Saint Robert Bellarmine Parish

198 Haggetts Pond Road                  Andover Massachusetts 01810                   Phone 978.683.8922  

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Generations of Faith

Volunteer Opportunities

 

The task of catechesis is the responsibility of the entire parish community and it is a task whose success necessitates the sharing of many gifts. For this reason we expect participants to volunteer in some manner in the course of the year. There are volunteer opportunities for all ages—affording families a great way to engage together in service and drawing upon different talents. Whether you can only help out for half the year or the full year, there is something that needs to be done that’ll fit your schedule and your gifts.

 

To help you figure out where your gifts and time might best fit with areas of need, check out the information below and then read the summary volunteer role descriptions that follow:

 

If you are free during the day, you may be interested in helping in one of the following areas:

¨     Set up—Friday mornings (9:00-11:00) or Monday early afternoon (1:30-3:00)

¨     Home Kit assembly (Monday before festival, 9:30-11:00

¨     Material preparation

¨     Office Help

 

If you’re looking for something you can do at home, you may be interested in helping in the following areas:

¨     Material preparation

¨     Registration Team Leader

¨     Meal Shopper Team Leader

 

If you have interest or experience in doing presentations and/or facilitating group learning and/or teaching, you may be interested in helping in the following areas:

¨     Activity Leader

¨     Substitute Activity Leader

¨     Assistant Activity Leader

¨     Large Group facilitator

¨     Confirmation Preparation Catechist

¨     Reconciliation and/or Eucharist Catechist

 

If you can come early to the festival, you and your family may be interested in helping in the following areas:

¨     Registration team

¨     Meal team

¨     Breakdown Team Leader

 

If you prefer working behind the scenes, you may be interested in helping in one of the following areas:

¨     Material preparation

¨     Home Kit assembly

¨     Design team

¨     Set up—Friday mornings (8:30-10:30), Monday early afternoon (1:30-3:00), Sunday evening

¨     Meal Team

¨     Breakdown Team

¨     Meal Shopper team

¨     Meal Delivery team

 

If you can stay at the end of the festival, you and your family may be interested in helping in the following area:

¨     Breakdown team

 

If you’re creative and have experience in lesson planning you may be interested in helping in the following area:

¨     Design team

 

If you want to do something in which you can involve your children, you may be interested in helping in one of the following areas:

¨     Material preparation

¨     Registration team

¨     Meal Team

¨     Breakdown Team

¨     Meal Shopper team

¨     Meal Delivery team

¨     Name Tag team

 

If you come to the 11:00 am Mass, you and your family may be interested in helping in the following area:

¨     Sunday morning set up (begins after the 11:00 am mass has ended)

 

 

Outside Festival times:

 

Friday (morning), Sunday (after 11am Mass) &/or Monday (early afternoon) Set-up Teams: team members set up spaces where groups will meet.  Includes setting up tables and chairs, dividers, moving bins, flip charts, and other materials.  Team leaders contact team members with reminders and follow up. Daytime availability is required.

 

Home Kit Assembly team: meet the Monday before the festival weekend in the morning for about 2hrs at most to put together the home kits distributed to participants at the festivals. Monday morning availability necessary.

 

Meal Shopper team: the team leader sets and manages the schedule of shoppers and contacts the shopper assigned that month with a list of items needed for the weekend (which the meal coordinator will provide). The team member purchases the needed items at cost and submits a receipt for reimbursement. The meal shopper must be on call during the weekend in case additional quantities are needed.

 

Name Tag team: when assigned, team members re-hang the name badges alphabetically by family name. Team members must arrange for access to the hall to complete this task but the date/time are very flexible.

 

Meal Delivery Team: when assigned and needed, team members deliver the leftover food to one of the area food pantries or to the convent on River Road.

 

Office Helpers: when assigned, team members assist the office staff on the week immediately prior to the festival with photocopying, organizing and preparing material for the festival. Daytime availability is required.

 

Material Preparation Team: working from a list of materials needed for the festival (provided by the team captain a couple of weeks prior to the festival) team members prepare/purchase one or more items.  Materials may include: sample crafts, craft pieces that need to be cut or colored, paper collaged, etc. Cost of any purchases are reimbursed.

 

Design Team: responsible for preparing the festival outline of activities and learning.  Team members are assigned responsibility for planning the break out for a specific age group or festival segment and the faith formation director compiles and coordinates the overall outline.

 

During a Festival Times:

 

Activity Leader/Co-leader: facilitates the learning activities for a particular age group using the learning outline prepared by the design team.  In preparation for the festival, leaders familiarize themselves with the outline of activities and attend the Activity leader preparation meeting. All materials and handouts are prepared by other volunteers. 

 

Assistant Activity Leader: assists the activity leader at the festivals.  The assistant should be familiar with the learning outline in order to have materials out and ready for the leader and participants and in order to assist participants with the activities and concepts. 

 

Registration team: when assigned, team members arrive at least thirty minutes prior to the beginning of the festival to set up registration area.  As participants arrive, team members check people in, distributing name tags and festival material and remain at the registration area during the meal and the opening activity. Team members are responsible for enlisting a sub if they can’t make it to the festival. The registration team leader sets up the yearly schedule for their session and contacts team members with their assignments, reminders and any calendar changes.

 

Break-down team: when assigned, team members put away materials and resets areas at the end of the session, following the directions in their assignment chart (which they pick up upon arrival at the festival). Team members should plan on staying 15 minutes past festival end-time and are responsible for enlisting a sub if they can’t make it to the festival. Team leaders schedule team members for their session, send out reminders and any calendar changes, assign areas to team members, and post breakdown chart no later than 10 minutes prior to festival start time.

 

Meal Team: when assigned, team members share the following meal duties for the festivals for which they’re assigned: meal set up (setting tables and preparing the serving area), greet & seat, serve, and/or meal clean up. Team members are responsible for enlisting a sub if they can’t make it to the festival. Team captains coordinate the meal team by contacting team members, assigning meal duties, and arriving one hour prior to the start of the festival to begin meal set up.

 

Large Group Facilitator: leads large group activities/game either at the beginning and/or end of the festival using the outline prepared by the design team.

 
Copyright 1998 - 2010

St. Robert Bellarmine Parish, Andover, MA