“Sign up now! Because by the time November rolls around, you will want to go and wish you had! Why wouldn’t you go? If nothing else, it is going to be a great weekend of fun with friends,” said Liv Sensenbrenner, campus minister at Andrean High School in Merrillville.
Better known as NCYC, the National Catholic Youth Conference is an annual three-day, national Catholic conference for high schoolers hosted by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. Teens gather for a November weekend in Indianapolis to participate in keynote talks, sacraments, praise and worship concerts, entertainment, games, networking and community-building.
The culminating Mass with about 200 priests and deacons and Eucharistic adoration with thousands of people worshiping Jesus’ body, blood, soul and divinity in silence are “amazing experiences” for these young people. “There is no way God is fooling that many people. The Catholic faith is real … It’s what we need,” said Sensenbrenner.
Sensenbrenner encourages area teens to sign up as soon as possible for this life-changing event. She attended five years ago as a senior in high school. “It’s the most fun experience ever! There were speakers, moms and dads with little kids, so in love with their Catholic faith. I heard the truth in my head and heart that I didn’t know I needed to hear. I was astounded; I didn’t know a Catholic Church like this existed.”
Matt Kresich, director of Young Catholics for Holy Name of Jesus in Cedar Lake, compares the event to his January attendance of the Cubs Convention in Chicago. “With a completely new roster and coming off a poor season, I was not sure what to expect. However, there is something special about being surrounded by so many people for a common cause. It breathes hope. It’s this hope which makes NCYC such a memorable and powerful weekend. Yes, the concerts and the speakers are amazing, but with 10,000 young people living out their faith, it’s a sight to behold!”
Liz Owen, director of youth ministry at St. Teresa of Avila in Valparaiso, agreed. “The teens get excited about their faith with thousands of others from around the country. It’s a pilgrimage; they’re going out to experience their Catholic faith in a new way. Being there together at this biggest gathering is so impactful. They experience the Lord in a whole new way,” she said.
Vicky Hathaway, youth and young adult ministry consultant for the Diocese of Gary, said the diocese has been taking students to NCYC since the early 2000s. She is in the process of filling a second bus for the Nov. 16-18 event at Lucas Oil Stadium and adjacent convention center in Indianapolis.
“NCYC is an awesome opportunity for high school students and their chaperones because it is an experience of ‘big Church’ in our own backyard,” Hathway said. “Young people meet other young Catholics who are also living out their faith. They learn that they are not alone in their struggles and that they can fully be themselves by living out their faith. Chaperones also grow in their own faith by meeting others who are passionate in ministry with young people and seeing their teens joyfully live out their faith.”
Kresich, who takes between six to 12 teens every two years to NCYC, appreciates the opportunity to grow in faith. “It is a weekend I look forward to…one which enriches my faith life every year,” he said. “We all long to be part of a community. NCYC is such a tangible moment of how wide and diverse the young Church is.”
Hathaway said there are so many faith experiences in which the teens can share. “There are times of quiet reflections, joyful music, artistic expressions, and, of course, the feeling of faith that comes from being in a community of other Catholics. They also have the opportunity to receive mercy through the sacrament of reconciliation. It really is a joyful time where young people can allow the Holy Spirit to inspire them to go out and love others back home,” she explained.
Sensenbrenner encourages parents to have their high school children attend. “NCYC has a very special place in my heart because... at a time when I was really questioning my faith and purpose in life, my campus minister invited me to this conference. Although I knew nothing about it and only signed up to miss school, the weekend changed my life in the best way.
“I had never witnessed God nor the Church in this way and I was astounded at the beauty all around me. It is the reason I am Catholic today, and certainly the reason I have chosen to pursue ministry as a vocation. I have been back to NCYC twice as a presenter, and I strongly believe in the power of this conference to make the most positive impact on our students, no matter where they are on their faith journey.”