March 19, 2018
Greetings to our youth group and their families,
We are writing to welcome you to a new year of youth ministry and to introduce ourselves to you. Our names are Jolene Clearwater and Andrea Dulac, and we are lifelong parishioners at Blessed Sacrament. After many discussions with Fr. Simon and with his full encouragement and support, we have enthusiastically decided to take on the role of youth group leaders. In the future, you may see youth group referred to as “Society of Saints”, but just to clarify, they are one and the same. What is different, however, is that youth group is not part of religious education; while both youth group and religious ed work with the same kids, they are separate ministries.
To share a little bit about ourselves, we are sisters, and we grew up in this parish. We have treasured memories of our own participation in youth group when we were in middle and high school. Some of our favorite and fondest memories are from youth group retreat, an annual tradition where the youth group would get away for a weekend filled with prayer, fellowship, fun, and a deepening of our relationship with each other and with Christ.
This year, we plan to continue that tradition with a youth group retreat at Warner Camp in Grand Junction on April 20-22. The theme of this year’s retreat is “Connect: Finding Your Path to Christ in Today’s Digital World”. Through this theme, we plan to explore music, movies, social media, and technology and how these things impact who we are as Catholic Christians on our journey to Heaven. We have lots of fun planned for everyone. Retreat is a wonderful way to deepen your Catholic faith, but also to gain new friends and strengthen your friendships with those that you already know. We hope to see each one of your smiling faces there. Additionally, we are planning to have youth group play a role in the Seder Meal this year. The Seder will be held on Wednesday, March 28 at 6:15 p.m. Come and celebrate a wonderful Passover tradition with us and learn how this Jewish custom ties directly to our Catholic faith.
We look forward to a fun and faith-focused year with you. If you have ideas for what you would like to see happen with youth group, we are open to your suggestions and your input. We plan to keep you updated regularly on all of the upcoming events that youth group has to offer. You can also connect with us on Facebook. Find us at “Blessed Sacrament Youth Group” and like our page! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at (269) 779-4042 (Jolene) or (269) 207-0179 (Andrea).
God bless,
Jolene Clearwater and Andrea Dulac
Sunday, October 29, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM Game Show Mania!!! your favorite game shows played out with a Catholic Twist! This night is for all, young and old, but hosted by our youth as they kick off the youth ministry year! Lots of fun, lots of prizes, and food! Whether you participate in the games or sit as a spectator, there is lots of fun ahead!
Sunday, July 30 - Our Bake and Take Event! All are invited to join us as we whip up batches of homebaked cookies and randomly deliver them while still hot to our homebound, parishioners and neighbors....
Let us know if you're planning to go on this trip! We'll go to Saugatuck for the dunes and then have a cookout - somewhere to be determined! If you're planning on going, let Maria or Jolene know. The cost of the trip is free if you helped out with the bake sale cooking, or selling on the day of the Bike blessing.. Open to all grades... give us a call so we can make reservations!