatever we can to help draw these young people closer to Christ.
Our hope for this weekend is that all of the teens are able to encounter Christ in a deeper way than before. Bishop Rice encouraged all of us to let go of our burdens for the weekend. He reminded us that throughout this weekend we should look for opportunities to practice mercy. He also told us the importance of relying on the strength that comes from the Eucharist as we serve this weekend.
All of the volunteers are feeling energized and ready to welcome all of the teenagers to this conference! We are looking forward to a faith-filled and fun-filled weekend. Please continue to pray for us and all of God’s kids.
Statistics indicate that only about 25% of college students will still be practicing their faith by the time they graduate. Brian Kissinger hoped that the graduated seniors at Steubenville this weekend will help increase that statistic.
In this breakout talk, Rachel Allen shared her experience as a teenager, how she was on fire for her faith but not sure how to share it. During this talk, Rachel provided some nuts-and-bolts to teens to overcome the challenge of being an evangelist.
