Youth Ministry
This is the area for the latest and most up-to-date information regarding Life Teen and EDGE, our high school and middle school faith formation ministries.
For information on confirmation, please click here.
Steubenville on the Bayou
February 22nd, 2012
Check out this video about the Steubenville Conference this Summer!
Details of the trip.
Who: All incoming freshmen to graduating seniors
What: Steubenville Catholic Youth Conference
When: June 15-17th
Where: Terrebone Civic Center in Houma, Louisiana
Why: Steubenville conferences provide teens with powerful ways to learn about their faith, grow in community and, most importantly, come into a real encounter with Jesus Christ.
How: We will ride a Coach Bus
Cost: $225
Sign up today on ChurchDB or by contacting the youth office at 512-328-3220 or sjnyouth@sjnaustin.org
For more information on the Conference you can go to the Steubenville on the Bayou website.
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Upcoming Events in Youth Ministry
February 6th, 2012We are very excited about two events coming up and we hope to see you there! Details are below.
Free Special Concert and Talk - Feb 12, after the 5:30 Life Teen mass, we are blessed to have Bob Lesnefsky (a.k.a.Righteous B), international Catholic speaker and Hip-Hop artist, here at St. John Neumann! It is scheduled to be a Freshmen Life Night but we want to encourage youth of all ages and their families to come to this special event. We will have a light dinner provided and the concert will follow. I hope to see y’all there! You can check out his website here.
Check out this Interview with Righteous B!
Silver Ring Thing- Silver Ring Thing- Sign up yourself, your spouse and your youth (7th-12th grade) on Church DB TODAY! The Silver Ring Thing event is being sponsored by The John Paul II Life Center and the Diocese of Austin and is coming to St. Michael’s High School on Feb 17th from 7-9pm. This FREE event is a 2 hour stage performance that incorporates high energy music, special effects, fast-paced video, personal testimonies, and comedy all delivered in a concert-style approach that tackles the subjects of love dating and chastity. The program also presents an evangelistic message focused on forgiveness and second chances with a challenge to start over from past mistakes. Students who make a commitment to purity may purchase a silver ring as a symbol and reminder of their decision. The parent’s session will meet while the youth are meeting to educate parents about what is happening in today’s youth culture and how they can encourage and support their child’s commitment to wait. For more info go to www.silverringthing.com and the youth section of the church website.
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The Silver Ring Thing
January 4th, 2012Special Event! – The Silver Ring Thing
Both parents of, and all 7th-12th grade students are encouraged to join us Feb. 17th from 7-9pm at St. Michael’s Catholic Academy for the Silver Ring Thing. This is a live event about guys, girls, dating, waiting, love, second chances and the best choices. The youth will be meeting at the same time there will be programming for the parents. This event is sponsored by the Austin Diocese and John Paul II Life Center. For more details check out www.silveringthing.com.
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Poinsettias, Camps and Retreats! Oh My!
November 8th, 2011Poinsettia Fundraiser
The high school youth of St. John Neumann are outside of all the Masses this Sunday selling beautiful poinsettias. They are also supporting SJN’s Flower Guild in “praying for the living and the dead” as they invite you to honor your loved ones this Christmas season, by purchasing a poinsettia plant for the altar. You can order some to keep and some for the altar in memory of a loved one. Their names will be published in the bulletin at Christmas. These funds will be used to help defray some costs of summer camp to Covecrest as well as help the Flower Guild with their expenses. They are all red, 6.5 in. and 10 in. pots with tons of blooms. We will take your order Sunday and you can pick them up on Dec. 12 in the church office. They are $15 and $25 each. Or you can e-mail aschuelke@sjnaustin.org to order.
DCYC
On January 20-22, we will be taking a group of high school teens to Waco, TX for the Diocesan Catholic Youth Conference featuring Jackie Francois and Ennie Hickman! If you are interested in your high school teen attending DCYC then go to ChurchDB to sign them up! Spots are going fast so sign up while there are still some open! The cost for the conference is $150. This is going to be a great weekend for the teens to grow in their faith and their relationship with Christ.
If you have any questions contact the youth office at 512.328.3220 or email us at sjnyouth@sjnaustin.org
God bless!
Confirmation Retreat – March 30 – April 1
All Freshmen and Sophomores are required to attend this retreat. Believe or not, this is good news! Why, you ask? Because this could possibly be the best weekend of their lives! So come ready to have fun, to build relationships and grow closer to God. If your teen can absolutely not attend the retreat due to a legitimate reason you need to let either Aaron or Andrew know ASAP by either calling us at 512.328.3220 or emailing us at sjnyouth@sjnaustin.org.
Covecrest – July 1-8, 2012
This summer we will be taking a bus full of High School teens to Life Teen Camp Covecrest in Tiger, Ga. At this Camp the teens will grow closer to God, and experience Him through a wide range of activities. They will come to know God to be an adventurous God through activities like High Ropes, Low Ropes and White Water Rafting. They will come to know God’s mercy and love through reconciliation, Mass and adoration. They will see the beauty of God through experiencing his creation in the hills of northern Georgia. They will come to know God to be a God desiring a relationship with them through building relationships with one another. Through listening to the host of the camp they will be challenged to live the life God is calling us all to live. These events are truly life changing and I hope that you can join us for this Epic Trip.
“Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” 2 Cor. 3:17
* To register and reserve a spot you will need to submit $100 down payment, or submit a scholarship application.
