Ss. Robert and William Catholic Parish Support LifeTeen and Edge Programs
This past year, St John of the Cross and Ss. Robert and William combined youth programs to develop one ministry. I want to share with you our mission, what we have done over the past year and what we are planning for the future.
Life Teen and EDGE are international programs that have one goal. To lead teens closer to Christ. It is about giving teens, from all backgrounds, the opportunity to encounter Christ in a personal way. Life Teen itself has been around for almost 30 years and it continues to adapt to meet teens where they are at while still holding true to the Gospel message. Euclid Life Teen and EDGE share that same goal. We are trying to meet teens where they are at, enter into their world and bring Christ to them. We want them to begin to have a personal relationship with Christ through the various retreats, conferences, bible studies, meetings, etc. The hope is that teens start to make the time to develop this relationship on their own and bring Christ to those in their schools, their families and the community.
The past year has been quite fruitful. Life Teen saw many new faces and has been tweaking the things done in the past so that we can make things as fruitful as possible for the teens. One of the new things we started this past year is a thing called Dead Theologians Society (DTS). It starts with the evening Mass at SJOC and then take a trip back in time and gather in candle light and Gregorian chant and learn about a different saint each week. Another new thing we started is called Living Stones. This is our discernment group for those that are open to the possibility that God might be calling them to Priesthood or Religious Life.
EDGE is our ministry for 7th and 8th graders. The Lord is blessing it and it has become quite popular. We started the beginning of the year going every other week and by January we had EDGE Nights every single week. I know for me personally, it has been a great source of inspiration. To see middle school teens starting to dive into their faith and enjoy things such as adoration is an amazing thing. This year we will be hosting our EDGE Nights at SJOC on Tuesdays from 7-845 in the new youth space. We have also added EDGE hangouts from 3-430 on Thursdays to give them some social time.
The theme and focus for Life Teen and EDGE this next year is Inspire[d]. We will be looking to the people of the Bible to be inspired and in turn we go out and inspire others. We kicked off EDGE this year with a Messtival. We had a series of races and challenges containing ketchup, pudding, fluff and so much more. Life Teen kicked off with a Tail Gate party full of food, games and a water balloon launch across the parking lot.
If you have questions or want to get involved in any way, contact Chris Kelley at 216-731-1515.