Grades 7 & 8
Elizabeth Hoye, Coordinator Grades 7 & 8
beth@cntaunton.org phone/text: (774)226-9696
Elizabeth Hoye, Coordinator Grades 7 & 8
beth@cntaunton.org phone/text: (774)226-9696
Alpha Video for Week 1: Life
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Printable version of schedule:
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OVERVIEW OF GRADES 7 & 8
Our Philosophy: The goal of our Faith Formation Program is to hand on Faith to another generation. It is to invite our youth to walk the path of discipleship, and to accompany them on that path. The documents of the Church and the popes teach that this is done not just through catechesis (the classroom), but also through liturgy, service, prayer, and involvement in Christian community. Based upon these documents, our program involves all these ways to to grow in Faith, not just catechesis. We will have at least 2 Faith Formation sessions per month (some months 3) with at least one of them always a catechetical session.
Alpha Sessions: Our Junior High Program this year will use Alpha Youth. (Click here to see a trailer about Alpha). Alpha is an international and interdenominational program of evangelization started in 1977. Alpha Youth describes its mission in this way: "Alpha youth creates a space for young people to hold meaningful conversations about life, faith, and purpose." Each Alpha session consists of an opening activity, followed by the Alpha video and small group discussions. The session ends with a prayer service usually in the Church. Each Alpha Session will begin with a Youth Mass at 4:55pm at St. Jude followed by a meal (usually pizza) in the Hall. A meal is considered an essential element of Alpha. Except for September 24 there is no overlap between grades 7-9 on Sunday night and grades 1-6 on Sunday morning. P.S. we will run Alpha for adults latter in the year. Also the Alpha video will be posted the the bottom of this web page so that students can watch it again.
Youth Mass: Each session will be preceded by the 4:55 PM Mass at St. Jude which is an essential part of the program. This Mass will be a youth Mass with a different grade sponsoring the Mass each month. The youth will do the readings, take up the collection, and provide hospitality at the doors of the Church. Music will be lead by a cantor named Alex Cueller who is experienced in leading youth in worship. This means that at least once a month families from St. Anthony and St. Mary will have to attend Mass at St. Jude, but are free to go to their own Parish the other Sundays of the month.
Ministry Projects: Service is one of the essential ways that we grow in our faith relationship with Christ. We have a variety of Service Project planned. Twice a year each grade will participate in the TCN Food Pantry & Meal Ministry. On December 10 we will go to Marian Manor to sing Christmas Carols. On April grade 7 will help to organize a hygiene drive for the needy, and on April 13 grade 8 will help to organize a Fund-Raising meal to benefit the needy.
Holy Week: Once again we are asking grades 7-9 to participate in Holy Week to initiate them into the celebration of Holy Week as an important part of our faith. Grade 8 will help with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, and grade 7 will present the Living Stations at 3pm on Good Friday. Grade 9 will help with the Palm Sunday liturgy at St. Jude
Day of Recollection: This year, each grade in the entire program will have a Day of Recollection. We are planning a retreat day for Grades 7 & 8 on Saturday, January 13, 2024. Details regarding time and place TBD
Thanksgiving Mass: We will have a Thanksgiving Mass for grades 1-9 at 6:30pm on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, November 22nd at St Mary's Church. These Thanksgiving Masses are required for all grade levels.
Mass Attendance: Attending Mass every Sunday is part of our program. Students (and hopefully the entire family) are expected to attend the 4:55 PM Mass on days that we have Alpha. Students may attend other Masses with their families on weeks that we do not have class, but are still expected to attend Mass weekly.
Youth Group: Joe Silveira and T.J. Mills (and others) will be forming a TCN Youth Group for youth in Grades 7-9. This will be voluntary, but we hope that as many seventh to eight graders as possible will be involved. These activities will be social in nature. We will have a monthly Youth Group Meeting on the first Tuesday of the month at St. Jude from 6-7:30pm except for January which will be January 9.
FlockNote: All communication will come through Flocknote. Longer messages will come as an email, and short messages as a text. If you can not receive either email or text please tell us, and other arrangements can be made such as a voice message. Faith Formation registration this year was done through Flocknote.
Safe Environment: Be assured that all of our Edge Leaders have been through the three steps of the Diocesan Safe Environment program. Also, as required by the Diocese, we will have a night focused upon Safe Environment Issues for Junior High. This will be held during the week with a date and time to be announced. A parent can opt out of this session for their children. There will be a form to sign to opt out.
Faith Formation Leadership Team: Jane Santos is the coordinator of the lower level Formation Program, grades 1-6. Her office is located at the St Anthony Parish Center. Her contact information is 508-824-4545/Jane@cntaunton.org. The coordinator of the upper level program (grades 7-9) is Beth Hoye. Questions about the upper level faith formation program should be directed to her at beth@cntaunton.org Beth also has a Faith Formation number for texting and calling which is 774-226-9696. Given her schedule, it is best to email if it is a short question, and she can get back to you. Finally, Joanne Mercier, our Pastoral Assistant is very involved in lower level faith Formation, and Fr. Fred Babiczuk is very involved in upper level Faith Formation.
Catechetical Team: Beth Hoye, Fr. Fred Babiczuk, T.J. Mills, Nancy Simmons, Bea Perreira, Joe Silveira, Sheila McGrady, Michael Rodriques. We are still looking for two more table leaders.
