Cindee Case receives National Youth Ministry Award

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Cindee Case, director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Youngstown, was selected by the board of directors of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) to receive the National Youth Ministry Award.

This award is given to a person who has made a significant contribution in youth ministry on a national level and who has influenced the national church on behalf of the young church and/or those who serve in youth ministry.

The recipients must be recognized at the international, national, regional, or diocesan level for their contributions to the field of youth ministry or to work with youth. Their life and their work should reflect and support the ideals established in A Vision of Youth Ministry (USCCB, 1976) and Renewing the Vision (USCCB, 1997). Case was nominated by her colleagues in Region VI (Ohio and Michigan), with letters of support from other leaders around the county.

She came to Youngstown in February 2002 after having worked in the Archdiocese of Atlanta as director of young adult ministry, the Diocese of St. Augustine as director of youth and young adult ministries, and the Diocese of Cleveland as a youth ministry specialist in the CYO Offices in Cleveland, Elyria and Akron. She was a parish youth minister at Holy Family in Stow for four years, and on the youth ministry team at St. Patrick Parish as a college student at Kent State University.

Casee earned a master of pastoral studies degree from Loyola University of New Orleans, and Center for Ministry Development Certificates in Youth Ministry Studies and in Ministry with Young Adults.

Through the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Case works with parishes in the diocese toward better engagement with and outreach to high school teens and young adults. The office provides periodic training workshops, classes and networking sessions to assist adults serving in these ministries, as well as administers programs such as the recent Diocesan Youth Convention, the summer young adult pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, and the biennial National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis.

The award was presented Thursday during the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry in San Jose, Calif.