Hello all! This post outlines the plans we are developing for ministry to our young people, grades 1-12, this fall in light of the covid pandemic. Since we can't gather in person, at least for awhile, we need to find other ways to make this happen. Formation of our children in the Faith and
helping them to build a relationship with Christ are just too important, so we're modifying our approach and will be leaning on the adults caring for our children to step in and do much of the work that is normally done by our ministers.
Religious Education (RE). In a nutshell, for RE the parish will be providing textbooks and workbooks to the parents/guardians to take home and work through with the children at a pace comfortable for the children. Ronnalea Gallagher will be available each Wednesday at 338-5710 between 6 and 7pm and will follow up occasionally with the families as well. Registration will take place on Wednesday evenings from 6-7pm at the CCD center beginning this week (9/23). Parents/guardians can begin the program immediately after registering. Please see the letter below from Fr. Ed for more specifics.
Confirmation for students in public schools, grades 8-12 will once again be led by Patty and Deacon John Gobert. An approach similar to RE will be used, with students and parents working through the material together at home. The difference will be that instead of book and workbooks, students will be using Matthew Kelly's Dynamic Catholic services online. Registration will be at the same time and same place with Ronnalea and then Patty will follow up by directly contacting those who register. Also, for those who don't have internet access, Patty will work with you to get print material. See the letter below from Fr. Ed for more details.
High school youth group Martha Padgett will be the leader and myself and possibly others will help her. Officially the youth group will not begin until mid-January. A curriculum is being developed now that can either be used virtually or in person, depending on how things turn out with the pandemic. However, in the meantime, Martha is already in contact with the youth from last year's group and also recent De La Salle grads, along with their parents. She is currently sending prayers and other items to draw the youth closer to the Lord. Plus she is inviting them to join our live stream Facebook Masses and is even trying to host watch parties of the Mass together with them. She has also created a Facebook page for the group that will become an important resource going forward. Below is a link to that page. If you have any questions and/or want to get your child involved, please call Martha at 406 845-2132.
Please do feel free to contact either myself or Fr. Ed at the parish office as well with any questions. And thank you in advance for working with us in these crazy times to make sure our children continue to grow closer to Christ, no matter the circumstances! God bless!
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