Access Points

Dear Group Leader

Peace and Joy! It is our prayer that you have had a rewarding and blessed year of ministry. As we look forward to next summer, we have felt a real need to offer you, the Group Leader, more preparatory materials for the conference. These materials are simply meant to assist you in your ministry, with the hopes of enriching the experiences of the youth attending by preparing them for many of the encounters they will have with worship and the sacraments.

On occasion, we will receive requests from Group Leaders for materials such as these. We have also received feedback from Speakers and Priests who minister during the conferences about topics they feel need more attention as many youth will come unprepared. Some topics we will cover include the following: Sacrament of Reconciliation, Eucharistic Adoration, Mass/Liturgy, Prayer, Saints, Sacred Scripture, Religious Life, and many more!

Again, these materials are simply meant to be tools to aid you in your ministry. Please feel free to use what you need. There are many methods you can use to deliver the content to your youth.

• Many groups will have a “Fish Bowl” where they will give each youth several slips of paper and ask them to write down any question they have about the chosen topic. They will then place their questions in a fish bowl and a panel of people (Parish Priest, Youth Leader, and/or Core Team) will answer the questions. This is a great way to maintain anonymity while being able to ask some, oftentimes, difficult questions.
• The information can be used to plan skits, dramas, or role plays.
• The information can be presented as part of a youth ministry night and contain teaching. For example, you could have a night focused on the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and then have several priests available at the end of the night for a Reconciliation Service. Similarly, a night of teaching on Adoration could conclude with 15-30 minutes of Adoration.

Each “Access Point” gives us information on how to access the Lord, and they are the keys to being Catholic. Many youth believe they can only have this kind of access at a Steubenville Youth Conference. Many only go to Confession once a year – when they come to a conference. Participation in these access points will strengthen them for what they will encounter at the conference, and just as importantly, it will sustain them when they return from the conference.

In Christ’s Peace,

The Youth Outreach Office

Franciscan University of Steubenville.