MY ROLE •
A growing number of Young Life staff members and Catholic youth workers are interested in working together because they want to reach more kids. My role is to connect them, help train them, and gather support for their ministries.
•
There is interest in Oregon in launching a parish-based Young Life ministry for middle schoolers (WyldLife). I’m helping organize this new ministry with the hopes that it will serve as a model for other Catholic parishes.
•
Young Life is a place of belonging, but Catholic staff and volunteers don’t always feel like they belong in a ministry that was started by Protestants. I’m reaching out and supporting our existing Catholic volunteers and staff.
•
Young Life needs to attract and engage more Catholic leadership if it is to serve disconnected Catholic students. I take Catholic adult guests to Young Life camp, and I invite Catholic youth workers to volunteer for Young Life.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Operating Budget Salary: Benefits: Training: Travel/Expenses: Budget Total:
$ $ $ $ $
66,000 22,300 1,200 1,500 91,000
YOU CAN HELP Ways to Give Give Online: • Go to giving.younglife.org/sherrinee or • Scan Sherri’s QR code below
Give By Mail:
Personal Fundraising Goal # of Partners
Amount
2
$500
$
2
$250
$
6,000
5
$100
$
6,000
8
$50
$
4,800
14
$25
$
4,200
$
33,000
TOTAL:
Young Life Catholic Relations
Annual Total 12,000
Personal checks may be made out to Young Life, with “1515 – Sherri Nee” on the memo line, and sent to: Young Life Catholic Relations 2427 Arbor Dr. Davenport, IA 52803
Young Life is a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and has maintained that membership through a yearly review of its compliance with the ECFA’s standards.
Young Life was incorporated in 1941 by Jim Rayburn, a seminary student and part-time youth minister in Gainesville, Texas, who wanted to reach out to kids disinterested in church. Rayburn went where kids were and found creative ways to share the love of God with them. His methods continue to transform lives today.
Sherri Nee • 503-806-0018 6424 NW Winston Dr., Portland, OR 97210 sherri@catholicrelations.younglife.org
Sherri Nee
WHAT IS YOUNG LIFE?
“That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
CONTACT WORK
Because kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, Young Life leaders show they care by going where kids are, meeting them as they are and believing in who they can be. Within Young Life we call the persistent going out into the world of kids “contact work.” But kids just call it friendship.
— John 17:21, NIV
CLUB
WHY NOW?
We like to think of club as a “party with a purpose.” It’s controlled chaos that’s almost impossible to describe, but kids know it when they see it. And before the party ends, we share a simple message about God’s love for them. After all, that’s what the celebration is all about.
There is a new openness and an urgency to this collaborative work. Young Life is publicly and wholeheartedly embracing its core value of being “ecumenical.” The Catholic Church is embracing what Pope John Paul II called the “new evangelization,” and what Pope Francis calls the “ministry of accompaniment.”
CAMP
Kids consistently tell us that Young Life camp is the best week of their lives. How else would you describe a week where deep relationships are forged in the midst of mind-boggling fun and you hear the greatest love story ever told?
We have a growing number of examples of how effective Protestants and Catholics can be when they minister together to reach disconnected kids. The pandemic has shown us the isolation and anxiety teenagers are experiencing. I’ve never witnessed a more urgent time to reach out and mentor teenagers, and I believe Young Life is the most effective tool we have.
CAMPAIGNERS
Campaigners is a weekly gathering for kids who wish to learn more or grow in their faith through study, service and leadership. We’re with kids for the long haul to help them take the first steps of faith with unconditional love. Along the way, we encourage kids to celebrate their faith through participation in a local church congregation.
MY STORY
WHY YOUNG LIFE?
WHY ME?
I have found no other ministry that goes out where the kids are, builds friendships with them, tells them they are fully loved by God and continues to mentor them regardless of their response.
Because I was that Catholic kid. I was raised in this tradition, went to Catholic schools and attended Mass each Sunday. And yet, it wasn’t until college when I was befriended and mentored by a Protestant couple that my faith became personal and active. It’s not about switching denominations. It’s about switching from knowing something to experiencing it. Learning about love or reading about joy is different than being in love or experiencing joy. I want every teenager to know the love and joy of Jesus Christ on a personal level.
WHY CATHOLIC RELATIONS? I believe the greatest potential to reach teenagers exists in communities where Young Life and the Catholic Church are working together. Representing the largest religious affiliation in our country, 82 million Americans identify as Catholic. That’s 25% of us. And yet for millions of Catholic teenagers, this identity is often a cultural identity. Growing up Catholic often means developing a moral foundation, accepting God exists and appreciating acts of service. But faith doesn’t become active until we internalize it and develop a personal relationship with God. This “activation” of faith is the ministry of Young Life.
I became interested in Young Life’s work with the Catholic Church in 2013 while volunteering on a local Young Life committee. In 2017, I helped develop an agreement between my Young Life region and the Archdiocese of Portland. In 2018, I joined the national Young Life Catholic Relations board, and the closer I got to this initiative, the more I felt called to serve. In 2019, I went on staff part time as the communications manager for the national office. And in April of 2021, I joined full time as associate director.
