This session will explore the topic youth protagonism through the lens of the Youth Co-Leadership and Protagonism Initiative (YCOPI) of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Launched in 2023, YCOPI is a new project that engages parish youth and accompanying adults in a robust two-year pilot to deepen faith through a series of events and a combination of spiritual formation, catechesis, and training. The goal of YCOPI is to train intergenerational cohorts of Missionary Disciples to conceptualize, design, and lead Youth Mission Initiatives (YMIs) in their respective communities. These youth are charged with engaging peers, adults, and others in their mission-driven project setting a new ministry standard for others across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. YCOPI is a collaborative effort between the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Goodfaith, a membership organization of NFCYM. The project resulted from the desire of the Archdiocese to innovate a new paradigm for ministry with youth and Goodfaith’s vision to apply its research (“Accompanying Youth: Mapping the Path Toward Deeper Discipleship”) in diverse settings. Marisally Santiago, Director of the Office of Ministry with Youth, and Stephanie Peddicord, President of Goodfaith, have collaborated on YCOPI since its inception. This included not only the program design and implementation process, but also the funding application that made YCOPI possible – a fruitful exercise in professional accompaniment! This session will include preliminary results and observations from YCOPI, along with helpful tips for implementing something similar within other diverse contexts. Further, it will highlight the “how-tos” of effective collaboration between archdiocesan and organizational members.

Presented by: Stephanie Peddicord and Marisally Santiago