Create a winning biography and win one of the following exciting prizes in your age category:
- brand new ‘ipod touch’
- brand new ‘ipod nano’
- gift vouchers
There are two age categories:
- 11 – 14
- 15 – 18
Task is to interview a religious sister, brother or priest and create a biography in any medium of your choice i.e. written, video diary, Powerpoint etc.
How to locate a religious community
Using the Diocesan web pages you can find addresses of convents and communities of religious in your area, year book, parish newsletters, ask your local parish. You should be able to find contact information for your local diocese on the following web-page: Catholic Church — List of English and Welsh Dioceses. Another place to look is the links to religious orders page on this site.
Once you have identified a community, contact them to make an appointment, so that you can arrange a suitable time for visiting and interviewing them.
The following are some suggested questions that might help you gather useful information.
- What made you first think about being a religious?
- How is your congregation different from others?
- What do you spend your time doing?
- What work have you done over the years?
- What do the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience mean to you?
- What has made you happiest during your life as a religious?
- What is the scariest thing that has happened to you as a religious?
What other things would you be interested in finding out?
We recommend that you take some time prior to the meeting to think about the things you personally would like to find out. You may find it helpful to give some thought to the medium that you want to use in your presentation as this may impact on the way you ask your questions.
Remember that the person that has agreed to meet you is to be respected and may not feel comfortable answering all your questions.
Having conducted the interview and gathered your information you are then able to create your presentation.
The results of the voting will be announced at the closing Mass of the Vocation Expo on the 3rd May 2009.
Entries must be submitted by 31st March with a completed entry form to “Religious Biography Competition”, Botwell House, Botwell Lane, Hayes, Middx. UB3 2AB. Entry forms can be downloaded here.
Assessment Process
- Stage one: All entries will be reviewed by a panel of religious who will select entries that are engaging and informative.
- Stage two: The entries selected by the panel in stage one will be on display during the Vocation Expo. Attendants at the Expo will have the opportunity of voting for the best entries in each category.
- Stage three: The winning entries will be published on Facebook and Bebo.
Poster
You can download a poster about this competition, which you might like to pin it on the notice board at your school, church or community centre. Please click here to download the poster, which is currently available in Microsoft Publisher format. Please note that the poster is 3MB in size and may take some time to download, depending on the speed of your Internet connection.
Entry Form
Please click here to download an entry form.
Facebook and Bebo
A Facebook group has been created to publicise the competition and the Vocation Expo three day event. It is also hoped that entries to the competition can be received via this Facebook group and that the winning entries will be publicised on the group. The Group is closed, moderated to ensure age appropriate content and filtered to remove inappropriate content. To join the group:
- Log on to Facebook – or create a user account if you haven’t used Facebook before!
- Search for the “Vocation Expo” group.
- Click on “Request to Join”.
- The admin will then approve your request to join the group. Enjoy!
A Bebo group has similarly been created, again the group name is “Vocation Expo”. Please use either or both groups as you see fit.