Campus Ministry and Christian Service

Father John Montejano

Campus Chaplain

Mr. Jacob Vowels

Campus Minister

Mr. Bernie Kasilag Christian Service Moderator

Bishop Amat High School seeks to form a community of faith-filled disciples committed to Christian truth based on the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The Campus Ministry Center or “The Lighthouse” is a place to build community and culture that provides faith, hope, and discipleship. The mission of Bishop Amat’s Campus Ministry Program is fourfold:

1. To foster a faith community among the students, faculty, and staff regardless of religious affiliation.

2. To foster and encourage a personal relationship with Christ through the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation that moves them to embrace the commitment to love, serve, and proclaim the Good

News.

3. To foster and encourage a devotion to the Blessed Mother.

4. To support and encourage the pastoral, spiritual, and moral development of the Amat family.

Campus Ministry continues the mission and message of Jesus by creating opportunities for students to experience daily living in a faith community and to develop a faith commitment and a desire to serve others. To achieve these goals, Campus Ministry offers the following services:

Liturgical Celebrations

• Mass is offered weekly in our school chapel • Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place on the first Friday of each month in the Chapel during lunch • Monthly school-wide Mass • School-wide Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Prayer Life

• Each day begins with a school-wide prayer • Each class begins with a prayer • Each afternoon starts with a school-wide prayer after lunch

Sacrament of Reconciliation

• Advent and Lenten Penance Services • Bi-weekly during lunch in the Chapel • By appointment

Class Retreats

• Seniors: Kairos Retreats • Juniors: Emmaus Retreats • Sophomores: Caritas Retreat and One Full Day Retreat • Freshmen: One Full Day Retreat

Spiritual Counseling

Spiritual counseling is available through the Offices of the Campus Minister and Chaplain.

Community Support - Funerals

A death in the family is a time of grief for the Bishop Amat community. Should there be a death in the immediate family of a student, the school encourages the student’s religion class and teacher to attend the funeral services as a means of lending support and sympathy. Parental permission for each student is arranged in advance. All other students who wish to attend the funeral are required to bring a parental note specifying when they are to leave and to return to school.

Bishop Amat Christian Service Program A. Christian Service Projects

• Each year students will complete at least 20 hours of Christian

Service. • In order to receive credit for the project, students must fulfill all the requirements, responsibilities, and commitments of a volunteer to the satisfaction of their supervisor/teacher. • Students may count service done over the previous summer, as long as verification can be obtained. • An organization must be approved by the Christian Service

Moderator or Campus Minister BEFORE students may complete their service. • Only one of a student’s yearly service projects may be *indirect service, as defined later. • Students need to complete at least 3 hours of service from each of the following categories:

1) Bishop Amat School Community Service Project

Students will be involved in service that takes place at Bishop Amat or through programs offered by Christian Service. The Community

Service Project may also be completed through a club project or athletic team project.

2) Faith Based Community Service

Students will be involved in service that takes place through their own faith community, a neighboring faith community, or a faith- based institution or school.

3) Community Based Service

Students will be involved in a form of service that reaches out to the local community.

B. Stewardship

Students need to participate in one of the various school wide drives.

How much students give is up to them; we only ask that they contribute to the drives.

C. Daily Christian Service

Being a disciple of Christ is not a weekly or occasional practice; rather it is a way of life. In fact the earliest name given to Christians was

“People of the Way.” Early Christians often went against the grain of society, especially in their generous treatment of those in need of help.

Christian Service is more than just a requirement to be checked off; it is a daily calling. In order to help the students reflect on this, we ask that students select one of the Corporal Works of Mercy and one of the

Spiritual Works of Mercy to focus on during the school year. At the end of the year we will ask the students to reflect on their experience living out the Works of Mercy that they selected.

D. Reflection

For each project, the student writes a reflection on his/her experience.

This is found on the back of the verification sheet.

*Indirect Service Description:

• Any form of fund-raising activity in which the student did not create, organize, implement and supervise the fund-raiser and directly interact with the organization receiving the funds. • Any material contribution to the collecting of goods for any of the above organizations that does not include distribution of the goods to those for whom they were intended. • Letter-writing as advocacy • Clerical work - filing, data entry, returning books to a book shelf, folding flyers for a mailing

Activities that are NEVER considered for direct or indirect service hours:

• Work done at for-profit businesses • Attendance at a conference in which there is no implementation of skills/knowledge accrued in some sort of community-based project with a nonprofit organization • Baby-sitting for relatives and family friends • Activities in which there was some sort of trade off or payment • Activities in which a parent, relative or student is the only supervisor • All forms of duty within a family and/or extended family • Political activity (Unless it is expressly endorsed by the United States

Catholic Conference of Bishops)

Recording Service

Students must fill out a Service Verification Form with a signature from their supervisor. Forms are available through the Bishop Amat website and outside the Christian Service office. These sheets will be collected in April by the student’s Small Faith Community Faculty Advisor. The submission of verification forms for seniors will be earlier in the year to ensure fulfilling the Christian Service graduation requirement. Students are required to log their service hours online, on their Student Portal. For the hours to be credited, entries must be supported with legitimate paperwork with a clear verifiable signature and contact information. Students will periodically turn in their paperwork to their respective faculty adviser. Students will agree to the HONOR CODE prompt before submitting their entry.

Unfilled Service Hours

Students that fail to complete the yearly 20-hour Christian Service requirement will be required to enroll in the Summer School Christian Service class. Summer School tuition and fees will apply.

Ms. Nicole Pfiester

Family Ministry Coordinator

Family Ministry

The church has long taught that parents are the first catechists of their children. The home is referred to as the domestic church because it is where each of us encounters God on a daily basis through our relationships, prayers, and activities. Bishop Amat recognizes our important partnership with the parents and guardians of our students, especially in the area of faith formation. In 2016, we established the Family Faith Formation ministry to provide opportunities and resources for families, so that they may connect the faith formation experienced at school to their home life.

Opportunities and Resources:

• Family Faith Formation Web page with Monthly Activities and

Resources • Monthly Family Faith Formation Assignment through Theology

Classes • Evenings of Reflection for Families • Parent Faith Formation Presentations and Resources at General Parent

Meetings. • Amat Family Prayer Group

Please contact Ms. Nicole Pfiester at npfiester@bishopamat.org with questions or suggestions.