FOCUS on Middle School Family Faith

We started our Middle School Faith Formation sessions in late October and have met twice on a virtual basis with the 75 children in 6 ^th and 7 ^th grade (and their parents for part of the session), and nine Faith Leaders. The year has gotten off to an encouraging start with a high degree of engagement from our young people!


Each hour long session involves a Scripture reading activity in which the parents and children work together. They have about 15 minutes to focus on different Biblical passages either through prayer or through artwork. The latest sessions involved having the children and parents draw pictures representing different stories featuring the Apostles in the New Testament. They then showed them off to the larger group and explained why they chose to interpret the scene in their picture as they did and what drew them to each Biblical figure. After a video, the children and faith leaders break into smaller groups for further discussion.



The theme of the evening was, “Why Should I Care about and Follow Jesus?”

• Peter and John Run to the Tomb of Jesus (John 20:3-4) 
• The Apostles Receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4) 
• Peter’s Shadow Heals a Man (Acts 5:15-16)

The engagement at these sessions has been wonderful and the children have been very eager to share their artwork and perspectives.








We are also very excited to be providing each Middle School family with their own new  Breakthrough Bibles for Young Catholics, as well as Composition books for journaling, a pencil case and a pencil.  Fr. Paddy will be joining us in the early December sessions as we welcome the Season of Advent and explore how to use the Bibles going forward. 

 

"I just wanted to let you know that Maya and Marley are really enjoying Faith Formation. It is something that they look forward to. They are also looking forward to receiving their teen bibles. Thank you for making it a fun experience for the kids." Lauren

"Sometimes Faith Formation for kids can feel like adults talking all the time … and having a Zoom program adds another level to that. While choosing timely topics like “Did Jesus ever get anxious?” and “Why should I care about Jesus?” helps spur discussion both online and at home, I think the hands-on activities are where the spiritual gold is. Our daughter liked realizing that, just like us, Jesus got worried and anxious, and that he went off by himself to calm down and to pray to God the Father. What struck me most from the lesson was doing a short breathing exercise taught by a student. The kids used it again at the start of the second session. What a great way to practice centering prayer!  What resonated most for our daughter was the art activity for the second session.  This was a fun way for the kids to take ownership of God’s Word and to build church through sharing with each other." Judy

"My son is really enjoying his faith journey this year.  In our first session, when we broke out into our private at home group to read the scriptures together, he understood what they were saying and was able to explain what it meant to him.  Drawing a scene from the New Testament was such a fun way to get the children to relate to scripture.  He is eagerly awaiting his “Breakthrough Bible” as am I, I cannot wait to look through that with him.  Thank you to the Faith Formation team for all the hard work they put in to this program." Melissa