Encounter Contact Manual 2014-15

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Dear Friend in Christ,

Thank you for coordinating NET’s presence in your parish or school. We could not reach the youth in your area without your dedicated service and your willingness to join us in our efforts to lead young people to Christ. We pray that you will receive great blessings from our Lord as you serve Him and we pray that your reward will be great in Heaven! This manual includes everything you need to know in coordinating this event.

What is NET? NET is a Catholic Youth Movement of young adult missionaries, bringing youth to Christ across Canada What does NET do? NET trains and sends out teams of young adults to schools and parishes conducting retreats, implementing youth ministry and equipping musicians for evangelization. What qualifications do NET teams have? Each year over 100 young adults apply to serve on a NET team. After undergoing an in-depth screening process and series of interviews, less than half are accepted. Those accepted then undergo 600 hours of intensive training in faith formation, youth ministry skills and leadership. A staff of trained supervisors and executives as well as a board of directors working under the vigilance of the local archbishop oversees each team. NET has over 30 years of youth ministry experience.

This manual includes all the information necessary to prepare for your Encounter Event. Please start by reading though it thoroughly. You will then need to: • Fill out the Encounter Information Sheet (EIS), Billing Information Sheet (BIS) & Host Home Worksheet. After you have filled out all documents completely, please email them to you Diocesan Contact Person (DCP). • Please be sure to supply all the information that is being requested. We also ask that you complete a separate Encounter Information Sheet for each Encounter Event you are hosting.

We at NET Ministries are praying for you. Serving as the Encounter Contact Person, you are a necessary link in our ministry and we are grateful for all that you do. It is our prayer that through your work, and the ministry of the NET team, your young people will experience the love of God and take one step closer to Him. If there is any way we can be of further service to you, please contact our office.

Sincerely in Christ, Cecile Richard Scheduling Coordinator

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

GENERAL ENCOUNTER INFORMATION A NET Encounter Event at a Glance Group Size Special Events Encounter Event Length and Time Boundaries Mission Statement of Sacraments NET Ministries of Mixed Ages Choosing a Facility Canada ENCOUNTER THEME SUMMERIES ENCOUNTER FEES Price Options “Challenging young Catholics Team Involvement in Liturgy to love Christ and embrace How Encounter Fees Are Paid Can’t afford an Encounter Event? Have you tried … the life of the Church.” CANCELLATION POLICY Inclement Weather This is accomplished by: Cancellations HOUSING GUIDELINES Proclaiming the Gospel of Christ SPECIAL NEEDS OVERVIEW through a personal witness of faith Training Confidentiality Inviting young people to live for Christ Volunteer Contact Person Paid Contact Person Forming young people in Christian DRAMA RESOURCES character through the study and MUSIC RESOURCES practice of our faith

Equipping youth workers and young adults with the ministry skills needed for evangelization

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GENERAL ENCOUNTER INFORMATION

A NET ENCOUNTER EVENT AT A GLANCE FORMAT B FORMAT A 9:00 Meet Greet Mingle 9:00 Sign in and Mingle 9:15 ELA* 9:10 Opening Session (ice breakers and introductions) 9:40 Encounter Leader Intro 10:00 Small Group 9:50 Intro team and Small Group #1 10:30 Talk, Drama, Testimony 10:05 Gathering Song 11:10 Small Group 10:15 Snack & debrief ELA* in large group 10:30 Talk, Drama, Testimony 11:40 Large Group Activity 11:00 Small Group #2 (discuss talk) 12:00 Grace and Lunch 11:20 Gathering Song 12:40 After Meal Entertainment (skit) 11:30 Men’s/Women’s session** 12:50 Prayer Time (intro/drama/testimony/song/prayer) 12:00 Lunch 1:30 Game 12:40 After Meal Entertainment (skit) 2:00 Mission to Go Forth 12:50 Small Group #3 2:10 Encounter Wrap Up 1:10 Prayer(intro/drama/testimony/song/prayer) 2:20 Final Drama 1:50 Game 2:30 Farewell 2:05 Closing Comments/Skit 2:20 Song *ELA- EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ACTIVITY 2:30 Farewell Experiential Learning Activities have come about due to the desire for NET Ministries to involve youth in learning techniques that are not restricted to simply listening to talks. Therefore we are currently introducing various opportunities for participants to relate to the gospel message through activities and insightful discussion.

