Jesus, Archbishop John Nienstedt, and almost 2,000 of the “greatest people in the world” were “stranded” on an island Sept. 15 for a day of worship, learning and celebration.continue at The Catholic Spirit
No, it wasn’t a new reality TV show — rather, it was the archbishop’s perfect description of the first annual Archdiocesan Youth Day at DeLaSalle High School, located on Nicollet Island in Minneapolis.
Archbishop Nienstedt welcomed the contingent of high school-aged Catholics from across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to rediscover and share their “reason for hope” — Jesus Christ.
Over the course of the seven-hour celebration of faith, young Catholics listened to several dynamic speakers, attended Mass with Archbishop Nienstedt, received the sacrament of reconciliation, enjoyed uplifting music by Sonar, and honored Jesus’ presence during a candlelit adoration procession.
... I'll never understand why they don't just do these events in churches. The Cathedral's capacity is 3,500.
2 comments:
Speaking as someone who has coordinated many of these type events, allow me please to share some insights to the question you've raised.
The first reason is that often there are not churches big enough. Admittedly, in the case you've given if the space really does seat 3,500 (I've been in the cathedral but do not know its capacity) then this particular concern would be a non-issue. However, for many of these events they really don't have a church that fits them.
The second reason is the speakers themselves. Many of them move around often and/or use audio-visual equipment that would be difficult to facilitate well in a church setting, especially in a more traditional church setting.
Thirdly there is the concern of the appropriateness of certain types of music for certain venues. While one can take the tangent from this issue of the appropriateness of certain songs to begin with (this is a necessary discussion), I think for the sake of this discussion at hand, the focus should remain venue-driven. For much of the style of Christian music that SONAR plays it would not be appropriate in the cathedral aesthetically, nor just from a practical sense would it likely even be possible based on the design of the acoustics in a place like the cathedral. A good example would be the ARISE events in Milwaukee that you referenced in a recent article. The song selection and the instrumentation for the ARISE band is quite different when they play at the St. Josaphat Basilica versus a suburban parish, for aesthetic appropriateness and for practical acoustics.
The final reason off the top of my head is often the additional facilities available. Often a place like a cathedral cannot easily handle facilitating feeding 2,000+ teenagers and keep the schedule running smoothly, or can it facilitate huge rushes for a large-group bathroom break. There are often also issues concerning things like breakout sessions, expo booths, large areas for confessions (many of these events bring in 15-30 priests as a time for confessions, etc.
These are just some thoughts from someone who has coordinated about a dozen of these events over the years, and participated in dozens more. I'd love to continue the conversation if anyone wants to jump in :-)
Thank you for the feedback Josh. I can understand the music issue. I just wonder how youth were evangelized before the MegaMass. I just like the time tested approach, I guess. I talked a bit more about it in this post:
http://badgercatholic.blogspot.com/2010/10/mega-mass-at-ashwaubenons-resch-center.html
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