Youth ministry exists for young people to create real relationships with Jesus and with others. It takes a collaborative effort from youth, parents, pastors, families, and adult volunteers, and it comes in many forms: eating, praying and worshipping together, listening to and giving talks, playing sports and games, sharing in discussion groups, attending retreats and conferences, taking leadership roles, serving the needy, assisting at Mass, listening to music, throwing water balloons… basically consecrating all that young people do to Christ. At Christ the Redeemer we strive to engage many important areas of a young person’s faith life through comprehensive youth ministry. Some of these include:

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• Catechesis after Confirmation and outside the classroom: because learning about our faith isn’t some sort of program that you complete; it’s a lifelong journey of getting to know Jesus and His Church.
   

• Belonging to a real community and making true Christian friendships: connecting with people in a real way and encouraging young people to live out their faith at home and at school.
   

• Leadership development: encouraging youth to use their gifts for God and for the community, whether that’s within CTR Youth Ministry, the wider parish, or the Church as a whole.
   

• Evangelization: all baptized Christians are called to spread the Good News, and youth are especially called to evangelize in their own unique way.
   

• Prayer and worship: we change as we get older, so the way we pray and what we pray about changes, too.

 

 

Our youth ministry for high school students Grades 8-12 takes shape in a few ways:

 

• Anchor. Anchor happens on the first Sunday of every month. We gather to chat a bit about faith, play games, sing praise and worship together, play sports, and more. All teens are welcome, even if you’ve never come to a CTR Youth event before, and are encouraged to bring a friend!
   

• Additional events for teens. Throughout the year, we offer other opportunities for teens to go deeper in faith. We run small groups (led by young adult leaders) where teens have the opportunity to pray together with other teens their age and work through a bible study, faith study, or video series. We also occasionally offer large group events for teens with a talk, or teaching, prayer, and time of discussion and fellowship.