7th-9th Graders who are either in public school or are homeschooled are invited to enroll in our Religious Education Program, to supplement the formation they are receiving with their parents at home.
MIDDLE SCHOOLERS curriculum will be closely following the series called Theology of the Body for Teens by Ascension Press (a look at the teachings of St. John Paul II on human dignity, sexuality, and ethics) and then a unit on Prayer, developed by Thane and Pat Belen. (The curricula follow a two-year cycle: 20/21-year Theology of the Body and Prayer, next year 21/22, Altaration from Ascension Press (an in depth look at the Mass) and Seven Deadly Sins, Seven Lively Virtues from Bishop Barron). The 7th-8th grade classes meet most Sunday evenings from 6:00-7:30pm in the Church Fellowship Hall. Opportunities are planned for the middle schoolers to meet with the Youth Group on selected Sundays throughout the year.
9TH GRADERS go through a series called Chosen, specifically designed to prepare them for the Sacrament of Confirmation. We will be meeting once per month, from 9:45-10:45 am in the Fellowship Hall (the first Sunday of each month, except for April where we will meet the second Sunday). Students will also be included as members of our high school Youth Group where they will receive continued formation and enjoy fellowship with fellow high schoolers (meet every Sunday from 6-8pm in the Siena room).
(Important to note: prior attendance in 8th Grade Religious Education or Catholic Schooling and current enrollment in 9th grade RE is required for receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation.)
"A means of evangelization that must not be neglected is that of catechetical instruction. The intelligence, especially that of children and young people, needs to learn through systematic religious instruction the fundamental teachings, the living content of the truth which God has wished to convey to us and which the Church has sought to express in an ever richer fashion during the course of her long history. No one will deny that this instruction must be given to form patterns of Christian living and not to remain only notional." (Pope St. Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 44)