NET MINISTRIES

NET MINISTRIES Challenging young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the NET MINISTRIES 1 32,000 retreats conducted since 1981

110+ dioceses served annually

THE NET TEAMS: FIRST RESPONDERS OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION

It is no secret that there is a crisis of faith among our Catholic young people. Recent studies estimate that less 2 million than 20% of young Catholics are practicing their faith by age 22. The majority of these youth disengage young Catholics while in high school, drifting away from the Church shortly after their Confirmation. presented with the The reality is that our youth today are growing up in a largely post-Christian culture that is aggressively working to and given an lure them away from Christ and His Church, making the task of instilling faith in teenagers all the more difficult for opportunity to respond parents, catechists, and youth ministers.

2 NET Ministries’ response to this challenging situation is vibrant, faithful missionaries. 3 WHAT IS NET MINISTRIES?

“The NET team has INSPIRED and CHALLENGED

NET Ministries, headquartered in West Paul, , has been sending out NET teams across “I saw men and women the country since 1981. NET teams are composed of 8-12 college-aged young adults who volunteer a around my age loving year of service as Catholic missionaries to U.S. teenagers. God, and it encouraged me to stay strong. What NET Some NET teams conduct retreats for youth across the country, while other teams are embedded in Catholic schools and parishes to augment their existing youth ministry programs. Each year these NET Ministries is doing teams combine to proclaim the Gospel to over 100,000 Catholic youth. is brilliant.” Teen, Minnesota

4 5 CATECHETICAL TRAINING Team members also attend inspirational presentations designed to broaden their understanding of God as Father, Christ as THE NET DIFFERENCE Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as their source of What makes NET the LARGEST and MOST SUCCESSFUL Catholic empowerment. youth retreat ministry in the U.S. is the quality training that our 175 NET staff facilitate discussion in small groups NET team members receive. and help team members apply what they are learning. In mid-August each year, the new team members arrive at NET’s headquarters in West Saint Paul, Minnesota to begin five weeks of personal formation and retreat skills training. Frequent reception of the sacraments is a central part of NET training. Each NET training focuses on deepening each team member’s relationship with Christ and his or her morning begins with Mass, and Reconciliation understanding of the Catholic faith. Because “you can’t give what you don’t have,” considerable time is is available daily. devoted to helping team members establish a consistent and fruitful prayer life where they can seek 6 God daily and receive the grace to live as His disciples. 7 THE MISSION FIELD

With their training complete, NET team members are prepared to be highly effective ambassadors of Christ. Because they’re close in age to the youth they serve, team members are granted a hearing that parents and church staff rarely enjoy. Their own youthfulness also allows NET team members to authentically model what it looks like to be a young person who loves Christ and is successfully living as His disciple.

“When someone asks me what John Paul II meant by the term ‘the new evangelization,’ I tell them about NET. They are the new evangelization on steroids! MINISTRY SKILLS TRAINING I thank God for them.” During the second half of NET training, attention turns to practicing the skills needed to effectively His Eminence communicate the Gospel to young people. NET teams strive to convey this same message of hope to Timothy Cardinal Dolan young people through short presentations, personal testimonies, music, and small discussion groups.

Teams learn and practice short dramas that demonstrate to young people how God is present and relevant in their lives.

NET team members also learn how to effectively pray with retreatants and provide each of them with an opportunity to make a response to God’s invitation to make Him the center of their life and live as His disciple.

8 9 The mission of these Retreat Teams is to provide momentum for the existing youth programs 100,000 youth present in the parishes and Catholic schools are presented the hosting the team. Gospel message by NET teams annually NET retreats are designed to present youth with the truth of who they are as God’s children and how true joy and meaning in life are found by accepting Christ’s gift of salvation and living as His disciple.

TRAVELING TEAMS Every NET retreat includes an extended time for the youth to pray and be prayed with to make a personal response to God’s invitation.

RETREAT TEAMS More than half of the NET teams will travel from diocese to diocese conducting pre-scheduled retreats. Each team will serve in 15 or more dioceses, in total reaching more than 110 dioceses and conducting more than 1,000 retreats for junior high and senior high youth.

10 11 Over time, these youth become increasingly interested in what the team members are doing and accept invitations to attend events at the parish or school where they meet the ministry team and others their “This was the age who are active in their faith. most influential thing I’ve ever done involving Members of Discipleship Teams lead discipleship groups. These small my faith. I am closer to groups of young men or women meet twice a month to be mentored by a NET team member and to share with one another the victories God than I’ve ever been.” Teen, Florida and challenges they are experiencing as they strive to live as young Catholic disciples of Christ.

