Edge, Purpose and Beyond
EDGE
EDGE is a Catholic middle school youth ministry program designed for students in grades 6–8. It provides a fun, interactive, and faith-filled environment where young teens can build friendships, explore their faith, and grow in their relationship with Christ. Through games, teaching, small groups, and prayer, EDGE helps them navigate life’s challenges with a strong spiritual foundation. Rooted in the life of the Church, it prepares them for a lifelong journey of discipleship.
EDGE Nights are broken into four sections: Gather, Proclaim, Break and Send. During the Gathering, Youth will play a game or do an activity with their small group. During the Proclaim, the youth will hear a talk on the catechetical topic of the day. Then during Break, the youth will answer and discuss small group reflection questions based on the talks they heard. Lastly during the send, we will wrap up, pray and give the teens a weekly challenge.
CONFIRMATION AND PURPOSE
WHY CONFIRMATION AND PURPOSE? Receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation completes your initiation into the Catholic Church and empowers you to live out the faith. Through Confirmation you are “more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit.” (CCC 1285)
Building on the middle school journey and Edge, 9th grade youth journey through ‘Purpose.’ The aim of Purpose is to provide a youth ministry-type environment for students to encounter Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We now center on the Sacrament of Confirmation, preparing the candidate to assume the responsibilities of Christian life and to awaken a sense of belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ, the universal Church, and the parish community. Candidates will enter into a more intimate union with Christ and a more lively familiarity with the Holy Spirit - His actions, His gifts, and His biddings.
BEYOND
BEYOND? Continuing the journey of faith through High School and after Confirmation is of vital importance. ‘Beyond’ is designed for 10th to 12th grade students. A group of college student mentors will invite young people to put their faith into practice: To learn to pray by praying together, to learn what discipleship is by discipling one another, and to learn from adult mentors who will journey together with them in exploring what it means to live our Catholic faith. God’s work is most visible in us and in our lives – not in textbooks and worksheets. That is why we lead with vulnerability in our ministries and relationships.
This model allows high schoolers to learn to live and love like Jesus by being with trusted adults that live and love like Jesus. Adults and young people will deeply live the application of faith and Church teaching in a way that allows our young people to be seen and known, and not to let them quietly slip away from the faith with nobody noticing. Small groups will begin before the completion of the Confirmation preparation and continue to journey together. Furthermore, by exploring where Christ is meeting our young people in intentional ways, we live our Church’s tradition and not just learn it.