{mosimage}"We are confirming our kids in eighth grade, so then what?" Frachey asks. After consulting with teens and their parents Frachey, St. Jude pastor Father Dean Probst and other parish leaders have come up with several answers that are helping young people stay involved in their parish life, along with keeping their faith alive.
Last month Frachey, Father Probst and other adult volunteers took about 15 teenagers to Catholic HEART Workcamp in Jackson, Miss. "We traveled in five vans and it worked out very well," Frachey says. "Not only did we volunteer at the workcamp, but we also visited the National Civil Rights Museum. That was a nice way to end a mission trip."
Because a group of students expressed an interest in improving their prayer life this summer, Frachey and several other adults took three prayer walks in July. They walked the Stations of the Cross at the Franciscan motherhouse in Riverton, took part in the ancient Labyrinth prayer walk at the Springfield Dominican sister's Jubilee Farm and then met to pray for those who live in the neighborhoods adjacent to Faith Temple AME (African Episcopal Methodist) Church on Springfield's east side.
On the evening of July 17 the students first met a close friend of Frachey's, Pastor Nathaniel Randall, who described life in a small African-American inner-city church community. Later Pastor Randall and the people from St. Jude's walked and prayed in the neighborhood. "During all three of these prayer events we've been focusing on social awareness and ecological stewardship," Frachey says.
This fall, the parish will offer four young adult high school "electives" to keep youth interested in their faith. The classes are called: Mass Confusion; Restoration: God's Favorite Hobby; Walkin' the Talk: Serving the Community from the Great Catholic Tradition of Social Teaching Today; and Chef Dan's Theology Kitchen 1.0.
The restoration class will involve coming to know God's love and mercy while assisting a parishioner in the restoration of an old car in his garage. The theology kitchen class, which will be taught by Frachey, will find students learning to make delicious foods in the parish kitchen while engaging others in relevant conversations about how God is working in our lives today.
The classes are planned to give students a unique prospective on Catholicism but are "based on the catechism and teachings of the church," Frachey concludes. "We know the kids are busy with school, sports and jobs, but we (at the parish) want to be part of their lives, too. So far, what we've done has worked out pretty well."