These teams have the advantage of being able to see the same young people every week for the entire school year. Team members are encouraged to attend lunch with the youth and frequently continue discussions of faith and

DISCIPLESHIP TEAMS The mission of NET’s Discipleship Teams is to augment and enhance the youth ministry already available to young Catholics in select parishes and schools.

These teams are embedded in a single parish or Catholic high school. One of their primary duties is to seek out the alarming number of disengaged youth by visiting the places where they congregate. Team members introduce themselves to the youth present there, and by taking a genuine interest in them, begin to strike up a friendship with them.

12 13 REGIONAL MINISTRY “I spent a year traveling the country, evangelizing some 8,000 young people. I was continually encouraged to grow in holiness. NET has been a greenhouse for my faith.” Sr. Francis Teresa, CFR (NET alumna 97-00)

Some of our Retreat Teams focus their ministry in one geographic area or “I am seeing youth diocese, rather than traveling throughout many states. These teams spend ministry transformed in this their entire year serving the youth of one particular area. Archdiocese due in no small part to NET team members’ Concentrating travel to within a single diocese allows regional genuine and enthusiastic teams to offer recurring evangelistic events as a follow-up to their commitment to the Church’s retreats. Diocesan-wide youth Masses, rallies, discipleship presentations, work of the new evangelization.” and youth minister support and training are some of the services offered by Dennis Schnurr our regional ministry. of Cincinnati

MINNESOTA | OHIO | CALIFORNIA

14 15 LIFELINE MASS AND PROGRAM EVANGELISTIC EVENTS NET Ministries hosts Lifeline, a youth Mass and program, at its headquarters in West Saint Paul, Minnesota. Each month Lifeline draws between 1,000 to 1,500 youth.

This vibrant and reverent Mass is followed by a presentation given by dynamic and relevant youth speakers. Each Lifeline presentation addresses how today’s young people can grow in their faith and successfully overcome the challenges they face in an increasingly secular culture.

NET NIGHTS Similar to an evening NET retreat, regional teams conduct NET Nights to provide area youth with a monthly opportunity to re-energize their faith, receive additional faith formation, and develop relationships with other young Catholics their age.

Lifeline and NET Nights will become available to other dioceses as NET continues to establish additional regional teams and offices. NET currently has regional NET Ministries conducts a number of evangelistic events designed offices in Ohio and California, in addition to our Minnesota headquarters. to IGNITE and ADVANCE the faith of young people. 16 17 HOST HOMES

values in the hallway or at the NET team’s “hang out” room after school. A less obvious - though equally important - aspect of a NET team’s ministry is their impact on the families that host them during their travels.

Typically, two or three team members stay in each host home. The team members’ enthusiasm for their faith, and ease of sharing it, frequently draws the family into meaningful discussions on matters of faith.

Similarly, family members enjoy joining team members for their evening prayer. Hosting parents often remark

DISCIPLESHIP WEEK

“As a parent, I appreciate the Each summer, NET Ministries conducts several week-long discipleship retreats throughout the United States. team sharing their young adult perspectives on issues like self- Geared toward young Catholics seeking to grow in their faith, Discipleship Week aims to inspire, equip, and respect, chastity, and respect for life - challenge teens to live as empowered young Catholic apostles who have discovered the mission and purpose that God those topics parents struggle to get has for their lives. their teenagers to open up about. Their role as young mentors has Discipleship Weeks combine instruction in pertinent Catholic teaching with reception of the sacraments, adoration, praise been a blessing and reinforced and worship, small group discussion, and a host of fun activities. our Catholic beliefs.” Host Family, Missouri 18 19 NET’S IMPACT

Since its inception in 1981, NET Ministries has proclaimed the Gospel to 2 MILLION CATHOLIC YOUTH in the United States.

COUNTED AMONG NET’S ALUMNI ARE:

2 bishops 66 priests 40 sisters 10 brothers 4 deacons

thatIn addition having to team helping members awaken staygreater with faith them in so helps many reinvigorate young people, their NET family’s Ministries faith has lifetrained and over they 2,700take delight young 12% of those who complete a year inadult having missionaries their children. The skillsmeet andand formation be influenced received by by such these positive highly committed role models. young Catholics continue to bear of service with NET are accepted into seminary 20 fruit for the Church long after their time of service with NET. or novitiate programs with religious orders21 ALUMNI CONTINUE TO SERVE

After serving with NET for a year or two, many alumni continue to serve as lay members of diocesan and parish staffs including diocesan directors of youth and family programs, parish directors of religious education, and parish youth ministers. Several alumni have established their own Catholic ministries, multiplying the effect of their NET training many times over.

