- National Catholic Youth Conference
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"NCYC" redirects here. For the Australian Uniting Church convention, see National Christian Youth Convention.
The National Catholic Youth Conference, frequently referred to as NCYC, is a three day event for Roman Catholic youth. NCYC is held in U.S. cities every two years and organized in part by the host diocese of the city. The conference is organized by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM). During the conference, there is music, prayer, workshops, liturgy, and opportunities to participate in the Sacrament of Penance (Catholic Church), otherwise known as Reconciliation or Confession.
There are also concerts, dances, and a comedy club at NCYC. The thematic park is an area set up with interactive educational and recreational activities, as well as traditional exhibits and vendor booths in what is known as the "thematic park".
The nature of the NCYC conference requires large indoor facilities for a conference. The Nationwide Arena was used in conjunction with the Columbus Convention Center at the 2007 NCYC, where the 20,000 seat arena space was used for general sessions and participants walked to the convention center for breakout sessions including workshops and larger concurrent sessions. At the 2009 conference, the general session was duplicated via live video stream to the Grand Ballroom of the Kansas City Convention Center for overflow purposes. There were over 5,000 in overflow seating as the Sprint Center seated only 19,000. NCYC does not use club-level seats in participating arenas, lowering the optimum seating capacity, but floor seats are available on a first come, first serve basis.
History
NCYC began in 1983 as a regional conference, with one session for the east coast and one session for the west coast. The regional conferences had a few thousand youth in attendance. NCYC was merged into a national conference in 1991 and interest in the conference began to grow. The conference now attracts over 20,000 youth and adults for three days of worship, music, and fun.[1]
Year Attendance Host City Theme 2011 TBD Indianapolis, Indiana Called to Glory 2009 23,000 Kansas City, Missouri Christ Reigns 2007 20,000 Columbus, Ohio Discover the Way 2005 22,000 Atlanta, Georgia Winds of Change 2003 22,000 Houston, Texas River of Life 2001 25,000 Indianapolis, Indiana Hope at the Crossroads 1999 22,400 St. Louis, Missouri Gateway@st.louis.ncyc99 1997 17,500 Kansas City, Missouri Take it to Heart 1995 11,000 Minneapolis, Minnesota Voices that Challenge 1993 9,000 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Let the Spirit Ring 1991 7,200 Indianapolis, Indiana 1989 5,800 Louisville, Kentucky/Denver, Colorado Come and See 1987 5,000 Portland, Oregon/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1985 3,850 Phoenix, Arizona/Biloxi, Mississippi 1983 3,300 San Francisco, California/Washington DC References
External links
Categories:- Youth conferences
- Roman Catholic Church stubs
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