St. Mary/St. John Youth Ministry Program
The US Council of Catholic Bishops have identified eight essential components needed to have an effective Youth Ministry program. The components are Advocacy, Catechesis, Community life, Evangelization, Justice & Serive, Leadership, Pastoral care and Prayer & Worship.
No Youth Ministry program is complete if it only offers some of the components. It is the integrating of all these experiences that make for a complete program.
Youth Ministry at St. Mary/St. John is a program that enables young people (grade 6-12) to live their Christian faith. It goes beyond Faith Formation. Faith Formation is learning our faith and is one component of Youth Ministry. Youth Ministry takes what is learned in Faith Formation to the next level, it is putting our faith into practice. Involvement in Youth Ministry does not take the place of Faith Formation. Formal learning of our faith is a life long process and does not stop with the completion of a certain grade or sacrament.
