Description: Plan a “Religious Road Trip” to attend mass at a parish you do not normally attend. Schedule this group trip to explore a different parish and restaurant local to that area.
Get Ready
- Prep Time: You should begin planning about a month in advance. Planning will take a few hours to decide which parish to visit and to research restaurants in the area near the parish. It will take some time to coordinate the carpool drivers, depending on how many go on the trip.
- Volunteers Needed: Recruit drivers for the carpool. Two to three volunteers could also create a small committee to choose the parish and the restaurant.
- Supplies: Road trip supplies will include an address to plug into a GPS (or printed maps), gas, cars, and cash for gas and dinner.
- Reserve the Space: No space reservation is needed for this program. Depending on the size of your group — you might want to make a reservation at the restaurant. It might also be a good idea to reach out to the priest or young adult minister at the parish you are visiting to let them know you will be there.
- Ideal Group Size: Three to 100, as long as you have enough drivers!
- Who is this for? Any young adult group mix works, even young adults with children if they are up for a road trip.
- When is a good time for this? A weekend is best.
- Publicize the Program:
- Begin promoting as soon as you have a location and date. Use social media to reach out to young adults.
- Publish in the local Diocesan newspaper.
- Place ads on local bulletin boards.
- Nothing does more than a personal invitation.
Prayer for Program Planner: Lord Jesus, thank you so much for the diversity of our young adult ministry. Bless our trip, keep us safe on the road, open our hearts to experience the flavor of the parish and community we will be visiting. Most of all, let this event be an opportunity for our young adults to grow closer to you and each other as we experience our local Church. Amen.
Community Building: This is a great community building event on a few levels:
- Road trips are always good times for bonding.
- Getting to know another parish in the diocese bonds you to the Church beyond your parish.
- Experiencing another town, community, and culture helps us to appreciate the world around us that God has made.
Some ways to foster community on the road trip:
- Make a plan for the road trip with games in the car or lists of questions for people to talk about on the way.
- If the trip is over an hour, schedule stops and have people switch cars so everyone gets to know each other.
- On the way TO the place, have everyone share what they like best about their parish. On the way BACK, have them share three things they liked about the parish, town or restaurant they visited.
- Have everyone share what surprised them the most on the trip.
