Youth Ministry at St John’s

The community of St John’s is dedicated to providing quality spiritual leadership for our young people. We hope this cheat-sheet is useful in explaining the basic outline of what we currently offer in terms of opportnities for Youth Ministry.

If you have any questions or want to know more, please contact Cait Black by calling the church office (456-1102) or emailing her at cait@stjohnsross.org.

EAGLES: 7th and 8th Grade

1. Junior High youth group: EAGLES meets every Wednesday at 7pm in the Youth Room (unless otherwise noted)

2. Sunday mornings we gather at the beginning of the 10am service for discussions around spiritual and religious topics such as prayer and Bible stories and how they relate to our lives.

3. Rite of passage: Rite 13 (end of school year)

4. Periodic mini-retreat and service opportunities

5. Summer mission trip (to Rapid City, SD June 20 to 25,
2010 -- see below for more details)

6. Sunday liturgical service, either as acolytes, readers, or in the 9am Family service

YOOTH GROOP: 9th through 12th Grade

1. High School Yooth Groop: Grades 9–12, meet every Sunday at 6pm in the Youth Room (unless otherwise noted)

2. Sunday mornings we gather at the beginning of the 10am service for discussions around spiritual and religious topics such as prayer and Bible stories and how they relate to our lives.

3. Periodic mini-retreat and service opportunities

4. Summer mission trip (Pine Ridge Reservation, SD June 13 to 18, 2010 -- see below for more details)

5. Sunday liturgical service, either as acolytes, readers, or in the 9am Family service

A note from Cait regarding curriculum and
preparation for Confirmation:
After many years of looking through curricula trying to find the best or newest or most relevant, what I have concluded is that no curriculum in and of itself is sufficient without great attention to the community within which it is going to be used. That being said, we will retain the Confirm not Conform (CnC) curriculum, but in modified form. Additionally we will utilize the Journey to Adulthood (J2A) resources with which I am highly familiar. We intend to use these programs together as a faith formation curriculum for students in 7th through 12th grades, primarily on Sunday mornings. By doing this, we are able to retain all the things about CnC that make it meaningful, theological reflection, exploration of Church history, relationship with mentors, emphasis on agency and moral choice-making, and augment this with additional resources as found in the J2A materials. I find we must be able to respond with flexibly to the demands of busy lives, and the different ways by which individuals are called to make the commitment found in the rite of Confirmation.

As far as Confirmation goes, St John’s will join the rest of the Diocese at the Cathedral and participate in the rite at the invitation of our Bishop. Confirmation prep would be a four- to six-week curriculum designed and led by clergy and adult mentors, and would be inclusive of all people in the congregation who are seeking confirmation, reception, or reaffirmation of Baptismal vows.

Annual Service and Learning Trip:
Two trips in 2010 open to YOOTH GROOP and EAGLES.

For one week, Yooth Groop (June 13 to 18, 2010) and the following week EAGLES (June 20 to 25, 2010) who wish to will embark on a Service and Learning Trip, similar to the trip made to New Orleans last summer.

Teens will travel with non-parent adult chaperones, and engage in volunteering in a host community as well as a program of personal, communal and spiritual reflection based on their experiences.

Participation in the mission trip is dependent upon participation in youth group over the course of the year preceding the mission trip. This participation would include fundraising efforts around which the youth have already started brainstorming.

For further Information, please contact
Cait Black by calling (456-1102) or emailing cait@stjohnsross.org.

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