Our youth ministry at Saint John’s uses The Journey to Adulthood™ curriculum, a Christian spiritual formation program designed for youth grades 6-12. The program balances Bible study, prayer, and both serious and playful activities to nurture the whole person during the passage from child to adult. Leaders model living the faith, and remind young people of the ever-present love and mercy of God.

We meet every-other Sunday morning from 11:00am-12:30pm during the academic year. See this year’s schedule for further details. Visitors and newcomers are always welcome. Come join us!

About Journey to Adulthood (J2A)

The Journey to Adulthood addresses the concerns of young people by

• Providing a liturgical frame for their experience in our post-modern culture
• Celebrating their individuality and creative potential
• Instructing them in skills needed for successful adult participation in church and society

• Human sexuality and gender are gifts from God.
• Adulthood must be earned.

Throughout the program, young people explore themes of Self, Sexuality, Spirituality, and Society, while building personal skills which prepare them for adulthood.

The program includes three distinct phases, each of which is two years in length:

• Rite-13
• J2A (Journey to Adulthood), and
• YAC (Young Adults in the Church)

Rite 13 (Leaders: Jenine Grabau and Andy Mellors)

Rite-13 focuses on forming and nurturing community as youth participants and leaders explore the Bible, the Episcopal Church and other aspects of the Christian faith. Classes also help youth explore, affirm and prepare for adolescence. During the two years in Rite-13, the community acknowledges the gift of gender, celebrates the amazing creative power and potential of these young people, and creates a safe haven to explore new ideas, new interests, and new abilities.

An important part of the program is the “Celebration of Manhood and Womanhood” (Rite 13 liturgy), which takes place in the church community around the young person’s 13th birthday. At the end of two years, the group moves on to J2A.

J2A (Leaders: Aaron and Joanne Dashiell)

The second segment of the program, Journey to Adulthood (J2A) focuses on continuing the community built in Rite-13, blending action and contemplation, teaching young people faithful living. To prepare them for adulthood, they are learning the skills of active listening, negotiation, assertion, research/information management, partnership and leadership.

Participants explore the Bible, society and faith to gain an understanding of Christian living. At the end of the second year of J2A, youth go on a holy pilgrimage. After this experience, as they plumb the depths of their own spirituality and their relationship to the church, the class moves on to YAC.

YAC

During the final two years of the curriculum, young people continue to explore their faith with a particular focus on identifying their own spiritual gifts and finding ways to use them in this parish and beyond. Discussions enlighten a deeper and more meaningful relationship with the church, their neighbors, and God, and opportunities to find a place in the church to engage and step out as a young adult are considered. Guided by adult advisors, they use the Anglican model of Scripture, reason, and tradition of the Church to guide their lifelong pilgrimage in faith.

YAC concludes with a “Celebration of Adulthood” ritual as young people graduate from high school and are welcomed back into the parish community as adults.

For the Fun of it!

Fun and service projects bring Saint John’s teens together outside Sunday mornings. Once a month, usually on a Friday or Saturday, we gather together solely for the purpose of having fun. Ideas for these events are drawn directly from the teens and may include such things as broom ball, movie nights, and bowling.

Service Events and Field Trips

Service and Field Trips are some of our most transforming moments in the life of our teen community. Some of these events may include, Cityreach, a program in conjunction with Eclessia Ministries (Common Cathedral) sponsored by the Diocese of Massachusetts, 30 Hour Famine, and Nightwatch at St. John the Divine, New York.

Here are these links again:
http://www.30hourfamine.org
http://www.ecclesia-ministries.org/cityreach.html
http://www.stjohndivine.org/departments_nightwatch.html

Leaders and Mentors

The Journey to Adulthood program values strong leadership teams that bring a diversity of life experience and skills to mentor our young people. These are our ministry descriptions (aka job descriptions in the secular world) for leaders in our program. Each of our groups seeks to build a gender-balanced leadership team of 2-3 adults (over age 21) who are regular participants in the life and worship of Trinity who are not related to youth in the particular group they lead/mentor, and a college/seminary intern. For insurance reasons, college/seminary interns must be at least 18 years old.

Discovering our relationship with God is a lifelong journey. It is not unusual to have questions regarding the church and our personal faith. Ongoing Christian Formation provides us with the opportunity to discuss our questions and deepen our relationship with God through the life of the community.

Permission Slips and other forms

Each young person who participates in Saint John’s youth programs, as a regular member or as a visitor or friend, should have one of each of these forms on file each year. The Medical/Health Form is only necessary for overnight events. When filled out, these can be returned to the group leader or church office.

Confirmation

Confirmation is a sacramental rite "in which we express a mature commitment to Christ, and receive strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop" ( Book of Common Prayer, 860). Confirmation happens twice each year in the Worcester area and every other year in our parish when the Bishop visits. Confirmation preparation complements The Journey to Adulthood curriculum.

Meet The Team

Brian Yacino, Jenine Grabau, John Betit, Andy Mellors, Joanne Dashiell, and Aaron Dashiell
For more information about youth programs at Saint John’s, contact The Rev. John Betit at johnbetit@st-johns-sutton.org