What does a typical Life Night look like? Life Nights begin with the 5:00pm Liturgy at the Church. We invite all teens to join us in the front pews for this dynamic liturgy. After this, we walk over to the Ave Maria Center for a provided dinner and a time to share in community with one another.
After dinner, we'll gather together in Marian Hall for a game or icebreaker, a time of prayer, and a teaching that is relevant for teens and challenges them to not just know about their faith, but to live it by becoming disciples of Christ. Following the teaching, we'll break into our small groups for a time of discussion surrounding the topic of the night. These discussion small groups are led by a team of Virtus safe-environment-trained adults who have a desire for the young people of our parish to know Christ.
Our Life Nights conclude by 815pm at the Ave Maria Center.
How can I help? Life Nights require a large amount of planning and help. Parents are a key component to this. Whether it is assisting in attendace, food coordination, or simply as a hall monitor, we love having parents take an active part in their teens catechetical development.
Along with our parent volunteers, we have a dedicated group of adults that take an active role in mentoring the youth known as our Core Team. These Virtus safe-environtment-trained adults help to welcome the youth, lead faith-based discussions in small groups, and more. For more information about what Core Team entails,
please click here.
Remember, God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Please join us in praying as to what YOUR role in our High School Youth Ministry program is, and know that whatever God is calling you to, we will help every step of the way through training, accountability, and prayer.
What else do you offer besides Life Nights? We offer a variety of different programs outside of Life Nights such as Bible Studies, leadership development opportunities, socials, service projects, and more. Information about these programs can be found by clicking here. In addition to these programs we take teens on a variety of different trips and retreats throughout the year including Steubenville (June), Camp Covecrest (July/August), The WKND Winter Retreat (January), a Men's and Women's retreat, and our annual Confirmation Retreat.
How does Confirmation work within Life Teen? Confirmation preparation is a two-year process here in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. The first year consists of attendance in a High School CCE program (Life Teen or Home Study). If your child is enrolled at a Catholic High School, this counts as their prerequisite year of religious education and so they are exempt from this first year of Confirmation program. However, they are still welcome to join us in our Life Teen program. The second year of Confirmation preparation consists of specific classes that dive directly into teachings on the Holy Spirit and the Sacrament of Confirmation. These classes run alongside and in conjunction with our Sunday night Life Teen program. In addition to these Confirmation classes, your teen will also attend a Confirmation retreat and complete service hours. For more info about Confirmation, click here.
Questions? Contact Eric Painter at epainter@stlaurence.org or 281-265-5774.