Parental Support Team: We are always looking for parents to be involved in our program as a support team. For example, it would be helpful if parents set up for the meal with which we will start each class. Parents could also help as chaperones with Youth ministry activities. Such parents would have to fulfill the Safe Environment requirements of the diocese, which can largely be done from a computer or ipad. We will send out a form for you to sign-up.
Make-Up. We only have 13 Catechetical Sessions during the year. As a result, we will have a make-up class at St. Jude from 6-6:30pm on the Thursday following the Sunday Alpha session. The dates of the make-up are already on the calendar. If you miss a class on Sunday you will receive a reminder from Flocknotes about the make-up session on the following Thursday. The make-up will consist of watching the Alpha Video at home, and answering the Alpha questions through google forms. We will then meet to discuss the questions. Given that we only have 13 sessions per year each session will have to be completed either by attending Sunday night session or doing the make-up session. The video and questions will be posted on the web page for grades 7 & 8.
Youth Mass: Each session will be preceded by the 4:55 PM Mass at St. Jude which is an essential part of the program. This Mass will be a youth Mass with a different grade sponsoring the Mass each month. The youth will do the readings, take up the collection, and provide hospitality at the doors of the Church. Music will be lead by a cantor named Alex Cueller who is experienced in leading youth in worship. This means that at least once a month families from St. Anthony and St. Mary will have to attend Mass at St. Jude, but are free to go to their own Parish the other Sundays of the month.
Ministry Projects: Service is one of the essential ways that we grow in our faith relationship with Christ. We have a variety of Service Project planned. Twice a year each grade will participate in the TCN Food Pantry & Meal Ministry. On December 10 we will go to Marian Manor to sing Christmas Carols. On April grade 7 will help to organize a hygiene drive for the needy, and on April 13 grade 8 will help to organize a Fund-Raising meal to benefit the needy.
Holy Week: Once again we are asking grades 7-9 to participate in Holy Week to initiate them into the celebration of Holy Week as an important part of our faith. Grade 8 will help with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, and grade 7 will present the Living Stations at 3pm on Good Friday. Grade 9 will help with the Palm Sunday liturgy at St. Jude
Day of Recollection: This year, each grade in the entire program will have a Day of Recollection. We are planning a retreat day for Grades 7 & 8 on Saturday, January 13, 2024. Details regarding time and place TBD
Thanksgiving Mass: We will have a Thanksgiving Mass for grades 1-9 at 6:30pm on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, November 22nd at St Mary's Church. These Thanksgiving Masses are required for all grade levels.
Mass Attendance: Attending Mass every Sunday is part of our program. Students (and hopefully the entire family) are expected to attend the 4:55 PM Mass on days that we have Alpha. Students may attend other Masses with their families on weeks that we do not have class, but are still expected to attend Mass weekly.
Youth Group: Joe Silveira and T.J. Mills (and others) will be forming a TCN Youth Group for youth in Grades 7-9. This will be voluntary, but we hope that as many seventh to eight graders as possible will be involved. These activities will be social in nature. We will have a monthly Youth Group Meeting on the first Tuesday of the month at St. Jude from 6-7:30pm except for January which will be January 9.
FlockNote: All communication will come through Flocknote. Longer messages will come as an email, and short messages as a text. If you can not receive either email or text please tell us, and other arrangements can be made such as a voice message. Faith Formation registration this year was done through Flocknote.
Safe Environment: Be assured that all of our Edge Leaders have been through the three steps of the Diocesan Safe Environment program. Also, as required by the Diocese, we will have a night focused upon Safe Environment Issues for Junior High. This will be held during the week with a date and time to be announced. A parent can opt out of this session for their children. There will be a form to sign to opt out.
Faith Formation Leadership Team: Jane Santos is the coordinator of the lower level Formation Program, grades 1-6. Her office is located at the St Anthony Parish Center. Her contact information is 508-824-4545/Jane@cntaunton.org. The coordinator of the upper level program (grades 7-9) is Beth Hoye. Questions about the upper level faith formation program should be directed to her at beth@cntaunton.org Beth also has a Faith Formation number for texting and calling which is 774-226-9696. Given her schedule, it is best to email if it is a short question, and she can get back to you. Finally, Joanne Mercier, our Pastoral Assistant is very involved in lower level faith Formation, and Fr. Fred Babiczuk is very involved in upper level Faith Formation.
Catechetical Team: Beth Hoye, Fr. Fred Babiczuk, T.J. Mills, Nancy Simmons, Bea Perreira, Joe Silveira, Sheila McGrady, Michael Rodriques. We are still looking for two more table leaders.
Parental Support Team: We are always looking for parents to be involved in our program as a support team. For example, it would be helpful if parents set up for the meal with which we will start each class. Parents could also help as chaperones with Youth ministry activities. Such parents would have to fulfill the Safe Environment requirements of the diocese, which can largely be done from a computer or ipad. We will send out a form for you to sign-up.
Make-Up. We only have 13 Catechetical Sessions during the year. As a result, we will have a make-up class at St. Jude from 6-6:30pm on the Thursday following the Sunday Alpha session. The dates of the make-up are already on the calendar. If you miss a class on Sunday you will receive a reminder from Flocknotes about the make-up session on the following Thursday. The make-up will consist of watching the Alpha Video at home, and answering the Alpha questions through google forms. We will then meet to discuss the questions. Given that we only have 13 sessions per year each session will have to be completed either by attending Sunday night session or doing the make-up session. The video and questions will be posted on the web page for grades 7 & 8.