**MEN’S/WOMEN’S SESSION (GR. 9-12) During this time, the men and women will be separated into their appropriate gender groups. They will discuss topics related to their identity in Christ as men and women as well as hear testimonies from teammates on these topics. Separating the men and women during this time gives the participants an opportunity for a different level of comfort and vulnerability, allowing them to share more deeply and ask questions that they might not want to in front of the opposite gender.

Please Note: All participants will be asked to sign in at the beginning of the Encounter Event using their first and last name, age, grade and school/parish. This information will be used to facilitate small groups only and will not be used for anything else. All information is kept confidential and is disposed of appropriately at the end of the Encounter Event. NET Ministries of Canada works within the guidelines of the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).

GROUP SIZE Because we find our most effective ministry to be the one-on-one interaction between a NET team member and a participant, we ask that you follow these given guidelines: • Encounter Events up to 12 Hours: To help facilitate the opportunity to offer better small group interactions, we ask that Encounter Days have no more than120 youth. • Overnight Encounter: Because of the length of the Overnight Encounter and the fact that the team stays with them overnight, we ask that you do not schedule Overnight Encounters with more then 80 youth. • Small Numbers of Participants Anticipated: If you anticipate the size of your group to be less than 20, you may want to consider joining an Encounter Day group from a neighboring parish. • Anticipating More than 120 Participants: If the number of youth in your group is more than 120, then unfortunately we cannot facilitate a full Encounter Day for them, but we do recommend scheduling two 5

separate Encounter Days and sending only half the group to each Encounter Day, separating the different grade levels into their own Encounter Day group, or scheduling only one or two grades each year as opposed to combining several grades together. You may also consider having a Youth Rally.

SPECIAL EVENTS

MASSIVE WORSHIP MUSICIANS TRAINING Musicians training can either be a daylong event (no less than 6 hours) or a whole weekend, beginning Friday evening and running through Sunday afternoon or evening. Musicians’ training is a combination of instrument training, practical talks on music ministry and liturgy, and formational talks for growth as a Catholic musician. In order to attend musicians training you must be at an intermediate level with your instrument and, we ask that there be at least 5, and no more than 30 people in attendance above the age of 14. There will be instrument workshops for contemporary worship music (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboard/piano, drums, bass, vocals), as well as basic sound workshop. Within the weekend there will be times for fellowship, prayer and worship, and opportunities for Eucharistic adoration, mass and Reconciliation. This is a great opportunity for developing unity among parish musicians and music leaders from different groups and choirs, as well as spiritual growth as a music minister. By the end of the weekend, musicians will come away with new material for leading music and worship, tools for developing greater confidence in leading and motivation for developing a deeper relationship with God. Below is an example schedule for the weekend:

DAY FORMAT FRIDAY-SUNDAY FORMAT 9:00 Sign-in/Mingle time Friday 6:00pm Participant Registration 9:15 Gathering Music 6:15 Gathering Music 9:30 Icebreaker game 6:30 Encounter Leader Intro 9:40 Encounter Leader Intro 6:40 Icebreaker 9:45 Talk 1 7:00 Talk 1 7:30 Instrument Workshop 1 10:10 Instrument Workshop 1 9:00 Night Prayer and Worship 11:00 Rehearsing the Band 9:30 End 12:00 Grace/Lunch Saturday 12:30 Gathering Music 9:00am Gathering Music 12:45 Talk 2 9:15 Talk 2 9:45 Instrument Workshop 2 1:00 Instrument Workshop 2 11:00 Personal Practice Time 1:30 Rehearsing the Band 11:30 Lunch 2:00 Mass Prep 12:30pm Gathering Music

