We are actively seeking a small group of enthusiastic, active, and caring individuals to become our religious education board. These individuals will help guide our program into what has been called the "new evangelization" of the modern day, post-Vatican II.
Pope St. John Paul II tells us that the Church calls for a new evangelization and tells us, "The 'new evangelization', which the modern world urgently needs, {...} must include among its essential elements a proclamation of the Church's social doctrine. {...} [W]e need to repeat that there can be no genuine solution of the "social question" apart from the Gospel and that the "new things" can find in the Gospel context for their correct understanding and the proper moral perspective for judgement on them." (Pope St. John Paul II, Encyclical)
Our Catechists are valued team members of our parish who have taken time to discern Christ's mission for their role and have prayerfully considered their gifts and goals as a leader. They have a uniquely beautiful mission in our parish and the opportunity to inspire a generation of Catholics. A catechists is a transmitter of the faith and a teacher of the church who puts in time, effort, and sacrifice in teaching others about the faith which they themselves love. This is more than just a "side thing" or something to do to "give back" to God or the Church, but is much deeper and more profound. A catechist is the primary source of faith education for most of the children and teenagers that attend the classes at our parish, and as such, are needed by the students, priest, parents, and the parishioners. We encourage our catechists to work on self-formation, teach the truth, and strive to connect with the students in order to set their hearts on fire for Jesus! This is the apostolic mission, but just like the apostles, catechists are not alone in this mission. The Lord is with us and has sent us his advocate, the Holy Spirit, to be with us, so that with Him, all things are possible. They must discern their mission and vocation for the parish and then come forward as a teacher of the Church, prepared to inspire the next generation to follow, love, and learn more about Him each day of their lives.
In short, our catechists are super heroes for Christ!
We have begun mentoring programs in our middle school grades. Our mentors meet with small groups, usually one mentor to three to five students, every other week, to check-in, help them make real world connections with Biblical topics, and give them the opportunity to ask tough questions in a safe space. Our mentors have received training in small group leadership, teen discipleship, generational differences, and similar topics to help them prepare for this ministry role. We lovingly call our mentors the "best of the best" because they play such a pivital role in the lives of these youth that when we began the program, we asked people who we felt would be great role models of the faith and in life.
We plan to expand this program in the future, and hope that more mentors are willing to say 'yes' to shepherding our youth to the truth during a time when the secular world is surrounding them with confusion.