Young Church

Core Team

Our mission at Young Church is to invite youth into personal relationship with Jesus Christ and accompany them as they grow as His Disciples.

Young Church is our parish ministry to middle school and high school youth. It is led by the Coordinator of Youth Discipleship and a team of volunteers known as the Core Team.

aBOUT yOUNG cHURCH:

  • Our 7th-12th grade youth groups meet on Sunday evenings from 6-8 PM in the Parish Life Center. We meet weekly from September to April and about twice a month from May to August.

  • During the school year, the typical format of one of our Young Church nights is:

    • Arrival, Food, and Social Time

    • Opening Prayer & Announcements

    • Large Group Game/Ice-breaker

    • Praise and Worship

    • Teaching

    • Small Group Discussion

    • Prayer Activity

Core Team Members aren't just volunteers…they’re the very core of our ministry! We can only fulfill our mission of forming young disciples if we have a large team of adults actively engaged in ministry, together. The primary job of a Core Team Member is to express Christ's love to youth through their regular presence, witness, and accompaniment.

aBOUT CORE TEAM

  • Core Team Members minister directly to our youth and support the weekly operation of Young Church through a variety of roles and duties.

    We seek to find the best role of each team member based on their natural and spiritual gifts and interest.

  • Core Team Members minister to youth through general relational ministry and small group time. Most Core Team Members are assigned to co-lead a small group, where they have the weekly opportunity to build relationships with a specific group of students.

    During small group time, leaders facilitate discussion using provided guides/materials, share from their own experiences, and encourage the youth to follow Jesus in their daily life.

    Core Team Members also have opportunities to share personal testimony or deliver teachings if that is something they want to do!

  • Core Team Members also help ensure that Young Church runs smoothly through a variety of operational duties. These are determined based on need, as well as the Core Team members’s gifts and interests. Examples of some of these roles include:

    • Room set-up

    • Running check-in

    • Preparing food/drinks

    • Serving food

    • AV Support

    • Leading games

    • Preparing or organizing supplies

    • Room clean-up

  • Relational ministry is our bread and butter because Jesus taught us that good ministry depends on relationships! Experience shows us that in the long run, youth may not remember the talks they heard, the crazy games we played, or the food they we served… but they WILL remember the adult who showed up each week, welcomed them, got to know them, prayed for them, supported them, and just simply loved them!

Who Can Serve on Core Team?

Anyone who is 18 or older, loves Jesus, and desires to share their faith with young people is eligible to discern and apply for Core Team! A strong and effective Core Team consists of a variety of ages, stages of life, and experience level.

  • We’re looking for people who are:

    • In love with Jesus

    • Seeking to live out of their identity as God’s son or daughter.

    • Striving to abide with God in daily prayer

    • Baptized Catholics committed to living by the teachings of our faith

    • Faithful to attending Sunday Mass

    • Coachable & willing to learn how to minster well to today’s youth

    • Humble, loving, and joyful

    • Focused on what the Lord can do for the youth through them, not on what they can do for the youth.

  • No! Age is not as big of a factor as many people think when it comes to effective youth ministry. We’ve had successful Core Team members of all ages and believe a multi-generation Core Team provides fuller witness of the Body of Christ! A person who shows up regularly for the youth, loves them well, and provides a witness of authentic discipleship is positioned to be fruitful in ministry regardless of their age.

  • A lack of experience does not prevent you from being on Core Team. Consider the disciples that Jesus called: none of them had ministry experience, either… and yet they spread the Gospel throughout the world! How? They learned from Jesus as they ministered with him, and they were later equipped with the power of the Holy Spirit to continue ministering after he ascended to heaven.

    We’ll provide training and mentoring to equip you and help you grow, and when you first get started, we’ll pair you up with team members who do have experience.

    Whether you have lots of experience in ministry, or have never served in ministry before, the most important criterion for Core Team is love of God and a desire to lead others to Him.

  • The most important thing to do before joining any ministry is ask God for his input! We encourage you to start asking God to guide your consideration and to show you whether he is calling you to this ministry at this point in time.

  • We also encourage you to complete the Interest Form (found below). When we get the form, we’ll reach out to you to for an initial conversation so that we can get to know you a little bit and answer any questions you have.

  • Next, we’ll invite you to “Come and See” Young Church in action by visiting us at one or more of our upcoming Young Church nights! This will give you a chance to get to know our current team members, see what they do, and get an idea of what the environment and activities are like.

  • After you do a “Come and See” visit at Young Church, we may invite you to continue coming to Young Church for a few weeks on a trial basis. During this time, you can shadow curent team members, continue getting to know the youth, and ask any questions you might have as part of your discernment.

  • While you are shadowing, we’ll have you complete the VIRTUS Safe Environment training and run a background check. (This is good to have done in case you want to serve with other ministries at the parish, as well!)

  • At this point, if you are feeling called to make a commitment to Core Team, and we are also in agreement that this is a good fit, we’ll invite you to sign a Core Team Commitment, as well as a Volunteer Code of Conduct. Both of these lay out clear expectations for your involvement on the team.

  • Finally, you’ll start serving on Core Team on Sunday nights in an official capacity! At this point, we’ll provide access to some oneline training videos that you can complete at home. We’ll also invite you to join us for any upcoming Core Team trainings or meetings, and provide opportunities for you to bond with the rest of the team!

Before we ask anyone to make a commitment to Core Team, we invite all prospective members to join us in discerning whether this is the right ministry for them! This involves a few different steps:

Joining Core Team

interested in serving on Core Team?

Please fill out this interest form so we can connect with you and begin the discernment process!

If you know of someone that should be invited to consider joining Core Team, please let us know (or share this page with them)!

Contacts:

Marissa Dawson
Coordinator of Youth Discipleship
mdawson@stpatchurch.org
810.229.9863

Fr. Joshua Fons
Parochial Vicar
frjoshua@stpatchurch.org