2:15 Mass 12:40 Talk 3 3:00 Prayer Ministry 1:00 Instrument Workshop 3 2:30 Gathering Music 3:30 Closing Comments/End 2:40 “Rehearsing the Band” 3:30 Instrument Workshop 4 4:30 Dinner HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS 5:00 Mass prep Below is a list of the possible workshops done during 5:15 Mass musicians training. You may pick your workshops 6:30 Gathering Music 6:45 Break for personal practice time) according to your ministry’s needs. 7:45 Gathering Music 8:00 Talk 4/Drama/Testimony • Vocal 8:30 Eucharistic Adoration with music • Guitar 9:30 End • Bass Sunday • Drum kit/Djembe 10:30am Parish Mass 12:00pm Lunch • Keyboard/ Piano Session 1:00 Gathering Music • Rehearsing the Band (compulsory) 1:15 Instrument Workshop 5 • Sound/Multimedia Tech (optional) 2:30 Showcase prep 3:00 Musician’s Showcase/ Open Mic 4:15 Closing Comments 4:30 End 6

MASSIVE WORSHIP YOUTH RALLY (Grade 7-12, 2.5 hours in length) Youth Rallies are exciting events full of energetic music, skits and passionate worship geared toward teens. Imagine an exciting concert infused with the conviction of the Gospel message and an opportunity to encounter Christ in prayer and worship. You can be as creative as you want in planning this event and decide whether to have mass or Eucharistic adoration or Reconciliation within the rally. Youth Rallies are meant to not only be fun, exciting, and great for bringing youth together, but also can be an amazing opportunity for youth to encounter Christ in a profound way. This event is offered only to youth grades 7-12 and is limited to no more than 500 youth. Youth Rallies booked for the evening may only begin after 5:00pm and may only run as late as 9:00pm. We’ve found that Youth Rallies work the best in the evening format, but may be scheduled at any time during the day.

Format 00:00 Gather 00:15 Opening Music 00:30 Opening Session (Skit, Activity Intro) 00:55 Retreat Leader Intro, Speaker Intro 1:00 Talk, Drama, Testimony 1:25 Music 1:40 Prayer time 2:10 Closing music 2:20 End

WEEKEND RETREATS The Overnight Encounter provides youth with a more intense Encounter experience by taking them out of their regular environment and helping them to think seriously about their relationship with God. They will hear powerful talks that will present them with the message of Jesus Christ and how to live as a Christian. These talks will include teachings on how to pray, why the sacraments are important, the necessity of Christian friends, getting involved in serving the community, and making a daily decision to follow Jesus. In addition, Overnight Encounters provide young people with more individual time with other participants and with the team.

The host parish is responsible for arranging for the meals and lodging needed for Overnight Encounters. If beds are not available, have the participants bring sleeping bags to sleep on the floor or consider having the participants return home for the night. The host parish will also need to contact a priest to be available for the weekend Liturgy. Overnight Encounters can be scheduled during the week or on weekends.

FAMILY ENCOUNTER EVENT This Encounter Event is designed for parents and their children. The Family Encounter Event incorporates presentations on themes applicable to family life. There is one main presentation given to the families collectively after which the parents and youth go into separate small groups. The team members share their experiences of family life and how their relationship with the Lord has impacted their family. There is also time set aside for families to meet together for discussion and prayer.

Please note: It is required that parents attend this Family Retreat with their children.

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ENCOUNTER DAY THEME SUMMARIES WHO ARE YOU? (Recommended for grades (6 – 8) Dealing with issues of self-worth, personal confidence and acceptance is common among junior and senior high students. The “Who Are You?” Encounter Day theme helps young people come to a greater awareness of their goodness and uniqueness as God’s sons and daughters.

INITIATION COMPLETE (Confirmation) Confirmation is not graduation from the church. Throughout this Encounter Day, students will discover how this personal Pentecost can increase their capacity to have a relationship with the Lord. This theme will challenge candidates for Confirmation to embrace their mission in the Church and become personal witnesses for Christ.

