Thought we had forgotten about you? Not a chance!
In the months since we started to work out trying to get a group together who want to attend World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney, we have been quietly working away behind the scenes, waiting for information to filter down from the various people involved on a national and diocesan level, and trying to establish what is the easiest and fairest way to deal with working with pilgrims from more than one parish. And now it’s all starting to happen.
The theme for World Youth Day 2008 is “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). So what better time to officially start our pilgrimage is there than the feast ofPentecost – Sunday 27th May. What does this start date mean? Simply that we want to identify by this date who the people are who wish to attend WYD and who want to take part in the fundraising activities supported by each parish. We also hope to arrange for each group of pilgrims to attend an appropriate Mass in their parish as close to that time as practical where the group can be presented to the parish and receive a special blessing as we begin our pilgrimage.
To be part of the group that will be fundraising, you need to be officially recognized by the parish.
- This has already taken place atSt Luke’s Community.
- During the next few weeks coming up to Pentecost each potential pilgrim from St Mark’s Parish will be contacted to confirm your involvement if we have not already done so. You will asked to provide a $100 non-refundable deposit – there is a PDF file below under the heading “To be officially recognized” that you will be able to download to accompany your deposit. (Until it is uploaded you can request this from me – email or in person) This needs to be received by Pentecost and can be given to the Parish Office, Fr Barry, Paul Burns (10am Mass) orJoanne van Heerden (6.30pm Mass). Cheques can be made out to St Mark’s Parish. (Don’t feel you have to wait to be called! We are happy for you to contact us also!)
- Unfortunately we are unable to confirm the process at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish at this time, but are hoping for more information to be made available shortly. (Various details presented here are therefore subject to change.) Anthony Noble-Campbell has been recently appointed as the contact person for the parish and can be reached on ph 265 2322 or email prin@meps.school.nz
How do we see that will the fundraising work? As you can imagine trying to sort this out between more than 1 parish gets complicated! Essentially we are proposing taking an onion approach – lots and lots of layers! Each pilgrim will be responsible for raising the estimated $2000 cost per pilgrimwhich covers registration, travel, meals etc. Funds will be allocated per pilgrim following each event (rather than going into a pool that we would all draw from at the end of our fundraising). Each pilgrim will be working primarily to cover their own costs and will need to personally contribute any shortfall in fundraising. This approach appears to be the most fair way to distribute funds in a multi-parish setting.
- Each pilgrim will be able to raise funds on an individual basis (babysitting, gardening etc are prime examples here!).
- All monies raised by a fundraising event will be evenly split between the pilgrims that took part in that event.
- Therefore all monies raised by a parish fundraising event will be evenly split between the pilgrims of the parish
- And all monies raised if the event is held in the local area will be evenly split between the pilgrims of the local area.
Funds will be allocated to each pilgrim after each event, so the more events you take part in the more that gets credited to you! We will also consider sponsorship as an option as there will be 4 groups raising funds in the area -SanctaMariaCollege will also be taking a group.
We do want to get each parish as excited about WYD as we are! Because WYD is about more than those who attend the days themselves – co-hosting the Days in the Diocese prior to the official events will also mean that Catholic young people from other countries will get to experience what it is like to be a Kiwi Catholic and all parishes will be asked to welcome them properly! Our parishes will be part of the journey of every WYD pilgrim. More about this later!
For more information about WYD, do check out our youth website www.smoss.org.nz – register as a user and we will also be able to utilise the website in our planning. And our planning will definitely include activities to help us get to know each other and prepare us as we take part in this journey – the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party should not be missed!
There is also a meeting for WYD contacts, committees and interested parties for the Eastern Region which intends to give an overview of WYD from the different committees set up in the diocese. This will be an excellent chance to mix and mingle and get answers as to what is happening within the diocese and eastern region. You are welcome to attend, but I would appreciate an RSVP for set-up purposes. That meeting will take place at:
Wednesday 23rd May, 7.30pm, St Mark’s Parish Centre
If you have any questions not addressed by this email or the website, feel free to contact me by any of the details below. Otherwise, one of us will be in touch with you very soon!
Blessings always and all ways!
Joanne
Joanne van Heerden
SMOSS Youth Contact
535-9583 // 021 114-3374
mcheerden@xtra.co.nz
mcheerden@hotmail.com (also with MSN Chat)
www.smoss.org.nz
Disclaimer: This email is being sent to all persons who have contacted us regarding World Youth Day to date, not just the potential pilgrims. It is being sent to all for your reference as we start to move into the next phase of our planning and preparation to celebrate World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney.