Description: This is a prayer experience for young adults and the community at large. Young adults will invite those passing by the church to enter for a moment of prayer as the Blessed Sacrament is exposed.
Get Ready
- Prep Time: Schedule prayer nights at least two months in advance. Secure facilities for adoration and a small room for social time and refreshments. On the evening of each prayer night, about an hour will be needed to set up for adoration and to prepare the refreshments room.
- Volunteers Needed: You will need the following at each prayer session:
- At least one priest each night to hear confessions or speak with participants (more if possible). Alternatively, you may want to invite a spiritual director if no priests are available.
- Three to four young adult volunteers outside the church engaging those passing by and one or two young adults in the “refreshments room” to assist participants.
- Choir or musicians, if possible.
- Supplies: For adoration: Monstrance, consecrated host, candles, incense, and priest’s robes (ideally a priest or deacon would handle the exposition of the blessed sacrament as they would know exactly what is needed and what to do). For refreshments: snacks, drinks, and paper products (plates, napkins, cups).
- Reserve the Space: This event will be most effective if the parish is located on a heavily transited street. The event requires direct street access to the church, chapel or prayer space and a gathering space for refreshments.
- Ideal Group Size: This event is open to all. The hope is that the size of the crowds will grow each week.
- Who is this for? The event is for all young adults and other parishioners. It is a great opportunity to build inter-generational connections as well as strengthening the parish’s spiritual life.
- When is a good time for this? Four or five nights during the summer. Fridays or Saturdays work best. This event can also be offered during Lent or Advent as special events.
- Publicize the Program:
- Inviting parishioners to participate is good, but a special effort must be made to reach out to those not in the pews.
- Create attractive posters and flyers that can be placed at local businesses, community centers, malls, etc. Target the places where young adults gather and promote the event there.
- Advertise on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms.
- This program should also be promoted by standing outside your parish during the event and drawing in foot traffic. If your parish is not in an area with much foot traffic, try one of the other publicity approaches listed here. Also, you might consider holding Adoration immediately after the last Sunday Mass and promote it during the weeks before the event to encourage people to attend Mass and stay for adoration.
Prayer for Program Planner: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of us, your faithful, and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, instructs the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
Community Building: Opening a room for refreshments will give an opportunity for young adults to meet Christ through the strangers passing by. As the team works together to invite people into the church for prayer, the experience of vulnerability to rejection will help strengthen their bonds as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Make It Happen
Preparation:
- Assemble a team of volunteers and choose four or five evenings in the summer for the prayer services. For example, the five Wednesdays in July from 8 to 10 p.m.
- Train volunteers in strategies for reaching out to complete strangers and invite them to come into the church to pray. Play out different scenarios: acceptance, reluctance, rejection, etc. (Suggestion: have the young adult volunteers practice inviting people by inviting people to participate after the Sunday Masses leading to the events.) See recommendations in the Help section for assistance with this type of training.
- Gather choir(s)/musician(s) to lead worship during the hours of adoration. If musicians are not available, instrumental background music will work well.
- Secure refreshments to be made available and other items to create a welcoming environment.
- Prepare all marketing materials to be placed in local businesses and neighboring parishes. Make announcements at Mass.
Execution:
- Prepare a prayerful environment in the church.
- Expose the Blessed Sacrament.
- Have priest(s) sit in visible places with signs that say: “reconciliation” or “spiritual direction.” If only one priest is available, secure the assistance of experienced spiritual directors to be on hand to talk to those who walk into the church.
- Musicians will play throughout the two hours, providing moments of silence as well.
- After a brief time of adoration, have volunteers step out onto the streets and invite passers-by to come into the church for a moment — even a brief moment — of prayer.
- Some people will come in.
- Some will be hesitant to come in, a little encouragement will help. Volunteers who recognize this should explain that people are free to stay as long as they want.
- Some people will say they have no time. Volunteers are encouraged to invite them to write an intention on a piece of paper. The volunteers will lift up these intentions in prayer before the end of the prayer service.
- Some will not want to enter the church but can be encouraged to participate in a “less threatening” experience. They can be invited to the “refreshment room” and enjoy a cold drink. Volunteers in the room can serve the drinks and converse with guests.
- All participants will be encouraged to grab refreshments after praying.
- Allow God to do the work!
- Fifteen minutes prior to the end, have all volunteers gather in the church and offer the intentions they collected and pray for all those who came to meet Jesus.
- Invite everyone to continue your time together in the refreshments room.
After the Event:
- The team can gather briefly after the prayer service to share their experiences. Evaluate the things that worked and those that did not.
- Make plans for the next prayer session including any necessary changes.
Ideas
- Consider starting the prayer service with Mass.
- Friday or Saturday nights might work best for these gatherings. The team and other young adults can grab dinner after the prayer sessions and build community with each other.
- It might be a good idea to create a small handout on Adoration to give to people when they come in to the church. Here are a couple of samples:
Help
- To train your volunteers on effective ways to reach out to people passing by the parish, consider some of these resources:
