World Youth Day 2019 USA Leader Guides Stateside Leader Guide | Page 36
community with the talents and resources to This will help you plan future events and
develop your promotional tools, especially pilgrimages and give you insights for the next
youth or young adults who may be better WYD gathering. Perhaps the stateside
connected to the wants/needs of their own celebration will even inspire your local
generation? Consider inviting them into the community to host an annual celebration of
process so that they can share their gifts with young people. Strong feedback can help you
the Church through this stateside event. make the case for such a development.
Finally, never underestimate the value of one- Overall, one of the key goals to any WYD
on-one invitations. Ultimately, you are leading experience, international or stateside, is to
young people to an encounter with Christ, so form and equip young missionary disciples.
personal invitations are key in this regard. How can you continue to keep this at the
heart of your follow-up efforts? Consider
After the Event how you can connect stateside participants to
Like many retreat experiences, once the spiritual directors, mentors, pastors, lay
“high” of this particular event wears away, it ecclesial ministers, religious men and women,
can be difficult to see or feel the effects. So or others willing to accompany young people.
much of the international experience of WYD Consider how you can support their ongoing
is sharing the story and experience. It is also journey through faith formation, social justice
important to connect the stateside pilgrims and opportunities for service and charity,
with those who traveled overseas. You are prayer and spirituality, and invitations to
highly encouraged to use the resources in this leadership in the community. Consider also
guide that keep challenging pilgrims in the how to draw attention to God’s call in their
weeks and months after WYD. This will help lives – and provide options for discernment
to encourage the young people to become of that calling, including introducing them to
missionary disciples. those committed to their vocations to
marriage, ordained ministry, or consecrated
Even though WYD does not occur often, it is life, as well as those who have been called to
important to offer people an opportunity to service in the Church as lay ecclesial ministers
evaluate the event. You can either provide and through the lay apostolate. All of these
hard-copy evaluation sheets or offer a link to methods are key to building up a community
an online survey after the stateside gathering. of missionary disciples in the Church today.
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