THE SEARCH (Recommended for grades 8 – 12) Today’s youth are constantly searching for happiness, whether it be in the sports that they play, the friends that they hang out with, or the people that they date. What they don’t realize is that they are looking in the wrong places. Our relationship with God is the only thing that can truly fulfill us and when we put other things ahead of God we are led into sin and are left feeling unsatisfied. We need to stop trying to fill our lives with things of this world and turn to God; for it is only in Him that we are truly satisfied.

2 BILLION PEOPLE (Recommended for grades 8 – 12) Our world has been influenced by many people who have gone before us. Martin Luther King had a dream and from that equal rights was born. Terry Fox was determined not to let his cancer trump his passion for life and so he ran for cancer awareness. Jesus Christ came to die for the salvation of the world and from that 2 billion people call themselves Christians today. In a world that tries to wipe out Jesus’ relevance, how can we begin to understand the magnitude of His sacrifice in our day-to-day lives?

JESUS WHO?! (Recommended for grades 9 – 12) Who is Jesus in today’s society and what does He have to offer? What do we fill our schedules with on a daily basis? Why not make time for Jesus? Having a relationship with Jesus offers love, hope and freedom. Find out how to apply this to your everyday life and fit Jesus into your busy schedule.

Youth Groups & Mature Students

THE GREATER MERCY In today’s world, one of the great qualities of God that youth yearn for is love, and what would love be without mercy? Through exploring the story of the Prodigal Son, and real life examples, retreatants will get a better understanding of the difference between love, justice and mercy, and how inter-dependent they are, and how to live this mercy out in their everyday lives. What is this great mercy? Is it simple forgiveness, or does it go further than that; to the point of Jesus giving His very life for the forgiveness of our sins? This theme will provoke a deep understanding of how anxious God is for one’s soul, and how no cost is too high for God if it means one’s salvation.

HOMECOMING Today when any religion seems to be the “right one”, why choose to be Catholic? Students will discover the unique treasures of Catholicism implemented by Christ himself. Jesus invites us to encounter Him through His church, where He unites us as one and brings our life with Him ALIVE!

Weekend retreats and more… The Overnight Encounter Day provides youth with a more intense Encounter Day experience by taking them out of their regular environment and helping them to think seriously about their relationship with God. They will hear powerful talks that will present them with the message of Jesus Christ and how to live as a Christian. 8

These talks will include teachings on how to pray, why the sacraments are important, the necessity of Christian friends, getting involved in serving the community, and making a daily decision to follow Jesus. In addition, Overnight Encounter Days provide young people with more individual time with other participants and with the team.

The host parish is responsible for arranging for the meals and lodging needed for these Encounter Days. If beds are not available, have the participants bring sleeping bags to sleep on the floor or consider having the participants return home for the night. The host parish will also need to contact a priest to be available for the weekend Liturgy. Overnight Encounter Days a can be scheduled during the week or on weekends.

LIVING FOR GREATNESS In society today, we are told that the purpose of life is to get what we want, and then we will be happy. So, we are constantly trying to fill our lives with things of this world: money, fame, success etc. But what happens once we achieve all that? What are we left with? As children of God we will never be satisfied until we know Him personally, until we are seeking and doing His will. God’s plan for us, no matter how simple, is great! He is calling each of us to a specific path that will bring us joy and fulfillment. But how do we hear Him? How do we know what to do and where to go, and how do we have the strength to do it?

HIGH SCHOOL OVERNIGHT/2 DAY ENCOUNTER DAY Involves different themes spread throughout the Encounter Day (Jesus Who?!, The Search, The Greater Mercy, Homecoming, and Men’s & Women’s Session) For more information please contact the Scheduling Coordinator at the office 1(877)521-4426.

