Click image to see larger picture.
The 4th Annual Youth and Young
adult revival took place this year on March 20th at St. Joseph the Worker
Catholic Church in Marrero, LA. This is not your typical revival. This revival
is for people of all ages, but is planned and put on by the youth and young
adults of the IMANI Team of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. For those who do not
know what the IMANI Team is, it is a group of Black Catholic youth from the
Black Catholic parishes and schools brought together to serve the Black Catholic
community of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The members of the IMANI team serve
on other leadership teams, such as Teen Cross (the Archbishop's leadership team
for Youth Ministry), The Archdiocesan Youth & Young Adult Gospel Choir, as well
as other groups throughout the Archdiocese. Members also plan and attend
leadership retreats such as Habari Gani (a leadership retreat for Black Catholic
parishes and high schools) and CLI (Catholic Leadership Institute). During the
IMANI team meetings, members discuss issues that Black Catholic youth are
dealing with in the Church. By bringing this team together, we are making sure
everybody is on the same page about advancing the needs of Black Catholic youth
within the structure of the CYO Office events, as well as events throughout the
Archdiocese. This group is brought together through the leadership of the CYO
Youth & Young Adult Ministry Office and the Office of Black Catholics of the
Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Preparation
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The preparation for this revival was difficult due
to the fact that many people participate in high school extracurricular
activities and some of the meetings were planned on days of games and
performances. The IMANI Team members are active throughout the community. Some
other difficult parts of preparation were making sure everyone was on the same
page and they knew what they had to do. Being original and making sure our
culture was represented in the revival also provided a challenge. Making sure we
had what we needed and all that our materials worked correctly was difficult.
Since this revival is planned by youth and young adults, we wanted to make sure
the topic related to the Bible as well as to the issues that people of all ages
are facing today. There were many months of planning and rehearsals to make sure
that this event was the "Spirit-filled" event that it was.
Preparation
The preparation for this revival was difficult due
to the fact that many people participate in high school extracurricular
activities and some of the meetings were planned on days of games and
performances. The IMANI Team members are active throughout the community. Some
other difficult parts of preparation were making sure everyone was on the same
page and they knew what they had to do. Being original and making sure our
culture was represented in the revival also provided a challenge. Making sure we
had what we needed and all that our materials worked correctly was difficult.
Since this revival is planned by youth and young adults, we wanted to make sure
the topic related to the Bible as well as to the issues that people of all ages
are facing today. There were many months of planning and rehearsals to make sure
that this event was the "Spirit-filled" event that it was.
Seeing it come together
Click image to see larger picture.
When the revival came together it was an
indescribable feeling to see all of the hard work that was done pay off. To see
a packed church (it was standing room only) full of supporters was amazing.
Seeing the amount of people, of all ages, that were entertained by the things we
envisioned and created made us feel good. The revivalist, Seminarian Daniel
Green, also addressed many topics that bother us as Black Catholics. Also, the
altar call done by Seminarian Joshua Johnson was also very inspirational and
really helped to show that all the people in attendance could lean on each other
for strength and love as we are called to do as Catholics. The Archdiocesan
Youth & Young Adult Gospel Choir, along with the guest choir from Xavier
University of Louisiana, led us in powerful songs that really filled the church
with praise. Also, the dancers and drummers from St. Katharine Drexel Catholic
Church, showed another aspect of how our spiritual expressions give God praise.
The experience of putting on this revival made our faith grow, because through
all of the meetings and rehearsals we realized how much we sacrificed just as
Jesus did. It was a blessing to have so many clergy come out and support us and
to show that we mattered, especially Bishop Fabre. So, as our theme for the
revival states, "Believe Dat… You're Welcome Here!", we are not ashamed to say
that this is OUR CHURCH and this is OUR FAITH, and this revival was our way of
showing our church community that we are proud to be soldiers in God's Army!!
Ansel Augustine is the Associate Director
and Coordinator of Black Youth Ministry for the CYO Youth & Young Adult
Ministry Office of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Daniel Boucree and Devon
Watts are students at St. Augustine High School and are member of the IMANI
Team and TEEN CROSS.
