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Xavier Teens Program Gears Up for a New Year of Faith, Fellowship and Fun
The ability of our parish youth to go into their schools, sporting events, and places of employment and answer questions about the Catholic faith is important. Thanks to our parish Xavier Teens program — formerly EDGE and LifeTeen — youth will be ready to share the Catholic faith in their circles.
Although the name has changed, the 6:30 p.m. Sunday night gatherings remain. Director of Youth Ministry Ashleigh Martin invites all youth in sixth to 12th grade to check out Xavier Teens. The first session for this school year is Sunday, Sept. 12, in the parish Youth Room. All youth start together for a game or icebreaker, then break into groups based on grade for the lesson, and break into smaller groups to discuss the topic.
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“The small-group time is a favorite for the youth,” Ashleigh says.
Ashleigh wants all youth to know their friends are welcome, and attendees need not be Catholic.
“Some kids struggle with inviting their friends,” she says. “Their friends think the Catholic Church is different, and they don’t know about it.”
A huge goal of Xavier Teens is to equip students to share the faith and to be trained in apologetics.
“We want the youth to be able to evangelize to their friends,” Ashleigh says. “That is so important here at our parish.”
Ashleigh has enjoyed leading our youth programs since took over as Youth Director about five years ago.
“I do this because of the youth,” she says. “I love being with them. I feel rejuvenated when I am with these kids, and I learn so much from them.” In particular, Ashleigh is impressed by the questions that the youth pose about the Catholic faith. She finds that she continues learning about the faith herself, as she works to provide youth with the correct answer.
“Learning about the faith doesn’t end when we end Religious Education,” she says. “We have to keep building on that and help them grow in their faith.”
There are also other events planned throughout the year, like the Steubenville Youth Conference, day and overnight retreats, a canoe day trip, and a Colorado ski trip. The high school youth also go on a summer mission trip to Mound Bayou, Miss.
After the 2020-2021 school year, this year will bring some return to normalcy, and Ashleigh is most thankful for that. Last year, most sessions were held in-person with an online option. The topics were based on real things youth want to know about, like how to talk to atheists, dealing with drug and alcohol abuse, and exorcisms. Although the program and events were a bit different, Ashleigh is thankful students were able to share the recorded messages with family. There were even people who don’t have kids at home who watched and enjoyed the lessons. This year, there will not be an online option.
Ashleigh invites adults to get involved in this year’s programming. Help is always needed for small-group time. All questions and discussion topics are provided.