MEN’S & WOMEN’S RETREAT In today’s society youth are told many different things about what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. Whether it is from the media, movies, magazines their friends or each other, the fact is they are constantly being bombarded by the world’s opinion on something God made. Young women are being told many lies about what it means to be a beautiful woman, and we want to share with them the truth about who they really are. True masculinity has been lost in our world today amongst counterfeits and empty promises, and we want to help young men find it. Our Men’s & Women’s Retreat will give youth an opportunity to spend a day with their own gender getting to know what it really means to be a man or woman through their identity in Christ!

FAMILY ENCOUNTER DAY This Encounter Day is designed for parents and their children. The family Encounter Day incorporates presentations on themes applicable to family life. There is one main presentation given to the families collectively after which the parents and youth go into separate small groups. The team members share their experiences of family life and how their relationship with the Lord has impacted their family. There is also time set aside for families to meet together for discussion and prayer.

Please note: It is required that parents attend this Encounter Day with their children.

MASSIVE WORSHIP YOUTH RALLY (Grades 7-12 choose a theme from the list) Presented in a live concert setting, Massive Worship youth rallies are exciting nights full of energetic music, skits and passionate worship geared toward teens. Personal testimony and an engaging message on leadership and the model of Christ abound in this music-infused event where youth will have the opportunity to encounter the person of Christ in a new and exciting way.

MASSIVE WORSHIP MUSICIANS TRAINING (For musicians and music leaders) Over the course of a day or weekend, receive hands-on instrument training in the contemporary worship style, hear vibrant talks and testimonies from young musicians, and come away with a foundational experience on how to lead and arrange a music team for liturgy and worship events. Also take time to lay aside your 9

instrument and receive valuable affirmation, encouragement and inspiration needed to continue vibrantly in music ministry. This event is great for building unity between different music teams and choirs, for up-building new music teams within the parish, and for providing on-going training for established music teams.

Talks for Musicians Training

IDENTITY IN CHRIST When someone asks you who you are, what do you say? How would you describe yourself? Identity in Christ is an intimate talk challenging our prior understanding and proclaiming that our distinctiveness first comes as a son or daughter of God and that it is not based on what we can or can't do as a musician, worker, mom, dad, etc.

HEART OF WORSHIP What is true worship? Worship is our response to who God is. St. Augustine once said, “Singing is praying twice.” Whether we are active musicians in the parish or simply singers in the congregation, our music must truly be a prayer in response to who God is- and in order to courageously respond to this, we must first develop a genuine “heart of worship.” In this talk, learn the importance of developing a passion and desire to love and honor God through vocal prayer.

CONFIDENCE IN LEADING Have you ever experienced following an unconfident leader? No one wants to follow and unconfident leader- because they don’t trust where the leader is taking them. In this talk, learn the vital importance in leadership and how we have each been called to lead, especially in music ministry. Jesus is the ultimate leader, and we look to him as our model of perfect leadership. God has given each of us special gifts to share, and his Holy Spirit gives us the confidence we need to share them with boldness and humility.

FLOW OF MUSIC IN LITURGY We seek to uphold the integrity of the sacred liturgy. This means that though we’ve seen and witnessed the amazing influence that contemporary worship music has on hearts in prayer and worship, not all contemporary worship music is appropriate for liturgy. “Flow of Music in Liturgy” is a foundational talk that touches on both the practical “how to” in choosing appropriate music for liturgy, as well as recognizing the music ministry’s amazing role in helping to dispose the congregation’s hearts to the graces of the mass.

ENCOUNTER LENGTH & TIME BOUNDARIES

We recommend that an Encounter Day be at least four hours in length. We have found that the longer an Encounter Day, the more effective in nurturing and encouraging faith it becomes. The starting and ending times are flexible and can be adapted to meet the needs of each particular parish or school so long as they are within NET’s overall time boundaries, as follows:

In the interest of showing courtesy to the host homes, and as a way to care for the team, we have asked your Diocesan Contact Person to adhere to the following guidelines with regards to the team’s travel arrangements:

• The team may travel only between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., no earlier and no later (including pickups from host families in the morning hours). • Encounter events cannot begin before 8:30 a.m. or end after 9:30 p.m. • No more than 350 kilometers of travel is allowed on days with scheduled Encounter events.

