Thirteen young adults have given up their summer vacations to act as formators in the Vincentian Way. Together, they will lead groups of secondary school students in week-long service and reflection experiences at The Vincentian Youth Ministry Center in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States. The young leaders will act as mentors, prayer leaders, and teachers of Catholic Social Teaching, as they bring their younger sisters and brothers in to close contact with Christ and the economically poor.
The Vincentian LeaderworX community lives as a community for the entire summer, praying and learning from one another, and discerning their own future in the service of the poor in the Vincentian Family. Seven women and six men between the ages of 21 and 29 are presently finishing their 8-day formation period before the arrival of the first group of high school students on June 18. They have been sharing meals and conversation with the local community of the Congregation of the Mission, while they develop their teaching and leadership skills, learn about professional boundaries with the young, and form bonds with one another that will sustain them through a busy, hot summer of service and fun! This is one of the new initiatives at the Vincentian Centers in Princeton designed to promote the Vincentian vocation as that of “missionary formator” and evangelizer, as well as servant of the poor.
