High School

Our High school Christian Formation program is for those young people in grades 9th & 10th. We have small groups on Sunday and Wednesday evenings (every other week). Our program uses a series from St. Mary's Press, Horizons. All course studies use prayer and Scripture as an essential component to the programming. We mix the grades together to foster a sense of larger community. Our goal is to have classes of 12 young people (or less). We run two sessions each year so that over a 2 year period each young person will have had all the topics in our program.

Service is key to our programming. The young people are asked to do 10 hours of service in both their 9th and 10th grade years (20 total). We give many ideas for this service in our Service Book, or they may contact the Youth Ministry office for additional assistance.

Our topics are:

1. Jesus His Message and Mission, Deciding as a Christian, and Challenges of Christian Spirituality.

2. Growing in Age Wisdom and Grace, Paul the Man and the Message, and Justice Building God's Reign.

High School Goals

Deciding as a Christian

That the young people identify and explore moral situations that they encounter personally and that exist in contemporary society.
That they apply the principles of Christian morality and the process of making moral decisions to some of the moral situations they have identified and explored.
That they understand the faith response-from the Scriptures and from Catholic teaching-to the moral situations they have identified and explored.

Challenges of Christian Spirituality

That the young people recognize their own needs and see religious practice as a way of fulfilling human need.
That they understand that New Age practices are and how they can appeal to basic human needs.
That they acquire discernment skills for assessing what is healthy and what is unhealthy among New Age practices.
That they grow healthier in their own religious practice.

Jesus His Message and Mission

That the young people hear the story of Jesus-his life, work and message-and begin to develop a personal response appropriate to their age and stage of development.
That they explore their past, current, and preferred images of Jesus and understandings of the church.
That they grow in their understanding of the essential message of Jesus Christ.

Paul the Man and the Message

That they young people appreciate Saint Paul's life and ministry.
That they understand the form and intent of an epistle.
That they become familiar with the major themes and key passages of the Pauline epistles.
That they develop a deeper understanding of Salvation and grace.
That they come to value Paul's writing as a personal source of prayer and motivation to live the Christian life.

Justice: Building God's Reign

That young people develop a personal understanding of justice that is rooted in faith.
That they understand that justice requires their thoughtful action.
That they feel they have the power to make a difference for justice in the world.
That they value the Scriptures and prayer as sources of power and inspiration for social action.
That they are aware of and appreciative of Catholic social teaching as a guide for social action.

Growing in Wisdom, Age, and Grace

That the young people review the characteristics and challenges of adolescent development and explore the personal implication of the process.
That they examine the effect of contemporary culture on personal growth and development.
That they understand the basic dynamics of relationships and recognize the general patterns of various relationships.
That they begin to distinguish between personal faith and communal religion and reflect on their changing experience of both.

For more information please contact;
Barb Gawlik, Director of Youth Ministry
Julie Dennert, Youth Ministry Assoicate

	1.	Jesus His Message and Mission, Deciding as a Christian, and Challenges of Christian Spirituality.
	2.	Growing in Age Wisdom and Grace, Paul the Man and the Message, and Justice Building God's Reign.