Description: This program invites young adults to gather for an informal evening of sushi making (and eating) and spiritual reflection centered on uplifting young adults in their faith.
Get Ready
- Prep Time: Four to five hours to shop, prepare and chop food, and to set up the space.
- Volunteers Needed: Six to eight volunteers are needed to help with shopping, chopping and preparing food, and to set up the chairs, tables, and prayer space. Volunteers who are also sushi veterans help young adults roll their own sushi and facilitate discussion in small groups.
- Ideal Group Size: Up to 30-40.
- Who is this for? All young adults can enjoy this program! This program is especially popular with young adults who might not attend church in a formal sense. This event attracted a lot of “marginal” young adult Catholics, those that might self-identify as being “spiritual but not religious” or those who consider themselves indifferent to institutionalized faith.
- Ideal Space: Hosting this event in a home is very attractive for young adults; however, it can be adapted for a parish hall.
- Supplies: Nametags for each person, table cloths, napkins, table decorations, prayer/reflection sheets (See Help section), ingredients, bamboo rolling mats, utensils, paper plates, chopsticks, cutlery, and plastic drinking cups.
Promote: Promote the program well in advance. Spread the word through diocesan newspapers, parish newsletters/bulletins, and direct e-mails to those who have attended past events. Also, create a special Facebook page and use Twitter. Registering in advance and capturing e-mail addresses is critical to preparation of food and space. Five days before the event, e-mail the participants with directions and also with some links to YouTube clips showing how to make your own sushi to generate some excitement.
Prayer for Program Planner: Good and Generous God, You call us forth from out of our comfort and complacency. You ask of us a willingness to challenge, change, and grow. Expand our vision as we seek to intentionally recognize young adults in our midst and include them in our communities of faith. Grant that we may hear your voice, accept your direction, and venture forth in obedience to you. We pray this through Christ Our Lord, Amen
Community Building: After gathering to pray, ask the group to break up into four under the following categories:
(Virgin) Sushi Beginner
(Tame) Sushi Adventurer
(Medium) Sushi Lover
(Exotic) Sushi Explorer
When gathered in their group we had Sushi Veterans (facilitators) introduce everyone in the group and introduce the types of sushi on offer that night. Plan on introductions taking approximately 20 minutes.
Make It Happen
- Prepare the Food and Space (See Help section for preparation tips)
- Gather: Be sure each guest is welcomed, provided a nametag, and invited to get a beverage.
- Welcome, introductions, and opening prayer: Take a few moments to welcome all those gathered, do introductions, and open with a brief prayer.
- Break into small groups. (See Community Building)
- Roll and Create Sushi: Guests may create various types of sushi from the usual (California roll) to the unusual (macaroni and cheese sushi!). You are only limited by your imagination for anything can be utilized to make sushi. For example, cheese, brat meat, and onion soaked in beer became a “Wisconsin roll.” The fun is in creating unusual but tasty pairings. Rolling your own sushi is a fun way to encourage conversation and sharing in an informal way. It doesn’t require too much skill and usually a skilled host can demonstrate some helpful techniques.
- Eating and Fellowship
- Small Group Discussion and Reflection: Breaking up the group to allow for reflection and discussion is the key to infusing the event with personality and spirituality. Using prepared questions, a facilitator encourages conversation on the topics of seeking, following, and believing. (See sample in Help section.) The questions are deep but not intimidating, so it does not matter where young adults are on their faith journey. All are called and all can contribute to the discussion.
- Gathering and Closing Prayer: A sample guided prayer can be found in the Resources section. Extra food is sent home with guests to share with their families. Invite guests to share their fortune cookies, reading aloud their fortune with the added tag line of “with God!”
- Volunteers clean up before heading home!
Ideas