We ask that you, the Encounter Contact Person, keep these guidelines in mind as you schedule the times for your Encounter event.

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SACRAMENTS NET Encounter events often include the celebrating of two sacraments, namely Eucharist and Reconciliation. The inclusion of these sacraments is dependent upon your desire to include them and upon the availability of your local priest.

If you would like Mass to be included as part of the Encounter event you are scheduling, please indicate on the Encounter Information Sheet what you would like the team to do for this Celebration. The team looks forward to working with the Celebrant, offering whatever help they can to make the celebration of the Eucharist a meaningful part of the Encounter event. We will depend on you to arrange for the priest to celebrate, and ask that you provide the necessary articles for the Mass.

We recommend that the sacrament of Reconciliation be available on all Encounter events. Encounter events include a time of prayer and reflection during which young people often decide they want to receive Reconciliation. Please provide one Confessor for every 20 participants to help ensure that the time for Reconciliation will not run too long.

AGE RANGE Please do not schedule Encounter Events for groups with a larger age range than 4 grades.

Also, please note that while we would love to do Encounter events for students younger than grade 5, it is not what our teams are trained for, and we will not be able to facilitate a full day Encounter event for them. Please feel free to contact the Scheduling Coordinator at the office to discuss other options for grades 5 and under.

CHOOSING A FACILITY It is most helpful to have a facility that includes:

• A large enough meeting room for all of your participants • Spaces such as small rooms or hallways that can be used for small group discussions • A chapel or the main church for our time of Prayer Ministry at the end of the Encounter Day • Separate rooms for workshops for Musicians Training

Please Note: If you are hosting an Overnight Encounter it is helpful to choose a site that will provide hot water showers for the team and participants. ENCOUNTER FEES

2014-2015 PRICE GRID Type of Encounter Event 0-60 Participants 61-120 Participants One day Encounter Day up to 6 hours $650.00 $750.00 One-day Encounter Day of 6 to 12 hours $800.00 $900.00 Evening Encounter Day (after 5pm only) $450.00 $525.00 1 Night Overnight Encounter $900.00 N/A 2 Night Overnight Encounter $1000.00 N/A MW Musicians Training of 6 to 12 hours $750.00 N/A MW Musicians Training Overnight $1100.00 N/A Massive Worship Youth Rally (Up to 500 Participants) $500.00 $500.00

TEAM INVOLVEMENT IN LITURGY Teams are available to provide music, personal testimony, and Mass readings at sacred Liturgy. They can 11

provide all, or a few of these elements. *We now require a team to be compensated $150.00 (or a collection taken at every Mass in which they participate). This cost does not apply to Masses during Encounter events or to Masses, at which the team is promoting an Encounter event up to a limit of 2 Masses per weekend.

BILLING PROCESS 1. Upon booking your Encounter event, please fill out all the information found on the billing form. 2. Send the billing form to your DCP (Diocesan Contact Person) along with your EIS (Encounter Information sheet) 3. You will be billed according to the number of retreatants written on your EIS, unless on the actual day of the Encounter there is more than you had written, then you will be billed accordingly. 4. Once the Scheduling Coordinator has received your EIS and Billing Sheet she will send the invoice to the billing contact. 5. Please send payment, along with a copy of your invoice to NET Ministries no later than 2 weeks after the Encounter Event has taken place. 6. If we do not receive your payment on time we will contact you to see if there are any issues.

CAN’T AFFORD AN ENCOUNTER EVENT? HAVE YOU TRIED … • Your local Knights of Columbus? • Your local Catholic Woman’s League? • Charging each of your participants 10-25$ for their Encounter Day? • Charging your youth 5$ to help offset the cost of your Encounter Day? • A fundraiser event (bake sale, spaghetti supper etc.)? • Asking your local parish for help offsetting the cost?

