FAITH FORMATION: TEEN
Small-group ministry approach to deepen faith and community through various Bible Studies and fun activities.
Days: Thursdays*
Time and Location: 5:45pm to 7pm in JPII Youth Center*
* : This ministry is more dependent on what works best for each small group. Therefore the days of meeting, time, and location could be different than what is suggested above. Small Group Leaders will communicate such details with parents and teens before their first meeting.
The Mission of Bremerton Catholic Youth Ministry:
To assist families and our parish in revealing Christ's love, truth, and the sacraments to our young people to equip them to serve in their current and future vocation.
Core Values
Faithfully Catholic:
As members of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, we believe that we have been given the gift of the fullness of truth. We firmly believe that the Catholic Church is the safest and surest way to heaven. In addition to this, we also believe that by joyfully embracing all of her teachings we can find true happiness and meaning in this life. Learn more about the Catholic Faith by visiting the Explore the Catholic Faith page.
Family Centered:
While the core of our ministry is to the young people of our parish, we recognize that parents are the first evangelists and primary catechists of their children. We are here to support parents in this important role and provide a community where the values they taught at home are reinforced. In today's busy world we do not want to be just another extracurricular activity that takes teens away from their family, but one that enhances family life. Visit our Parents Page to find out more.
Virtue Based:
Through teaching the virtues, saints and moral theology of the Church we give young people the key to happiness in this life and the next. Through drawing them to the sacraments and modeling prayer we give them the grace that fuels a life of virtue.
Evangelical:
Having discovered the great gift of the Catholic faith, how could we not share it with others? We respect the goodness and free will of those who are not fully within our Catholic family. At the same time, we seek to invite them to the fullness of truth by presenting our faith in a charitable, convincing, and humble manner. We also seek to reach the large number of "baptized unbelievers" who are Catholic but have not yet embraced the faith. We know that the way we live our lives will be the single greatest factor in whether God uses us to draw more young people securely into the fold of his Church.
Powered by Prayer:
Our ministry has a supernatural purpose, therefore it must be fueled by a supernatural source. We strongly encourage our volunteers and prayer partners to commit serious time in prayer for the students by name before the Blessed Sacrament on a regular basis and ask our parents to do the same for their teens and the volunteers. As a Marian parish, we entrust all our efforts to the powerful intercession of the Blessed Mother, asking that she might be the Star that guides all of us to her Son.
Dynamic:
While the truths of our faith do not change, our culture is constantly changing. New issues and needs arise with each generation and a model of ministry that worked a decade ago may not necessarily speak as effectively to young people today. For this reason, we seek the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit in adapting the way we do ministry so as to speak the timeless message of the Gospel through language and mediums that effectively reach youth today.
Bremerton Catholic Parish has an active and vibrant youth ministry program led by Fr. Derek Lappe, our pastor, and our Director of Evangelization who oversees the direction of all the adult and youth programs, the parish missionary intern program and missionary team formation.
Our parish missionaries assist in the administration and direct coordination of each youth program: Teen Confirmation, Discipleship, Fraternus, and Fidelis.