Questions? Call us at 512.328.3220 or email us at sjnyouth@sjnaustin.org
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Life Teen / Confirmation Parent Meeting Documents
September 29th, 2011If you missed the Life Teen / Confirmation parent meeting you can download all the documents here.
Life Teen/Confirmation Handbook
Guidelines for Confirmation Sponsors
The Choosing of a Christian Name
Life Teen/Confirmation Calendar
*Sponsor Registration Form and the Choosing of a Christian Name form are fillable forms that you can complete on the computer and e-mail back to sjnyouth@sjnaustin.org. To return via e-mail you can download the form, fill it out and attach it to an e-mail, or you can set up an adobe account and send the e-mial straight from the PDF after filling it out. You are also welcome to print it and fill it out by hand.
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Youth Ministry Update
September 16th, 2011“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1
September 16, 2011
Dear Parents,
The moment has arrived! We have completed the 2011-12 schedule for St. John Neumann Edge, Life Teen and Confirmation. Thank you for your patience over the last 3 weeks as we’ve finalized the schedule. We have been working hard to get this out to you and we are very excited about this year! God has great things planned for you and your teen. Here’s where we, as the youth ministry directors, are focusing our efforts:
· Following Christ and being faithful witnesses of his love, truth and mercy,
· Building and maintaining continuity in faith formation and fellowship from EDGE, to High School Life Teen, to Confirmation, and then to Life Teen as upper classmen with a leadership role
· Nurturing a solid group of adults who will be servant-leaders of your teens throughout their journey (CORE Team)
· Fostering authentic friendships and community and faith in Christ in small groups
· Walking with our young people in this process of growing in faith, prayer and virtue by developing relationships with them, having fun with them, serving with them, listening to them and helping them to discover the answers to their questions about God through dialogue and providing the trusted resources of our Church (the Bible, the Catechism, especially YOUCAT(Youth Catechism), etc.)
· Providing Edge, Life Night and Confirmation Nights that are: welcoming, engaging, fun, educational, catechetical, community-building, morally challenging, spiritually enriching
Next we will introduce you to how this will look for your young person(s) this year. Please read on!
SJN Middle School RE & EDGE Monthly Schedule
· 2 EDGE Wednesday Nights & 2 Sunday EDGE small group meetings
· Sunday meetings will meet from 4:15-5:15pm before the Life Teen Mass and EDGE nights will from 6:30-8pm on Wednesdays
· Family Dinners will be open to all people regardless of age and if you even have a family, once a month after Life Teen mass
For Middle School RE and EDGE Calendar Click Here
SJN Life Teen (9th grade RE) Confirmation Monthly Schedule
· One significant change is that 9th grade students registered for Life Teen will have specific dates throughout the year which they will be required to attend in order to begin their Confirmation year next year as sophomores. This breaks down to two Sunday evenings per month (SEE CALENDAR HERE) and one Spring Retreat, date TBA.
· Sophomores registered for Confirmation will also be required to attend specific dates; two Sunday evenings (Life Nights) a month on their designated dates (see attached schedule), and the Spring Retreat, date TBA.
· Every Sunday is always open to all high school youth! Just remember that freshmen and sophomores have specific nights they are designated to attend.
- Our Spring Retreat will be open to all high schoolers, but freshman and sophomores will attend as part of their RE/Confirmation prep.
- Family Dinners are something new to involve the whole parish family – ALL ARE WELCOME! They will happen after Life Teen mass approximately once a month. We’ll have a different theme to celebrate each month. More details to come!
- Weekly Life Teen Bible Study will begin on Teuesday September 27. More details to come
- Also new for all those who are already Confirmed we will be a forming a Peer Leadership ministry. More details to come
Thank you for working with us and allowing us to help YOU in your role to fortify your children with their Catholic faith! Also, we have a parents meeting on Sunday, September 25th for YOU and your teen, AT LEAST ONE PARENT AND YOUR TEEN(S) MUST ATTEND – we’ll see you there! Please feel free to contact the youth office with any questions.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Andrew Schuelke and Aaron Barta
(512) 328-8857 sjnyouth@sjnaustin.org
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Why are parts of the Mass Changing?
June 28th, 2011Check out these videos from Life Teen to learn why parts of the Mass are changing later this year!
Mark Hart helps high school teens understand HOW and WHY the words of the Mass are changing. Mark compares the “dynamic equivalent” and the “formal equivalent” of how we translate words from Latin to English, and then explains the elaborate process used to create the new Roman Missal. Finally, Mark challenges teenagers to rediscover the meaning behind the words we pray at Mass each week.
This video helps middle school youth understand WHY and HOW the words of the Catholic Mass are changing. The video gives a casual history of the words we use at Mass, and then gives specific examples of what to expect at Mass later this year.
Why are the words of the Catholic Mass changing? Fr. John Muir confronts the misconceptions about the changes with truth and clarity. Fr. John helps parents understand the recent history behind the newest 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal and how it grows from the 1st and 2nd editions. Fr. John compares the “dynamic equivalent” and the “formal equivalent” of how we translate words from Latin to English, and then explains the elaborate process used to create the new Roman Missal. Finally, Fr. John encourages us to rediscover the meaning behind the words and we use at Mass and how we can help our children through this transition.
How do I sign up my daughter MacKenna McDonell for Life Teen?
Peggy, please contact our youth directors, Andrew Schuelke and Aaron Barta, at (512) 328-3220. Thanks!