Pastorate 20 Teaming Up for Faith Formation

Our Pastorate 20 faith formation team includes Melissa Coleman, Coordinator of Religious Education for families with children in grades preK-5 and Steve Davies, Coordinator of Middle and High School Youth Ministry. We have worked hard this summer preparing programming at both St. Andrew and St. Maria Goretti sites. We are looking forward to implementing the family catechesis program this year to the St. Christopher families and bringing new middle and high school youth ministries to the St. Maria Goretti families.

Family Catechesis

Teaching is what parents do naturally, just as learning from parents is what children do naturally. Through our Family Catechesis program, parents will be given all the knowledge and tools to educate their children. As families grow in their faith together, the children will be learning not only from the activities they do, but from the example and witness of their parents. This witness is something they cannot get in any classroom, no matter how good that classroom is.

Our focus this year is on prayer. Jesus is the heart of a Catholic home and a very important and special part of that relationship with Him is prayer. We will dive into the whys, hows, and whats of prayer. Families will meet once a month and be given an action plan to teach and grow the faith in their home.

Middle and High School Youth Ministry

We are offering identical Youth Ministry programming at St. Maria Goretti on Sunday nights and at St. Andrew on Wednesday nights. Families can select either location during registration, however, we ask that families regularly attend the location they select.

This year, our Middle School program will focus on the Commandments and Sacraments with several Saints Alive! presentations. Our High School program will meet many new saints in the Dead Theologians Society. Students in grade 9+ who will be preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation will have their sacramental preparation classes during several of the regular youth ministry nights. Students who are already Confirmed will have a small group Bible study during that time. And we can’t forget the ever-popular Activity Nights!

All in all, it is shaping up to be another great year to encounter Christ as well as build a strong community. We look forward to growing in holiness with our families.

“The ministry of evangelization carried out by Christian parents is original and irreplaceable. It issues the characteristics typical of family life itself, which should be interwoven with love, simplicity, practicality and daily witness.” - Pope St. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio