Welcome to Youth Ministry at St. Mary!

Welcome to Youth Ministry at St. Mary!


Permission Slips

CYM Registration 2023-2024

Kings Dominion Day 2023


 

Youth Ministry Office 540-373-6491 • 540-371-0251 (fax)

 Tatiana Beltran: tbeltran@stmaryfred.org

Catherine Espiritu: cespiritu@stmaryfred.org

 


If you have never been part of a Youth Ministry program, I hope that this information will help you to understand what our mission, vision and goals are for our program.

Mission: Evangelization

Our primary mission as a Youth Ministry program is to bring young people into an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church. We believe that lives are transformed when young people are invited to encounter, connect and grow in their relationship with God. Evangelization is the road that we are traveling on and the means by which this mission is fulfilled. As Fr. Bob Berdard, C.C. puts it, “Evangelization is the process whereby a person hears the gospel, embraces it fully, makes Jesus Lord of his life and gets involved in a lively intimate and ongoing relationship with Him.” Our mission as a Youth Ministry program is to introduce young people to the Word of God and the traditions of His Holy Church so that this relationship can blossom.

Vision: Relational Ministry

If evangelization is the road we are traveling on, then Relational Ministry is the vehicle that we travel this road with. We believe that we must be deeply connected in the lives of young people by being present and available to them. By establishing relationships based on faith, hope and love young people will share their joys, hopes, love, pains and sorrows with adults who deeply care for them and that will guide them through the messiness of life. This model is the model Jesus utilized with his disciples, which is commonly referred to as Relational Ministry.

How do we make this happen?

If evangelization is the road we are traveling on, and Relational Ministry is the vehicle we are traveling this road with, then these next three goals are the map leading us to our destination. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has asked for Youth Ministry in the U.S. to focus on the following goals:

  1. To empower young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today.
  2. To draw young people to responsible participation in the life, mission and work of the Catholic faith community.
  3. To foster the total personal and spiritual growth of each young person.

At St. Mary’s we support these goals as well as incorporate them into our program.