The Millennial Milestones Project is an initiative that will offer training, resources and parish grants to strengthen young adult ministry.

It began with the Millennial Milestones Conference in January 2010 at Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora. Clergy and parish leaders of faith formation, young adult ministry, baptismal & marriage preparation, attended this conference to gain knowledge and tools to create solutions within parish life that will help them connect with young adult Catholics. 

After the conference, parishes were encouraged to apply for grant funding through the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo to craft a new initiative in young adult ministry related to one of five key milestones in the lives of young adults:

• post-Confirmation
• the college experience
• adult Confirmation
• marriage preparation
• infant baptism

Staff from the Departments of Lifelong Faith Formation and Youth & Young Adult Ministry will provide resources and support for parish leaders as they develop their project plans and throughout the entire project.

Leaders from parishes that wished to apply for grant funding attended a Pre-Application Seminar in March 2010 at Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora.  Parish leaders had the opportunity to network with other parishes working on the same Millennial Milestone, and received information that helped  finalize grant applications.

Phase II of the project includes a Project Planning Clinic to be held on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Lakeview, NY.  The clinic promises to give parish teams assessment and evaluation methods to carry this project to its succesful completion.  For more information about the clinic please click here. 

Timeline

• January 19 & 20, 2010       Millennial Milestones Conference at Christ the King Seminary*
• March 16, 2010                  Grant Pre-Application Seminar at Christ the King Seminary*
• March 31, 2010                  Deadline for grant applications
• June 1, 2010                      Grant notification by the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo
• June 2010 - June 2011       Parish consultations, networking events; seminars; and non-gathered opportunities for parish sharing
• Fall 2010                            Diocesan-sponsored event to provide on-going training, open to all parishes
• Spring 2011                       Diocesan-sponsored event for on-going training, open to all parishes
• August 2011                      Evaluation event for funded parishes and sharing with all parishes

*Attendance is required for all grant applicants.

Questions?  Contact Mary Beth Coates or Kathy Goller.