WHAT IS YOUNG LIFE?
“That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”
CONTACT WORK
Because kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, Young Life leaders show they care by going where kids are, meeting them as they are and believing in who they can be. Within Young Life we call the persistent going out into the world of kids “contact work.” But kids just call it friendship.
— John 17:21, NIV
CLUB
WHY NOW?
We like to think of club as a “party with a purpose.” It’s controlled chaos that’s almost impossible to describe, but kids know it when they see it. And before the party ends, we share a simple message about God’s love for them. After all, that’s what the celebration is all about.
There is a new openness and an urgency to this collaborative work. Young Life is publicly and wholeheartedly embracing its core value of being “ecumenical.” The Catholic Church is embracing what Pope John Paul II called the “new evangelization,” and what Pope Francis calls the “ministry of accompaniment.”
CAMP
Kids consistently tell us that Young Life camp is the best week of their lives. How else would you describe a week where deep relationships are forged in the midst of mind-boggling fun and you hear the greatest love story ever told?
We have a growing number of examples of how effective Protestants and Catholics can be when they minister together to reach disconnected kids. The pandemic has shown us the isolation and anxiety teenagers are experiencing. I’ve never witnessed a more urgent time to reach out and mentor teenagers, and I believe Young Life is the most effective tool we have.
CAMPAIGNERS
Campaigners is a weekly gathering for kids who wish to learn more or grow in their faith through study, service and leadership. We’re with kids for the long haul to help them take the first steps of faith with unconditional love. Along the way, we encourage kids to celebrate their faith through participation in a local church congregation.
MY STORY
WHY YOUNG LIFE?
WHY ME?
I have found no other ministry that goes out where the kids are, builds friendships with them, tells them they are fully loved by God and continues to mentor them regardless of their response.
Because I was that Catholic kid. I was raised in this tradition, went to Catholic schools and attended Mass each Sunday. And yet, it wasn’t until college when I was befriended and mentored by a Protestant couple that my faith became personal and active. It’s not about switching denominations. It’s about switching from knowing something to experiencing it. Learning about love or reading about joy is different than being in love or experiencing joy. I want every teenager to know the love and joy of Jesus Christ on a personal level.
WHY CATHOLIC RELATIONS? I believe the greatest potential to reach teenagers exists in communities where Young Life and the Catholic Church are working together. Representing the largest religious affiliation in our country, 82 million Americans identify as Catholic. That’s 25% of us. And yet for millions of Catholic teenagers, this identity is often a cultural identity. Growing up Catholic often means developing a moral foundation, accepting God exists and appreciating acts of service. But faith doesn’t become active until we internalize it and develop a personal relationship with God. This “activation” of faith is the ministry of Young Life.
I became interested in Young Life’s work with the Catholic Church in 2013 while volunteering on a local Young Life committee. In 2017, I helped develop an agreement between my Young Life region and the Archdiocese of Portland. In 2018, I joined the national Young Life Catholic Relations board, and the closer I got to this initiative, the more I felt called to serve. In 2019, I went on staff part time as the communications manager for the national office. And in April of 2021, I joined full time as associate director.
MY ROLE •
A growing number of Young Life staff members and Catholic youth workers are interested in working together because they want to reach more kids. My role is to connect them, help train them, and gather support for their ministries.
•
There is interest in Oregon in launching a parish-based Young Life ministry for middle schoolers (WyldLife). I’m helping organize this new ministry with the hopes that it will serve as a model for other Catholic parishes.
•
Young Life is a place of belonging, but Catholic staff and volunteers don’t always feel like they belong in a ministry that was started by Protestants. I’m reaching out and supporting our existing Catholic volunteers and staff.
•
Young Life needs to attract and engage more Catholic leadership if it is to serve disconnected Catholic students. I take Catholic adult guests to Young Life camp, and I invite Catholic youth workers to volunteer for Young Life.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Operating Budget Salary: Benefits: Training: Travel/Expenses: Budget Total:
$ $ $ $ $
66,000 22,300 1,200 1,500 91,000
YOU CAN HELP Ways to Give Give Online: • Go to giving.younglife.org/sherrinee or • Scan Sherri’s QR code below
Give By Mail:
Personal Fundraising Goal # of Partners
Amount
2
$500
$
2
$250
$
6,000
5
$100
$
6,000
8
$50
$
4,800
14
$25
$
4,200
$
33,000
TOTAL:
Young Life Catholic Relations
Annual Total 12,000
Personal checks may be made out to Young Life, with “1515 – Sherri Nee” on the memo line, and sent to: Young Life Catholic Relations 2427 Arbor Dr. Davenport, IA 52803
Young Life is a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and has maintained that membership through a yearly review of its compliance with the ECFA’s standards.
Young Life was incorporated in 1941 by Jim Rayburn, a seminary student and part-time youth minister in Gainesville, Texas, who wanted to reach out to kids disinterested in church. Rayburn went where kids were and found creative ways to share the love of God with them. His methods continue to transform lives today.
Sherri Nee • 503-806-0018 6424 NW Winston Dr., Portland, OR 97210 sherri@catholicrelations.younglife.org
Sherri Nee