National Youth Ministry Program to Expand by 50%

ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NET Ministries, a nationwide youth retreat and outreach program geared toward awakening Catholic faith in young people, is in the midst of kicking off a five-year strategic plan called "Igniting Faith." The organization currently impacts 60,000 youth across the country annually. By 2017, the goal is 90,000 per year, a 50% increase.

To reach this goal, NET will add a team of 8-12 young adults each year for the next five years, bringing the total number of teams to 16, and increase the number of team members from 125 to 175.

NET's Executive Director says, "We're all familiar with the call for a new evangelization. We need to awaken faith; we need to ignite faith. We need to go back into our parishes, into our schools, and present the Gospel, and the best person to do that is a young person who's on fire. And that's what the NET teams are."

Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt, Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, says, "The genius behind NET Ministries is that you have peers leading their peers."

In addition to adding a new team every year, the organization plans to open two regional offices in addition to their St. Paul, MN headquarters. The first will be in Cincinnati, OH, and the second in California. Establishment of these regional offices and the addition of the new teams will enable the organization to provide more youth retreats with less travel for the teams, as well as provide additional recruiting and development opportunities.

As the first year of Igniting Faith gets started this month, NET is excited to better serve the Church by making the jump to twelve teams of young adults.

Find more information about Igniting Faith at www.netusa.org/ignitingfaith.

About NET Ministries, Inc. (National Evangelization Teams):
NET Ministries is a national Catholic youth ministry program committed to challenging young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the Church. Based in Minnesota, NET offers training in youth evangelization and leads more than 900 retreats annually. Each year, young adult volunteers are sent out in teams across the country to conduct retreats for Catholic teens. Drama, music, games, small group discussions, and large group presentations are used to present the Gospel in a dynamic way. To learn more about NET Ministries, visit http://www.netusa.org.

Media Contact: Alison Duffy, 651.450.6833, alison@netusa.org

SOURCE NET Ministries

RELATED LINKS
http://www.netusa.org