Youth & Family Programs Update

Dear Families,

Peace of Christ! We hope you have had an amazing summer. As school year plans begin to unfold, we wanted to share some helpful information on the direction of Faith Formation & Sacramental Preparations for this coming year.

Several months ago we began reflecting on our current situation and recognized that we wouldn’t be able to do Faith Formation nor Sacramental Prep in the same manner as we have in the past. Considering the different comfort levels of families and volunteers, the difficulty of finding adequate space for social distancing, the busing situation for our morning classes (currently the buses aren’t willing to contract us buses, and if they do, we will have to rent 3x as many), as well as the logistics of students attending schools on different days, we realized that we would need to anticipate these obstacles and creatively pivot our programs to suit the current needs of our families. As a result, several weeks ago we began re-envisioning our programs for this coming year. We are very excited to share some of the fruit of this labor.

Faith Formation

For Faith Formation, we have developed a program that families can do at home. Please realize that this does not mean more online videos or even worksheets and chintzy crafts. The first part of our plan is to deliver a recurring box (every 4-6 weeks) full of quality materials, fun activities, and formative content for your student to grow in their faith. Each box is tailored to a student's age and level and this year will focus on prayer and learning to pray at home. On top of that we'll be distributing bonus family boxes quarterly that include activities and information to help direct parents and unify families. As we find the rhythm of school life and social distancing parameters this coming year, our next step is to offer in-person events and online touchpoints that would be safe, optional, & supplemental for young people to stay connected with the parish life. Our hope is to help cultivate social time that may be missing for our young people this year on top of providing high quality, formative materials in a safe, stimulating, and stylish way that can be offered even in the midst of ever-changing pandemic plans and procedures.

Sacramental Prep

Sacramental Preparations will also be done at home with the parents being the primary catechist for their own child. Not only will parents be provided with the necessary resources for their child’s formation, we are also committed to personally accompanying families along the way. For the children in First Penance & First Eucharist, we plan on meeting with each family individually several times through the year to check in and help in any way with this at-home formation. For Confirmation, teens will be broken into small groups of 3-5 people and have meeting times (either online or in person) as a small group to personally tailor their formation for their spiritual needs and questions. Lastly, there will be an excellent online program for parents to be edified further in their own faith as they invest and instruct their children.

We are very excited for this year and have great things in store for your family! We hope that you will join us! Please watch the mail and your inbox at the end of August for more detailed information and instructions on how to register.

In Christ,

Julie Sheridan & Steve Nepil

Directors of Faith Formation & Sacramental Prep

PS - And of course, we will still have the Household competition with House t-shirts, points, and the House Cup. More fun to come....