Day In The Diocese Coming To A Parish Near You – Patch.com

NEWARK, NJ —The Archdiocese of Newark’s Office for Youth & Young Adult Ministry recently launched its new “Days in the Diocese” program, offering one-day community-service experience for teens in Essex, Bergen, Hudson and Union Counties, the Archdiocese of Newark announced.

The program opened with a service project at Hudson County’s Our Lady of Sorrows/Christ the King Church in Jersey City last Saturday.

This Saturday, in Essex County, a service day will take place at the Sacred Heart Church in Bloomfield, 76 Broad Street. There, projects will include: cleaning windows, moving furniture, washing floors and a variety of other maintenance and landscaping work, according to a release from the youth ministry.

High school students enrolled in parish youth groups or confirmation programs are expected to volunteer for the service project.

“You don’t need to go on a mission trip in a foreign country for a week to do service,” said Rich Donovan, the Office for Youth & Young Adult Ministry’s associate director for events and training. “Through this experience, the teens will learn there is always something that can be done in their own parish or community. And they’re going to see they can do a lot of good locally just by volunteering for a few hours.”

Donovan continued: “I hope the teens realize they can make a difference. A lot of people say teens are the Church of tomorrow, but they are very much the Church of today. They’re very important. But if we don’t get them involved through programs like ‘Days in the Diocese,’ and show them how significant they are, they may not be here tomorrow.”

On July 31, the Union County service event will take place at Immaculate Conception Church in Elizabeth. While Mercy House in Hackensack will host the Aug 7, Bergen County event.

“Catholics of every age are called to serve God’s children, so it warmed my heart to see the Archdiocese’s young people giving up their free time to help a parish in need,” Bishop Gregory J. Studerus, episcopal vicar for Hudson County, said at last week’s event in Jersey City . “It goes to show, today’s youth are still committed to their faith despite the rising secularization of society. And that commitment is owed, in large part, to the Office for Youth & Young Adult Ministry’s crucial work teaching children and teens about the love of Jesus.”

More information about “Days in the Diocese” and other initiatives within the Archdiocese of Newark’s Youth & Young Adult Ministry is available online.