Who We Are
High School Youth Ministry at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is open to any student in the 9th-12th grades. Our focus is on helping each person come to a better understanding of his or her own faith; centering on what it means to have a relationship with God and the Church, as well as how to encourage and develop those relationships. It is wholistic in approach: consisting of weekly Sunday Evening Gatherings, Retreats, Opportunities for Parish Involvement and Christian Service, activities with the whole Archdiocese of Baltimore, and just for fun events.
Sunday Evening GatheringsRetreatsParish InvolvementChristian Service |
Sunday Evening Gatherings are the foundation of our High School Ministry. We meet at the Church on (you guessed it) Sundays from 6:45 - 8:30pm, beginning in September and concluding prior to Easter. Students seeking the Sacrament of Confirmation are expected to regularly attend the Sunday Evening Gatherings. While our Sunday Evening Gatherings are a prerequisite of our Confirmation Preparation Process, they are open to all high school students; students do not need to be preparing for Confirmation or even Catholic in order to attend our Sunday Evening Gatherings.
Each year's Sunday Evening Gatherings are divided into three thematic sessions with a multi-week break between each session. Sessions focus on different topics, but each gathering includes Scripture and how it relates personally to the lives of the teens. Most of the evening is spent in smaller community groups comprised of a mixture of 9th - 12th graders with two adult leaders facilitating the discussion. At the end of the evening, teens have an opportunity for personal prayer, reflection and journaling in front of the Blessed Sacrament. We offer two weekend-long retreats each year: one in the fall and one in the spring. Many of the teens would say that retreats are the best part of our program. We have fun, grow, share, are challenged, and learn on retreats. The transformation and conversion that we experience brings memories, faith, and challenges for a lifetime. Students seeking the Sacrament of Confirmation attend at least one of the retreats offered during their time of preparation, although they are encouraged to make as many as they'd like.
Teens have opportunities to participate in many areas of our parish community that don't necessarily gather them together as a "youth group." They can assist at Masses as ushers, lectors, altar servers, musicians, cantors and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion (once Confirmed). They may choose to serve on one of the parish's numerous committees. These opportunities assist with initiating our young people into our inter-generational parish community on a regular basis, not just for special youth functions.
Opportunities to love God by serving others abound for teens through our Second Saturday Service Half-Days, our annual Summer Mission Trip, and helping out at various parish-wide events throughout the year. Once Confirmed, teens may also invest in helping form their peers' faith through our Peer Ministry Program.
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2018-2019 Registration is OpenTeens who regularly participate in High School Ministry
are encouraged to register with us. OR
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2018-2019 High School CalendarClick on the button below to access our calendar
for the 2018-19 school year. |