Nature of the Commission

1. Advocate: The youth commission’s primary focus is to advocate for youth and young families within parish communities across the eparchy.
2. Visionary: The youth commission is meant to be visionaries for the evangelization of youth throughout the eparchy.
3. Consultative: It is a consultative body with people skilled in youth ministry and outreach who offer advice and discuss how to address the needs of youth and young families. 
4. Collaborative: The Youth Commission, through the Youth Ministry Director, collaborates with the parish youth ministers in order to put their visionary ideas into action.

Membership

1. Constituents: The youth commission should consist of the Bishop and twelve other members. Four of these members must include the Vicar, the Spiritual Advisor for Eparchial Youth Ministry, the Director of Youth Ministry and the Director of Catechesis. The remaining eight positions are to be filled by young adults, young parents and youth ministry professionals who have extensive and diverse backgrounds in youth and youth ministry. Every effort should be made to have representatives from different parishes and districts.  
2. Appointment: The members are to be reviewed and appointed by the Bishop via recommendation from the Director of Youth Ministry and parish pastors.
3. Term: The term for youth commission members lasts two years. Upon the completion of their two-year term, a letter of appointment will be sent out for another term upon recommendation from the youth minister and vicar. 

Responsibilities

Primary Purpose: The primary focus of the youth commission is to uphold the vision of the eparchial youth ministry office, that “that young people in our Eparchy experience the joy of being alive in Christ”. 

1. Youth Ministry Visioning
   1. Engage in visioning for youth evangelization that is proactive in regard to cultural shifts and youth issues.
   2. Embrace a culture of change and encourage the exploration of ways to meet the spiritual needs of youth and young families. 
2. Youth Evangelization Fund Review
   1. The youth commission reviews the applications to the youth evangelization fund each year.
   2. They also ensure that the projects have been completed and the follow up reports have been submitted.
3. Meeting Attendance
   1. Members are expected to make every effort to attend all meetings. If they are not in attendance at a voting meeting, they must assign another member as their proxy.

Commission Administration

The commission will meet approximately seven times per year. One meeting will be an approval meeting for E-fund applications, another for a review of the E-fund follow-up reports from the previous year. Two meetings, one in the spring and one in the fall, will be meant for an update on the eparchial youth ministry office tasks and projects. Two meetings, one in the fall and one in the spring, will be working meetings to discuss the vision for youth ministry in the eparchy and what active steps the commission would like to see happen. One meeting will be for discussion with the youth ministers working group to receive updates and offer support for parish youth ministry. 

Meeting minutes will be written and distributed to all commission members. A quorum at the commission’s meetings will consist of no fewer than 7 members. All members have voting privileges.

 The youth commission will elect three to four officers:

1. Chair: Responsible for setting the meeting agenda and facilitating meetings.
2. Vice Chair: Responsible for setting the meeting date and confirming attendance.
3. Secretary: One or two members who will record meeting minutes and email them to all members after the meeting.