Description: This is an event that combines hands-on service particularly focused on the call to care for creation with reflection and catechesis on Catholic Social Justice Teaching.
Get Ready
- Prep Time: In advance — A few hours to find one (or more, depending on group size) service sites. The time this takes will vary depending on your familiarity with the area. Day of — An hour or so facilitating carpools, lunch plans, and reflection.
- Volunteers Needed: This can be coordinated by one person. Volunteers may be needed to drive for the carpool.
- Ideal Group Size: The group size depends on the requirements of your service site. Six to 20 participants is a good group size.
- Ideal Time for this Event: A Saturday morning/full day is ideal so then you can share a lunch and have time for reflection and discussion.
- Who is this for? All young adults. Whether or not children of young adults could be present would be determined by the group leader’s preference and the stipulations of the worksite.
- Supplies Needed: Check with your worksite(s) to see what they require. Either create a list for participants or gather those items in advance. Depending on the time of day, you may want to either prepare a simple bag lunch to take with you or have people bring their own with them. Another option for lunch is to make it “pot-luck” style with each participant bringing one component of the meal to combine for a simple meal. (Make sure to take note of any allergies or intolerances in advance.)
- Reserve the Space: In addition to locating a nature-oriented service site, you will want to have a space for discussion and reflection following service. While ideally it is wonderful to have this at the volunteer site, if weather does not cooperate or your worksite cannot accommodate it, you will want an indoor space as back-up.
Publicize the Program
- Make good use of Facebook and ensure your event’s announcements are set so all can see and people can share it with their friends.
- Use the traditional mechanisms to advertise — announcements, bulletin notices, etc. This also helps create awareness among the rest of your faith community about young adult ministry and the issues of environmental stewardship.
- Utilize your e-mail list or create one (parish databases can be very helpful here).
- If your parish or community has a social justice committee, contact them. They might be an excellent resource and may have young adults active there that are not currently engaged in your young adult ministry that could share their passion for social justice with the young adult community.
Prayer for Program Planner: “Send forth thy Spirit, Lord and renew the face of the earth.” Lord, may this time of service and reflection guide us to a better understanding of our unique role as stewards of creation. May we always offer our thanksgiving for the wonders of your creation and may we always have the strength and courage to care for that beauty. Amen.
Community Building: Depending on whether you are gathering at your church and carpooling or meeting at the worksite, begin once everyone’s together by introducing each other and making sure all know the worksite staff that are pertinent. Utilize mealtime at lunch as a time to socialize. Encourage group members to mingle with those that they do not know. If your group was divided into sub-groups by the worksite, have the sub-groups mingle to share their morning experiences.
Make It Happen
Preparations
- Find worksites that relate to care for creation (See “Recommends” section for suggestions). Depending on your expected group size, you may only need one. Make sure to ask the site if it has any limitations on maximum or minimum numbers of volunteers. Check about the supplies you should bring. You will also want to find out, if possible, what sort of tasks you will be doing — this can help you customize discussion and answer questions participants have prior to signing up.
- Make sure to have a first aid kit handy (always a good idea for any event) and to be aware of where medical attention can be found (unfortunately accidents do happen).
- Determine what (if any) meals or snacks your group will need or want. This is a great opportunity for informal socializing and community building. Registering participants in advance will also help you find out about any food allergies if you are preparing meals for the group.
- Edit or create a reflection (see example below) for your group(s) following the time of service.
Reflection and Discussion To Follow Time of Service
This helps to form the links between the hands-on, the teachings of the Church, and the need to make the call to care for creation a daily life practice. Some aspects to help you prepare this:
- Prayers to consider:
- Canticle of the Sun
- Prayer Without Borders (book from Catholic Relief Services)
- Scripture (just a few of the possibilities)
- Quotes on Care for Creation
- Resources on Catholic Social Teaching
- Use the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s (USCCB) website on the environment to find the documents that most closely relate to the service work your group will do.
- Take time to share what experiences and reflections people had on the work they did:
- What surprised them? What have they learned? What challenged them? What did they learn about themselves? What did they learn about others? What did they learn about God? Where did they see, hear, or sense God?
- Include in your reflection time a chance to discuss the ways to live more fully the call to care for creation in everyday life. (Again, good resources can be found on the USCCB’s environment website.)
Ideas
- Watch a film or reflect on the life of St. Francis to supplement to this activity.
- Should you wish to extend this program, try taking one of the USCCB’s documents on the environment, care for creation, or related topic and using it as a source of discussion.
Help
- The USCCB’s website on the environment
- The USCCB’s Environmental Justice Program (There are several sub-sites and documents that can help you here. This is a great starting point.)
- Catholic Climate Covenant
- Resources for Catholic educators on the environment
- Renewing the Earth from the USCCB
- The Catholic Update: Why Catholics Care for Creation
Recommends
Ideas for places to serve:
- Teaching farm that uses responsible practices — Look into local CSAs. Some Native American tribes and nations have teaching farms that are open to having people join them for workdays.
- Recycling center
- Farm that uses responsible practices and might also be tied to your area’s ministries for immigrants and migrant workers
- Nature centers or camps
- Wildlife preservation centers
- Watershed protection organizations
- Some local building projects for low-income or homeless community members now focus on environmentally responsible products and techniques.
Projects you could create at your parish (would involve more planning/work):
- Sustainable garden
- Recycling program
- Electronics recycling event
- Composting program
- Education on porch or small plot gardening
- Seed or produce exchange program
