T.O.R.C.H. (Texas – Oklahoma Regional Conference Houston) Core Committee Gathering – Garland, TX |

December 18th, 2011

St. Thomas Syro Malabar Diocese of Chicago & St. Joseph Syro Malabar Catholic Church of Houston

Conference Theme

Walking with God/Walk in the Light; Psalm 56:13

For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

New Conference Planning Idea

Using ideas and methods in other Syro Malabar Conferences, TORCH has done a new formatting scheme

Instead of one church taking the entire workload, we are distributing the tasks and assignments to make this conference a group effort

“To know, love, and build the church…” – DYA Mission Statement

Simple Breakdown

T.O.R.C.H. 2012 Daily Activites

Daily Activities

Wednesday

Mini Games

Focuses on

team building

ThursdayPraise Night

Embracing the

arts and faith

FridayDodgebal

l + Campfire

Having fun by sports

means and

bonding at night

Lectures

Enrich the Syro Malabar Faith

Ice Breakers

Simply to “break the ice”

Breakdown for Your Assignment

Daily Activities

WednesdayMini Games

Focuses on team building

ThursdayPraise Night

Embracing the arts and faith

FridayDodgeball +

Campfire

Having fun by sports means and bonding at night

Mini Games Night – McAllen/San Antonio/Oklahoma

Multiple 15-20 minute games that get groups to work in a fun and collective way.

Games must be religious based. Lead church must be able to have leaders

prepared explain the games Leader must also have materials ready

and extra games incase time goes by a bit too fast

Allotted time: One evening (2-3 hours) Contact: Nicole Stephen – (832) 867 7307

Praise Night - Garland

Participation is required from all churches, Praise night consists of youth groups formulating

a stage performance consisting of a religious background. This is NOT like Inter-Parish. Skits can be very modern, but must have a good lesson.

After performances, we end the night with adoration

Lead church may team up with another church to get the task completed, but no more than 2

Allotted Time: Mid-Afternoon/Evening Contact: Clement Kurian – (832) 768 7289

Praise Night (continued)

Lead Church Responsibilities Obtain registration form for each

church’s program Arrange an MC and committee to run the

function Be able to delegate tasks among church

members (such as lighting, music, schedule, etc)

Keep in contact with Houston Representative with questions and suggestions

Dodgeball – CoppellCampfire – Houston

Dodgeball tournament requires extensive planning

Lead church will coordinate campfire. Examples: music group, more group

games, a snack (i.e. Smores) Lead church may take this in a totally

different direction and change it up! Allotted time: The entire half of Friday

(lunch onwards) Contact: Geo Thayil (281) 630 8185

Side Notes: T-Shirt Contest

For this year’s T.O.R.C.H. t-shirt, we will use designs submitted from youth across the region. The best design will be selected and used as the conference official shirt. Must deal with the theme.

(Tenative) End of Design Contest Feburary 15th

(Tenative) End of voting May 1st

Due Dates for “Game Plan”

We hope to have a mock plan from each church and their topics sometime in January as we plan to launch all registration in February

Registration for Conference and all Events will open up then and close end of June

Budget plans are due with draft 1 by end of Jan

TENATIVE Information

Proposed dates: August 8th -11th

Open to 9th graders (as of Fall 2012) and up

Volunteers from outside parishes are allowed to participate in the program, but must still pay a fee. There is also a training that they must go through, along with all volunteers.

Location: Texas Baptist Encampment Approximate cost: $150-200 (all inclusive)

Staying Connected

Replying to emails will be a key in involvement of the conference.

Most of all, a facebook group will help us to communicate more effectively. Posts regarding questions, ideas, and concerns and be duly noted.

Before conference, we would like to have at least 1-2 meetings through means of video calling or conference calling

Ways to know official information

To hear about any final and official updates with the conference, please check with the facebook group and then follow the TORCH website that will be launched soon.

This will be where we announce any competitions (ie. Theme songs, promotional videos, etc.)

Thank you for participating with us to create one of

the most memorable Youth Conferences our region has

ever seen!