Our policy here at NET Ministries is to never allow a parish/school’s financial situation to prevent them from hosting a NET Encounter event. If a parish/school truly cannot afford the full cost of an Encounter event and has already explored other avenues of funding, we will work with them to adjust the fees accordingly. Please note, however, that the agreement for adjusting the Encounter event fee must be made prior to the date of the Encounter event and can only be made by the Scheduling Coordinator at NET Ministries. Please do not adjust any Encounter event fee on your own.

CANCELLATION POLICY

INCLEMENT WEATHER In the event that severe weather threatens a scheduled Encounter event, please contact the team. If you and one of the team leaders together determine that the Encounter event must be canceled, please notify the Scheduling Coordinator at NET Ministries immediately. It may be possible to reschedule the Encounter event through your Diocesan Contact Person.

CANCELLATIONS We here at NET Ministries understand that it sometimes becomes necessary for a parish or school to cancel an Encounter event they have scheduled. If you find you need to cancel an Encounter event you have scheduled with the team, we ask that you notify the Scheduling Coordinator no less than three weeks prior to the scheduled Encounter event date. The Scheduling Coordinator will work with your DCP to see if there are any parishes or schools in your diocese waiting to have an Encounter event. Our hope is to have the day rescheduled for the team.

For reasons other than inclement weather, any parish or school cancelling an Encounter event less than three weeks before the scheduled Encounter event date will be required to pay a Cancellation Fee of $275.00. NET 12

Ministries will bill the parish or school directly for that amount. The housing and meal obligations originally assigned by the DCP will remain the responsibility of the canceling parish.

Any questions regarding this cancellation policy should be directed to the Scheduling Coordinator at NET Ministries. HOUSING GUIDELINES

Most Importantly: No team member should ever stay alone! Each team member is required to stay “two by two” according to gender.

Upon request from the DCP, as an Encounter Contact Person, you may be asked to find host homes to billet the NET team members coming to your school/parish. Without the generosity of these host families and your coordination, this ministry would not exist.

You will be provided with a listing of the team members’ names grouped by gender from your Diocesan Contact Person. • Please arrange host families so that a minimum of two team members of the same gender can be housed together at all times. • Please have the host families go over any details such as doors to be locked, location of light switches, time of meals, etc. that are applicable to the host home

The team members travel with their own sleeping bags and pillows so they can be flexible with where they sleep for the night. They may stay in rectories, convents, retreat centers, or gyms, but the host home environment provides additional ministry opportunities for the team.

For the times when the team will be housed in a rectory, convent, retreat center, or school gym, please make sure that the team has been made aware of the following: • doors, windows, and locks to be secured, lights to be on/off • meal arrangements and kitchen expectations • shower and bathroom availability • any room access limitations • fire exits and emergency procedures Once you have found all your host homes please remember to fill out the Host Home Worksheet, which can be found on our website under Encounter Contact, and email it to your DCP.

SPECIAL NEEDS OVERVIEW Definition of a special need; “When a young person openly discusses with a team member that there are circumstances in his or her life that are harmful or potentially harmful to self or others”

It is the intent of NET Ministries to act responsibly with information a young person openly reveals to a team member, which the team member recognizes as harmful or potentially harmful. This responsibility includes informing appropriate paid parish/school personnel from the hosting parish/school and any local authority as necessary and appropriate. NET team members are not social work professionals, but missionaries. Therefore, it is not appropriate (and in fact may be harmful) for a team member to attempt to “counsel” a young person in a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation. The goal of the NET team member is to help the young person identify where help is available to them locally. It is NET Ministries of Canada’s policy is to report any and all allegations of child abuse to the appropriate authorities. The requirements and procedures in Ontario are dictated for the most part by the Child & Family Services Act. It is also our policy to report all special needs situations to the Encounter Contact Person / Parish Priest, since none of our volunteers are trained professionals.

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TRAINING NET team members are trained to respond to situations where a participant is in a harmful or potentially harmful situation by clarifying the information the participant has shared and then taking appropriate action.

