By Renee St. Martin Wizeman

In September 2008, two men met at the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry in Cleveland, Ohio. And this fall, the Diocese of Helena will reap the benefits of that meeting and subsequent collaboration. Diocesan Youth Minister Doug Tooke said the collaboration between his office and Reach Youth Ministry will bring an exciting, financially sustainable expansion of young adult ministry in the diocese.

“When I started at the chancery in 2007, we had an idea of planting 21- to 29-year-olds in young adult teams in deaneries to provide service directly to faith communities... to really service their (existing) faith formation,” Tooke said.

In 2008, Tooke attended the NCCYM conference, and met Dan Bartleson, director of REACH Youth Ministry in Cowiche, Wash. Reach is a traveling, young adult service team ministry that began in the Diocese of Yakima 32 years ago. Tooke said Bartleson’s willingess to share insights and information about running a service team program like Reach was very helpful, as Tooke considered how best to provide young adult ministry here.

The pastoral plan Come to the Light identified money and personnel for youth and young adult ministry efforts as a concern shared by many parishes in the diocese. This concern was reflected in the subsequent capital campaign, as youth and young adult ministry was the single largest case element at about 36% of the $12 million campaign. That particular case element was structured in such a way to allow for both immediate cash funding and an endowment.

As the capital campaign funds came in, Tooke said that concrete plans were developed for an “intentional” approach to young adult ministry in the diocese. Tooke and his supervisor, Formation Services Director John Fencik, worked on a proposal that was submitted to Bishop George Leo Thomas, who ultimately approved it. Conversations then turned to who might lead this effort. Around the same time, Reach finalized its process of becoming a 501c3 corporation, separate from the Diocese of Yakima. When Tooke approached Bartleson about taking the new position, not only was Bartleson interested, he was also willing and able to relocate Reach Youth Ministry to Helena.

The collaboration will ultimately result in Reach’s traveling ministry operating from Helena, as well as establishing deanery young adult service teams, and Bartleson directing the Legendary Lodge summer camps. Fencik said that one hoped-for outcome would be an established core adminstrative team at the Lodge.

The expense of this arrangement is substantially lower than the first projection of $125,000: only $40,000 per year is needed. Reach’s $198,000+ operating budget will continue to be furnished by their existing services, and the diocesan payment will make the additional services of Lodge administration and deanery service teams possible. This year, the diocese’s $40,000 payment will come from the cash portion of the capital campaign case element; in subsequent years, it will be funded through the youth and young adult endowment.

“Our $40,000contribution will support the cost of deanery teams, retain Reach as a collaborator with the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, and sustain Dan as the director of Reach and Legendary Lodge administrator,” said Tooke. Both the diocese and Reach reap benefits from this arrangement, he said. For one, Reach can reestablish their permanent administrative staff.

“Legendary Lodge is going to receive arguably one of the best young adult team coordinators in the country, and we get to have Reach here locally, training young adults to be in service to the deaneries; and a valuable liaison at the table with John Fencik and myself when discussing future young adult ministry efforts,” Tooke said. “Dan, John and I want to be at the table for everything we can, so that what we do in youth ministry translates well into young adult ministry iniatives and that demographic.”

Tooke said Formation Services doesn’t have “authority” over Reach, although Fencik will be a member of Reach’s board; likewise, Tooke has invited both Bartleson and Reach’s associate director, Jonny Doiron, to be members of the OYYAM Youth Ministry Advisory Committee. Bishop Thomas’ authority as the local ordinary will be the same in relation to Reach as it would be for any Catholic ministry residing in the diocese.

“There’s been some very good dialogue about authority and administration,” said Tooke.

This month, the first Helena-based Reach teams will begin their formation at Legendary Lodge. The three teams–each made up of two young women and two young men–will serve in the Northwest, Southwest and Midwest regions of the U.S., leading Catholic retreats for youth in grades 6-12. The Northwest team will be based out of Yakima this year, with Helena as base camp for the two others.

In 2011 and 2012, deanery service teams will be placed in the Conrad deanery and the Missoula deanery, Tooke said, and will also be part of the OYYAM events during the school year. The formation for these teams will take place at the Lodge over several weeks, but will not impact the summer camp schedule. The Formation House on the Carroll College campus will house Reach’s administrative offices and provide living space for the traveling teams when they are between engagements. The diocese rents the house from the college, Tooke said.

“With these deanery teams, I think some of our outlying areas are going to receive the benefits of incredibly talented young adult ministers, especially in faith communities that don’t have the personnel or resources to direct the ministry,” said Tooke. He also said the Missoula deanery parishes have indicated interest in sharing resources for deanery events, which would work well with this model. In this transition year, Bartleson and Tooke will be touring the Conrad and Missoula deaneries to look at housing options for the deanery teams. Tooke said that faith communities will incur no additional costs for having teams living and serving in their deaneries.

“Conversations with pastors about the deanery teams is really what 2010-11 is all about,” Tooke said.

Editor: Look for an exclusive interview with Reach Youth Ministry Director Dan Bartleson in a future issue of The Montana Catholic.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 8, August 20, 2010.