Ours is a powerful voice. And our belief in the unity and interconnectedness of all things...
-
Upload
nancy-heath -
Category
Documents
-
view
219 -
download
4
Transcript of Ours is a powerful voice. And our belief in the unity and interconnectedness of all things...
Immediate ActionYouth and the RSE
Ours is a powerful voice. And our belief in the unity and interconnectedness of all things constitutes a strong argument for
immediate action-Patriarch Bartholomew, October 2009
1
Background Proposal Key Milestones Potential Issues Next Steps
Contents
2
His All Holiness, Patriarch Bartholomew, has been recognized as one of the leading advocates for the environment in the world.
His Symposia on Religion, Science and the Environment have laid a strong foundation for us to build upon.
He has called upon all of us to take “immediate action.”
Background – Ecumenical Patriarch
3
Summer program at Brown University for High School students focusing on Leadership
Participants called upon to establish personal plan for leadership program back at home
Includes resources to provide advice as projects take root
Background – Leadership Program
4
Engage Orthodox youth in religious and environmental projects
Increase environmental awareness Grassroots level promotion of the message
of Patriarch Bartholomew Provide community service for youth
Goals of Program
5
Initiate an annual Greek Orthodox Youth and Family RSE Research Project, using the Patriarch’s RSE Symposia as our foundation
Engage as many parishes/teams as possible Conclude our research with a mini-
Symposium
Proposal - Overview
6
Projected Timeline
7
Kickoff◦ Insufficient response
Will need to work with parish priests to encourage participation Encourage family participation if youth feel this is “too much”
◦ Overwhelming response Be prepared to support larger teams Limit teams to one per parish Be prepared to add additional topics
While underway◦ One or more teams not making progress
Work with team members to recruit additional help Stress importance of initial symposium having enough teams to not
compromise success
Impact of symposium◦ Need to ensure sufficient coverage to maximize impact◦ Work to provide coverage in parish bulletins, Observer, GOYA E-bulletin
Potential Issues
8
Department/Ministry Pros Cons
Inter-GOYA •Structure already in place for inter-parish communications•Within each parish, GOYA meetings provide opportunity to discuss & plan
•In all likelihood, only 1-3 youth per parish will participate in symposium•Beginning with entire GOYA may be too broad an audience to keep them engaged
Church & Society •Could assist with publicity via Facebook, blog•New department with significant focus
•Formal mechanism does not exist to work with each parish
District Youth Ministry •Office is responsible for coordinating youth activities within district•This would help emphasize the importance of this project
Religious Education •Dept already has resources on education, Patriarch
•May conflict with SJCOF in terms of priority
Support / Leadership Options
9
Determine best path of support/leadership within Archdiocese District◦ If he is interested, we could kick it off through his
department and then use support structures of Inter-GOYA and Youth Ministries to help engage parishes
Prepare proposal to be presented to wider audience
Begin to recruit volunteers from Resurrection
Next Steps
10
Detailed phases of program
Appendix
11
Determine most appropriate organizational structure, working with one or more of:◦ Inter-GOYA◦ Department of Religious Education◦ Department of Society and Culture
Propose topics for symposium◦ For first year, we should mirror Patriarch’s symposia◦ Each parish/team would select one of the eight bodies of
water covered by RSE Symposia◦ Each team would then focus on
Original symposium Updates since that symposium Recommendations
Initiation
12
Work with one or more of the departments on slide 8
Approach priests and advisors of the District parishes◦ Possible Parishes to approach are Babylon, Bridgeport,
Brookville, Hartford, Hempstead, New Rochelle, Roslyn, Rye, South Hampton…
Establish 3-8 teams, each with 3-5 students◦ May have more than one per parish if demand exists◦ Neighboring parishes may collaborate on one team
Each team to create a presentation on their given topic◦ Students would be encouraged to involve their families as
means of further “spreading the word” ◦ This can count for community service hours
Engagement of Parishes
13
Distribute topics among parishes Agree to time frame for research and
preparation of results, likely 5-6 months Schedule periodic checkpoints during that
period to determine whether teams are on schedule or assistance is needed
Research Phase
14
One parish would host symposium where all results would be presented
This would also be used to promote environmental goals of His All Holiness to a wider audience
Results would be made available online and for publication (e.g. Orthodox Observer?)
Conclusion
15
Evaluate success of program Determine feasibility of expanding to
additional Metropolises Choose topics for following year
◦ Rivers, Forests, Energy, etc...
Post Conclusion
16