CONFIDENTIALITY Team members respect confidentiality by handling the information in a responsible manner. They do not promise to keep a participant’s identity anonymous if they are in a potentially dangerous situation. At the earliest opportunity after identifying a situation as potentially dangerous, the goal of the team member is to get the participant connected to a resource that can help him/her. The team member will try having the participant talk to the contact person identified by the parish for that Encounter event. Some examples of special needs situations are allegations of physical abuse, sexual abuse, suicide, or cutting. In any of these very serious circumstances all team member are instructed to speak directly to the contact person (Teacher/Chaplin/priest) as well contacting any authorities as needed in accordance to the “Child and Family Services Act Section 7”. The NET teams are only in an area for a short period of time; therefore, the goal is to get the participant connected to an appropriate referral that can follow up with the participant.

VOLUNTEER CONTACT PERSON If a situation is identified as potentially dangerous and the contact person is not a paid employee of the parish or school or is not familiar with appropriate procedures to follow, the team member will seek the involvement of the parish priest. If the participant refuses to speak to the contact person or parish priest, the team member may then identify with the participant another appropriate referral such as school counselor, teacher, or parent. If either the Encounter Contact Person or the parish priest isn’t available, the NET team member is then directed to contact a team supervisor at the NET Ministries office to consult on a plan of appropriate action, which may include contacting local authorities or parents.

PAID CONTACT PERSON If the contact person is a paid employee of the parish or school, our hope is that they will be familiar with diocesan policies regarding the appropriate handling of these situations. The appropriate handling may include calling the police, notifying child protection agencies, or informing the parents. Please contact the NET Ministries office if you have q

DRAMA RESOURCES

We regret to announce that the dramas NET Ministries has created are not available to the public at this time. What this means, specifically, is that we are not able to give permission to anyone other than a NET team to use dramas created by NET Ministries. However, not all dramas you see are created by us. The following is a listing of some of our drama resources:

Contemporary Drama Service LIFETEEN Youth Specialties 885 Elkton Drive www.lifeteen.org PO Box 22005 Colorado Springs CO 80907 El Cajon CA 92O22-2205 800-937-5297 Reach Youth Ministry 619-440-2330 www.contemporarydrama.com PO Box 130 email: Cowiche WA 98923 [email protected] Covenant Players PO Box 2900 Riding Lights Theater Co. Willow Creek Resources Oxnard CA 93034-2900 4 College St. PO Box 3188 805-486-7155 Your YO12JF ENGLAND Barrington IL 60011 www.covenantplayers.org 847-765-0070 www.willorcreek.org 14

MUSIC RESOURCES The following is a listing of some of our music resources. If you would like information on a particular song, please contact Garth Pereira here at NET Ministries of Canada. Hillsongs Australia Christian Copyright Licensing PO Box 1195 Mercy Publishing International (CCLI) Castle Hill NSW PO Box 65004 17201 NE Sacramento St. AUSTRALIA Anaheim CA 92815 Portland OR 97230 714-744-6554 800-234-2446 Integrity’s Hosanna Music www.ccli.com PO Box 16183 Songs and Creations Mobile AL 36616 PO Box 7 Franciscan University Press 202-633-9000 San Anselmo CA 9496O Jim Cowan Music Company 1301 Ridge Maranatha! Music Steubenville OH 43952 PO Box 1077 800-783-6357 Dana Point CA 92626-9200 www.maranathamusic.com

MULTIMEDIA & SOUND When leading a group or congregation in music, we have found that the most effective way to engage them in worship is to allow them to focus their attention off of a song sheet or hymnal and toward the altar or focal point (religious icon, image of Christ, etc.) The best way we have found to do this is by projecting the lyrics of each song onto a projector screen. We are able to do by using a digital projector and screen, and hooking the projector up to a laptop that has the OpenSong program. OpenSong is a free downloadable lyric program that allows you to project song lyrics smoothly with little effort or preparation. Once you attain a CCLI license to project lyrics, the next step would be to download OpenSong onto your laptop. If you would like more information on how to do this, please ask the Massive Worship team and they will be able to help you get started.