Below are the answers to some frequently asked questions.

The goal of Youth Ministry at St. John the Evangelist is to foster in each student a personal and living relationship with Christ and His Church. In pursuit of this goal, St. John strives to integrate students grades 6-12 into the life of the St. John Parish, the Lawrence community, and the greater global community. This is accomplished through a three-pronged programming model focusing on spiritual growth, social awareness, and service opportunities. During the middle school years, that means giving the students a place to play and serve and rest in Jesus. During a student’s high school years, that means taking the students to a deeper level, to a level of discipleship, teaching and giving them the tools to become disciples of Christ through prayer, discernment, and generosity.

As mentioned above, we try to provide opportunities that are spiritual, social, and service-oriented. Many of these events will take place during the youth nights, but several special opportunities (social gatherings, football games, service projects, bowling) are available for students and their growth as individuals.

St. John Youth Ministry programming is for 6-12 grade students in the Lawrence community. St. John programs for two “groups” of students, middle school students in the 6-8 grades and high school students in the 9-12 grades. Students of all faiths and backgrounds are invited to participate with the knowledge that our program is centered around the practice of the Catholic sacraments and the teachings of the Church.

Of course! All are welcome at St. John. There may be differing fees attached to certain events, as some events and transportation are supplemented monetarily by St. John parishioners and parishioner pledges. Please contact the Youth Minister if you are interested in getting involved and are from another Parish or faith community.

Middle school students (this includes confirmation students) meet on Wednesday evenings for THE ROCK from 7:00-8:30pm. We will begin in the Bosco Room (located in the lower level of St. John School), and use of the St. John School Gym and classrooms. These evenings will deliver fun, fellowship and catechesis, helping students to form a firm base of knowledge about their faith. Middle school programming also includes many social events, overnight retreats and service oportunities throughout the semester, engaging the three pillars of our youth ministry program.

The high school program is made up of several different components. Students grades 9-12 meet each month for a social event (with some catechesis delivered); this is the evangelical arm of our ministry. The second component of our ministry is our discipleship groups. These groups meet at various locations at various times throughout the week. Students come together with two adult facilitators to share food and fellowship as well as talk about faith in the context of their daily lives, giving students the tools needed to create positive change in their parish and community. For this component we use the YDISCIPLE PROGRAM (insert hyperlink here). The third component consists of prayer. Reservoir adoration sessions are offered twice a month on Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:30pm for students to grow in lives of prayer. Finally, the fourth component gives students multiple opportunities per semester to help others through efforts of social justice.

Check out the “Volunteer” section of the website to learn about volunteering with one of our core teams. All volunteers must fill out the forms on that page as well as attend a certified Virtus training in order to work with the youth. We look forward to working with you in passing on the faith to the youth. See you soon!

This means that once things are rolling for the school year, small discipleship groups meet with their core team leader every two weeks for two hours. This requires a signed commitment form from the students, just like any sport/school activity. This gives our ministry an opportunity to better meet the needs of the individual students of our Parish by ministering as Jesus did (James, John and Peter were his closest homeboys). Ministry bears much more fruit in this way.

We strongly encourage this formation experience for your teens. Our leaders are passionate, dynamic and full of the love of Christ. There is also a parent component to the program—after each small group meeting you will receive a parent sheet with the information covered that helps you to dialogue with your students about faith and life. One parent says, “[my student] and I have had the chance to discuss things that I have never thought about bringing up before.” This holistic approach to faith formation helps you as a parent to catechize and support your student in their faith journey.

Freshman students should attend the Jump Start program mentioned above. Sophomore, junior and senior students attend the Back to School Bash where we will discuss the “next steps” in getting into a small group. If your student misses these two opening opportunities, just contact the youth minister and we will work with your student to get them involved!

Check out the “Volunteer” section of the website to learn about volunteering with one of our core teams. All volunteers must fill out the forms on that page as well as attend a certified Virtus training in order to work with the youth. We look forward to working with you in passing on the faith to the youth. See you soon!