In these challenging times, we realize just how important it is for us to accompany and support one another. As we come together to serve our youth and their families, we also want to offer you, our youth ministers and parents, some awesome online free resources to help our youth continue to grow in their faith and grow closer to Jesus.
We invite all Archdiocese of Baltimore Youth Ministry Leaders to gather virtually every Wednesday from 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. for “Prayer and Practices”. We join together spiritually and then connect on what is working, do training with each other on how to execute on some ideas, and laugh at things that didn’t work. To join us, please email Craig Gould, Director of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry at Craig.Gould@archbalt.org.
Here are our top picks for online resources:
Project YM
They are hosting a live weekly “Youth Night” with national speakers that youth ministers can sign up their parishes for directly. The event will include hundreds of youth from all over the country. You can reach them here, or copy and paste the link below.
Download Youth Ministry
These guys have tons of resources, including instructions on how to live stream, messages leaders can give, social media posts and videos to use while going live. Their Gold Membership (usually $300/yr) is free for the next 30 days. You can reach them here, or copy and paste the link below.
https://youthgroup.downloadyouthministry.com/
Fuller Youth Institute
They have a helpful blog that provides some practical suggestions of ways to engage teenagers and their families. Youth leaders could take these easily accessible ideas and begin to implement them right away. You can reach them here, or copy and paste the link below.
https://fulleryouthinstitute.org/blog/doing-youth-ministry-during-a-pandemic
Marathon Youth Ministry
This is a resource that helps youth ministers think about the different groups that can be engaged. It provides helpful links to different technology tools that can be used right away to reach groups. You can reach them here, or copy and paste the link below.
https://marathonyouthministry.com/how-to-handle-the-impact-covid-19-can-have-on-your-ministry/
Marathon Youth Ministry has also created an eight-day devotional focused on “Healing and Love” for young people. It takes youth through Scripture to engage them in how to “consider,” “hope,” “pray,” and “apply” the insights from the Bible to their lives. You can reach them here, or copy and paste the link below.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=18BwXEITHkO9AxS4ahEfPrdOyg5wxyQHW
Resurrection/St. Paul Parish (Ellicott City)
One of our local parishes created this weekly strategy for engaging young people using social media, in particular Instagram. With a different focus each day for their Instagram page Resurrection/St Paul parish is engaging teens directly. You can reach them here, or copy and paste the link below.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wGHDNpZq1R0BQGDzQDqV6pSbtKzgxgYY/view?ts=5e73c757
We are here for you. If you have any questions, concerns, or support, please do not hesitate to contact:
Craig Gould, Director, Division of Youth and Young Adult Ministry
410-547-5371