Description: This special event gives young adults an opportunity to serve during Advent by preparing the church worship space for the coming of Christ. It can optionally include reflection and the Sacrament of Reconciliation to help young adults prepare themselves for Christmas.
Get Ready
- Prep Time: Plan to begin advertising three weeks in advance of the cleaning date. An hour or two will be required for coordination, including reserving the space and gathering materials.
- Volunteers Needed: Recruit two to four core volunteers who know the facility well. They can help people find the restroom or drinking fountain or answer questions that arise.
- Supplies:
- Cleaning product for the pews and other surfaces. Be sure to check with church staff to make sure you are using the correct products on the correct surfaces. Depending on the space you are cleaning, you might need: glass cleaner, wood polish, vacuums, brooms, mops, buckets, floor cleaning solution.
- Cleaning rags, sponges, buckets, etc. (If the church doesn’t have a large supply, ask young adults to bring some from home.)
- You may want to have gum removal tools (custodians will often have putty knives and a liquid that can be applied to gum).
- Gloves are important because some chemicals may bother people. Gloves such as non-latex exam gloves or dishwashing gloves are helpful.
- A couple of flashlights can be helpful for cleaning under the pews or searching in darker corners.
- Make sure to have first aid resources on hand. You want to be able to take care of any minor injuries. And chemicals will often let you know about the paper cut you got the day before but had not noticed!
- Reserve the Space: Be sure to reserve the church for your event. Advent is busy with extra rehearsals and other events. The reservation component is crucial.
- Ideal Group Size: Any size group.
- Who is this for? Any young adult. Small children of young adults would need to be closely monitored if participating in this event so as to avoid dangerous contact with cleaning products.
- When is a good time for this? A weekend is best to allow enough time to clean (probably two to four hours).
- Publicize the Program:
- Always make sure to go the traditional route. This will make sure you catch those who are not social media savvy and allow the rest of the parish or community to know what your young adult ministry is doing:
- Posters on church bulletin boards
- Notice (with attractive design and artwork) in the parish bulletin
- Announcement at Masses
- Utilize social media:
- Create a Facebook event
- Utilize Twitter if relevant to your young adults
- Should your young adults be on Instagram, taking photos of the group is always a great addition
- Send out e-mails:
- One e-mail about two weeks prior to invite people
- A reminder three to four days before
- Always make sure to go the traditional route. This will make sure you catch those who are not social media savvy and allow the rest of the parish or community to know what your young adult ministry is doing:
Prayer for Program Planner: Loving God, Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of your Son. May we use these weeks to refresh our souls, minds, and hearts so we may welcome Christ into our lives anew each day. Amen.
Community Building: During the service component, people will gravitate toward working on projects in pairs or small groups. These are great chances to link new people with longer standing members, help those who are a bit more introverted, etc. Some people may wish to have an informal gathering after the event. It is a good idea to plan to go to a local restaurant to continue the community building time.
Make It Happen
In Advance
- Reserve the church.
- Collect materials needed for the service work. The parish might have a budget for cleaning materials. People may also be willing to bring things like buckets and cleaning rags if you need them to.
- Be sure to find out if there is anything the staff does not want you to touch or that requires extra care in cleaning.
- Determine if the building will be open for your cleaning session. If not, make sure you can get the keys ahead of time and have permission to open the building.
- You may want to have a means to record anything you find that requires greater work: damaged kneelers, stained carpets, etc.
- Prepare a brief opening and closing prayer.
Day of the Event
- Welcome everyone as they arrive.
- Begin with an opening prayer.
- Give instructions on what, where, and how to clean the different areas of the church. Distribute cleaning materials to be used.
- Clean!
- As everyone finishes, gather back together for a closing prayer.
- Be sure everything is locked up and secured after the event. This includes all cleaning supplies, closets, and cabinets, etc.
Ideas
- You may want to have music playing while cleaning. Keep it low key and quiet so people still feel comfortable with casual discussion.
- This event can also involve others in the community. It can be an outreach to bring together other ministries, perhaps some groups that do not usually mingle with the young adults such as the seniors.
- One suggestion is to extend this event with a Reconciliation Service. This extension would help prepare the hearts of young adults for Christmas just as they are preparing the worship space for Christmas. A few additional considerations if adding in the Reconciliation Service:
- Schedule the church space for an additional 45 to 60 minutes beyond the cleaning time.
- Book priests well in advance (likely you will need to do this more than three weeks in advance). Contact enough priests to make the length of the confession portion a reasonable amount of time. If you expect five to 10 workers, I would suggest two priests are probably sufficient. If more participants, add a priest for every five or six volunteers.
- Additional Materials:
- Candles — If you set up impromptu reconciliation stations in corners or portioned off areas, you can use the candle to denote that they are free. People can carry the candle in to the confessional with them. This helps keep people in a central area and praying instead of lined up like sardines in a pew.
- Put together a resource that includes prayers, examination of conscience, and other liturgical components for the prayer experience and Sacrament.
- Prayer booklet or worship aid for the reconciliation service.
- Prepare thank you notes for the priests. Frequently a small monetary gift is offered, particularly if the priests are not from your parish. Speak to your parish priest about the policies your parish and diocese have regarding a stipend.
- If you have people who can provide meditative music during the reconciliation time, this is a great addition. It helps to provide a cover for any voices from the confessions and helps many in their prayer.
Help
- If you include the Reconciliation Service, there are many examination of consciences available. A simple Internet search brings many. If your parish has a particular charism or even a theme for your Advent season, you may want to choose according to that. Some ideas:
- Look at ones from particular spiritualities: Ignatian, Franciscan, etc.
- Utilize ones based on scripture: the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes
- Look at seasonally appropriate ones.
- See if your parish has reconciliation guides you can use or borrow. Often liturgical directors or RCIA directors will have options you can use.
- This is a Lenten resource, but it is a good help for planning a reconciliation service.
- Sample Reconciliation Service Outline:
- Opening hymn — May choose Advent theme or a more reconciliation theme.
- Opening prayer — Check with your liturgical coordinator or priest if you need help with the specific prayers. They should have resources for you.
- Readings — Again, the resources at your parish should help. Consider those like Psalm 51. Check if there is a reconciliation service your pastor or liturgical director wants you to use.
- Prayer before individual confessions — again, check those resources in your parish.
- Individual reconciliation:
- Offer an examination of conscience in a printed form.
- Have an order of reconciliation with the prayers printed in the worship aid or available for everyone.
- Make sure to have tissues at each confessional.
- Make sure each confessional is not able to be overheard.
- Provide instructions on what to do after: Will people return to their seats for a closing or be free to go?
- If possible have music playing, either live or recorded. Make sure it is appropriate to the sacrament.