Having daily lived out love as a committed choice rather than just a feeling, NET alumni are able to take their experience of team life and use it to establish a firm foundation for marriage.

Children in these families also benefit greatly from the formation their parents received INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES while serving with NET, many of them desiring to serve the Church as their mother or father NET Ministries has been replicated in countries all over the world, including did. Since 2007 there have been 60 second- generation NET team members, with many AUSTRALIA, CANADA, UGANDA, IRELAND and SCOTLAND. more who have had an aunt, uncle, or sibling serve with NET. NET Ministries’ peer-to-peer ministry model has been so successful in the United States that it has expanded to other countries. These independent ministries work under a common mission statement, adopting evangelistic methods which are particularly effective with youth in their part of the world.

22 23 HOW YOU CAN HELP It costs $21,000 to recruit, train, and provide for each NET team member during their year of ministry.

NET covers this cost in three ways: 1. Fees charged for retreats or parish/school teams; 2. Sponsorship funds raised by NET team members; 3. Annual gifts from benefactors wishing to partner with NET to promote faith among Catholic youth. NET MINISTRIES’ COMPANIONS OF ESTATE GIFTS ST. PAUL THE EVANGELIST SOCIETY An increasing number of NET’s benefactors are helping In order to continue adding NET teams and open secure NET’s future and the future of their annual gifts by additional offices throughout the U.S., NET invites including NET in their estate plans. benefactors to join our annual giving society known as the Companions of St. Paul the Some of the ways donors choose to do this include making a “NET works within Evangelist Society. bequest of a specific amount to NET Ministries in their wills, our existing parish and setting up donor-advised funds with a foundation, purchasing school structures to help NET’s Companions join in the ministry of the NET teams a Charitable Gift Annuity, or setting up a Charitable Remainder by making an annual gift to NET of at least $5,000. A Trust. Other donors choose to name NET as a beneficiary to a those places become more life insurance policy or qualified IRA. vibrant faith communities.” gift of this amount covers the cost of one NET team member unmet by our other funding sources. Gifts Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond received from NET’s Companions are vital to making NET partners with the Catholic Community Foundation (CCF) of New Orleans NET teams available to proclaim the Gospel to Catholic to assist donors in establishing any of these testamentary gifts youth across the U.S. each year. on behalf of NET Ministries. Located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, CCF is the largest Catholic foundation in the United States. 24 25 CONNECT WITH US

“The NET team did a fantastic job with our teens. I was impressed with how well they shared their own faith journeys in terms that are relevant to the teens. The retreat was one of the best things we’ve done.” Youth Minister, Texas

As Founder and President of NET Ministries, I have seen over and over again the importance of sharing the Gospel message with the next generation. When a young person meets a NET team member on fire for the faith, the young person is introduced to someone whose relationship with Jesus Christ is real and alive. Christ changes everything! When faith is awakened and ignited in a young person’s life, they come alive.

For too long, we Catholics have been timid in sharing our faith with others. Jesus needs us if His saving work is to continue. He told us to “go and proclaim the good news.” Every pope since Paul VI has urged us to re-engage our evangelistic mission. Since 1981, the NET teams have been first responders in the new evangelization.

I invite you to partner with us in this exciting work. Whether you schedule a retreat, host a NET team, pray for our work, or support us financially, you have a part to play in awakening the faith of this next generation. Won’t you join us? Together, we can light the world on fire with the love of Jesus Christ.

fb.com/netministriesusa @netministries @netministries youtube.com/netministriesusa Mark Berchem NET Ministries Founder and President 26 27 “HERE WE ARE, LORD! SEND US TO SHARE YOUR MERCIFUL LOVE!” - ,

NET MINISTRIES www.netusa.org | 651.450.6833 [email protected]

Cincinnati Regional Office National Headquarters California Regional Office 100 E Eighth Street 110 Crusader Avenue W 507 N Granada Avenue 28 Cincinnati, OH 45202 West St. Paul, MN 55118 Alhambra, CA 91801