One area of challenge for St. John over the past decade has been the effective engagement of the high school youth of the area. Did you know that we have over 300 active members of our Parish Family between the ages of 14 and 19? Yet, only a fraction of those youth attend our High School Youth Group, our Faith Formation program, or any of the spectrum of our current youth-friendly programs and events. In the Diocese of Venice, Confirmation now occurs during the sophomore year of high school, but for many years, Confirmation was granted in second grade, at the same time as Reconciliation and First Communion. The wonderful youth we have at Saint John that went through this consolidated sacramental process are now in high school. There is an urgent need to renew our high school youth programs for both the planned influx of sacramental students coming (we have over 40 just this year, when last year we had 8) as well as for all the rest of the youth of our Parish Family.
I want to first and foremost thank Ben Weber (and his amazing wife, Theresa), who has been volunteering as the Coordinator of our High School Youth Group for the past year. Through his Herculean efforts, he has invigorated our Youth Group with social, spiritual, and service-oriented activities, from traveling to Night of Joy, a Christian musical event at Disney World, to supporting the Casa Maria Soup Kitchen in Immokalee over the summer when their normal volunteer corps dwindles. However, his full-time job as a teacher and athletic director for Immokalee High School is his first priority, and the youth that he assists there on a daily basis need him desperately. Ben and Theresa will continue to be an integral part of the Youth Group team, but we all need some focus on the leadership of this effort. The Holy Spirit has obviously been at work, since several meetings I was planning on having about youth programs were held up for various reasons until I was finally able to have coffee with Mary Beatty, long time St. John parishioner, previous Youth Group support, and spectacular individual. Mary has agreed to take on the responsibility of Youth Group Coordinator, with a strong team, and tremendous experience coming with her.
As the Youth Group Coordinator, Mary will be responsible for the logistics and management of the activities of our Youth Group. During a recent meeting open to the entire parish, the priorities and plans for the Youth Group were presented. The goal is an integration of Catholic Youth Organization, the first active CYO in Florida. Additionally, the youth of the parish were given an opportunity to brainstorm what they are looking for from St. John in the short term until CYO is implemented. The results of this brainstorm can be found on our Youth Group webpage. Mary will bring her infectious optimism, deep Catholic faith and knowledge, and caring to the team. She will be joining Gina Manfredi, Zach Gibbons, Ben, Theresa, and others who we owe our gratitude for their continued efforts on behalf of our youth. We have several new members of this team coming as well, including Cory and Morgan. Cory grew up at Saint John and is so excited to be back, along with his fiancé, Morgan.
Please join me in welcoming Mary and our invigorated team to support our Youth Programs and Saint John the Evangelist.