Vocation Plan
Priest Shortage Myth – Vocation Plan Part 7
Jan 6th
Sports Programs
Vocations
Take advantage of your seminary grounds and offer a sports camps filled with fun events for young men.
The benefits of this program are unmatched. Hundreds of young men will experience your seminary and it will give an opportunity for the vocations director to meet them.
In addition you could institute programs in parishes where young men come o play basketball for two hours on a Saturday morning with the parish priest and seminarians. The priest would start and end with a prayer. As the months go by the program will shift to not just playing basketball for an hour, but slowly move towards adoration, too.
Boys Summer Camp
A one-week summer camp for young men. It would generate opportunities to catechize youth, build relationships, and give young men an opportunity to grow in fellowship.
It could be staffed by seminarians and activities would include Mass, adoration, spiritual talks, games, sports, fun, canoeing, hiking, fishing, camping, and other events boys enjoy.
It would be similar to Boy Scout camp.
Indentify Key Lay Members in the Diocese
Throughout your diocese their are certain individuals who are probably effective in promoting the faith to the youth. Support their work and others like them.
This means indentify their actions, encourage their example, promote their work, and reward them for success.
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Loading ...Increase Vocations to the Priesthood – Part 6
Jan 5th
Summer Internship Program
Catholics Tools by Jason Buck
Organize a summer internship program with Franciscan University, Ave Maria College, Christendom, and other orthodox Catholic colleges. These students could work for the vocations office and help plan, organize, and coordinate every project talked about in this series. In return you could offer them free room and board, access to the sacraments, access to theology classes, at your seminary. Including a small stipend.
Summer One Day Youth Retreat
In order to bring the youth to the seminary to encourage a positive image of seminarian life, you could organize a Franciscan University of Steubenville style one day Catholic retreat filled with music, Catholic speakers, food, Mass, confessions, and Adoration
Franciscan University has had tremendous success with their summer conferences, so instead of reinventing the wheel you could model the conferences after their summer conference.
Fall and Spring Retreats
To follow up the summer retreats you could offer similar experiences at your seminary to compliment the summer retreat and offer more opportunities to catechize the youth.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...How to Increase Vocations to the Priesthood – Part 5
Jan 3rd
Part 5 of the ongoing series to promote vocations.
Jesus
Jesus
Vocations Promotional Video
A 4-8 minute promotional video should be professionally produced highlighting all the fun aspects of your seminary. Many young people have no idea what the seminary process is like or what the role of a priest is in the Catholic Church
Plan and Execute Outstanding Presentations for High Schools, Youth Group, Knights of Columbus Organizations, Parents, and other Diocese Organizations
Many youth and adults are inundated with media advertising today and they are use to glamorous presentations. The vocations office should have up-to-date presentations planned that are visually appealing, make use of technology, practiced and refined, and targeted to specific age groups. These presentations should energize their audiences and set them on fire with excitement and love for vocations.
Presentations should take place all across the diocese in order to be effective. The vocations office should have excellent graphics and acquire professional consulting on public speaking techniques.
Perpetual Adoration held at Your Seminary for Vocations
By instituting perpetual adoration in the seminary it will be a beacon of light for vocations. This will be open to the public, which will encourage and enable the entire diocese to pray for vocations
A small chapel could be part of the vocations office and the vocations office could manage volunteers to come and pray.
If you have questions or suggestions please leave a comment.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...How to Increase Vocations to the Priesthood – Part 4
Jan 1st
Vocations
As we start the new year it places us right in the middle of the year of the priest. This series of articles are ideas and suggestions, but the real power in generating vocations to the priesthood comes from prayer. Without prayer this series is useless. Prayer is essential because in the search for candidates for the priesthood you are looking for holy young leaders who will answer the call.
Part 4 of Vocations Series
Support, Encourage, and Enable Youth Groups
As a diocese, increase youth groups and the vocation departments’ involvement with them. The vocation department could regularly visit youth groups, host parties, help with retreats, and support youth groups in every way possible
Youth groups are fertile ground for cultivating vocations.
Brochures, Direct Mailing, and Email Campaigns
Before a successful 1-1 marketing campaign can begin the vocations office needs to create a database of potential candidates for the priesthood. The vocations office should devise a plan and coordinate the plan with priest and lay throughout the diocese to find potential candidates to the seminary. The first segment of that list would be any male between 9-12 grade.
Once this list is established, refined, and evaluated it will allow marketing pieces to be created that are geared specifically for the target market.
For example if you were sending mailings to a young man in a certain town and knew his contact with the priesthood was with a certain priest or seminarian, and the young man like soccer, you could print an on-demand brochure with a picture on the inside of the priest welcoming the young man to the seminary and have pictures geared towards soccer.
This project could even be extend for high schools. The vocation office could print brochures with messages from the president of the school welcoming the students to the idea of the priesthood and if the school was filled with football players the brochure could contain pictures of seminarians playing football at the seminary.
The vocations’ office could even send our personal emails driven by a database.
Vocation Posters
Mary, the Mother of God
Hire a graphic designer, create multiple styles of posters, and put them in every school, parish, college, and anywhere young people are located. There should be multiple copies hanging in every school.
It would beneficial on school visits to personally hang the posters to insure they get put up.
Posters will only work if they are visually appealing and students see them repeatedly.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...How to Increase Vocations to the Priesthood – Part 3
Dec 27th
Part 3 of Vocations Series
This third installment in the Vocation Series is a few days late. Sorry, I am celebrating Christmas.
Eucharistic Adoration Chapels for Youth
In the past many vocations came from small Eucharistic Adoration chapels run in a style similar to Franciscan University. Youth meet weekly for adoration, praise and worship, prayer, and confessions. Create a model of this program and then institute it across the diocese in key locations.
Discernment Groups
Many vocations are lost because nobody makes friends with the young man with the vocation. They forget to give him support on their journey to the seminary. Organize monthly dinners with parish priest and young men who are serious about entering the seminary. During these two-hour sessions the boys would enjoy dinner, conversation, prayer, and a friendship.
Retreat Program
Retreats should be filled with fun activities like sports, food, and making friends with current seminarians. These retreats could be modeled about the Legionnaires of Christ retreats. In addition you could run summer trips to the Franciscan University summer conferences. This may be the easiest method.
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