Now I am embarrassed to admit this but all I really knew about Joliet was that the Blues Brothers were in jail there. (If you don’t get that reference you really are too young!)

(above = Elwood and Jake, the Blues Brothers…”we’re on a mission from God!”)

This was a great event, especially in terms of its organization and its energy. There were over 700 people there…and remember it is a LEADERSHIP conference. Paul Mach, diocesan associate for youth ministry for the diocese, told me if he opened it up to all the teens from the parishes, the event would be huge.

This event has a good history and you could feel that excellence is a value for these fine folks. The welcome given by the young adult and teen staffers was awesome—imagine walking through(or if you’re like me in a Michael Jordan mood, running through a “tunnel of people all clapping for you and high fiving you as you entered the building! That happened to me AND every other participant—ALL weekend! Sweet!

I saw tons of really neat tee shirts. I took a pciture of this one…it made me smile for whatever reason.

(Jesus rocks!)

The conference was held at Lewis University in Romeoville, IL. Love the name of that town. It’s a great university run by the Christian Brothers. Very impressive place. Oh, and Romeoville is right outside of Joliet. Romeo and Joliet. (If you don’t get that reference, consult Bill Shakespeare.)

I got to hear a great speaker, Ben Glenn, from Indianapolis, who was funny, gives a great witness and uses chalk art and media to make a really spirited presentation to teens. He was awesome. I hated speaking after him! If you’re interested in learning more about Ben, check out his website.

The house band was phenomenal. Their leader, Noel, came out dressed in a hamburger outfit–that should have been my first clue this was gonna be something special! It was. There were some 30 teens or so…the musicianship was good and the vocals were really good. They did some of my favorite songs in harmony—muy cool. But what really struck me was the JOY with which they “got after it”…especially the guys. I don’t think I have ever seen a group of guys singing like that—with such energy and NOT trying to show off. They were just singing for the JOY of the Lord. That house band rocked. In the words of an old Robin Williams skit, they were “fult tilt bozo!” That’s a compliment!

(HALF of the house band..it was awesome!)

I was so impressed with the dedication of the 30 or so adult leaders who were part of the conference planning team. They really had their act together. The logistics were about as smooth as any conference I have attended or worked. I only got a few names while there but I was impressed with conference coordinator Mike Kuhn, and key leaders Brian Topping (from the Religious Education office), Marta, Marj (my favorite liturgist), Lisa and Casey Ross (Casey used to work with Cultivation Ministries!) and Lisa’s dad (who kept the multi-media stuff running as well as stocking the snack bin with Tootsie Rolls, thereby becoming one of my favorite people.)

Paul Mach is in his first year in the diocese of Joliet though he has served in Seattle and Spokane as well. He’s fun to be with and he is blessed with a lot of great people to work with, including his bishop, Bishop J. Peter Sartain. He was in Little Rock before coming to Joliet.

The theme for the weekend was “Have No Fear! Our Shepherd is Near!” There were teen witnesses and breakout sessions and a real spirit of openness throughout the weekend. I do believe the Shepherd was very near.

I was thrilled to be a part of this top notch event.