A New Name
On that note, the first change is a new name for Wednesday night classes: Faith Formation classes.  We decided that it is much easier to understand than “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine” or CCD.

A New Program for High Schoolers and Young Adults
Many have expressed a concern that, since students are now receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation in 8th grade, we have not had a regular course of instruction for them once they reach high school.  While we will continue our Youth Group program on Sunday evenings, we are adding a Bible study for young adults who have been confirmed.  We hope high school and even college age students will join us on Wednesday nights.

Faith Formation Projects
We have added two new initiatives.  The first is to make sure we include charity and service to the church and to the community as part of forming our children in our Catholic faith.  We will include projects throughout the year to model these virtues for the students.

Community Activity Nights 
The second initiative is to invite our entire St. John and St. Terence family, and the larger community in south Sabine Parish, to participate in the formation of our students (and each other).  Each month, we will have a Community Activity at the time we normally have Faith Formation classes, and we invite everyone to these events.  A full schedule is available at www.stjohnmany.org/psr.  The first Community Activity will be on September 27, with a Mass and a dinner.  Since this is the feast day of St. Vincent dePaul, we have partnered with the Society of St. Vincent dePaul to kick off the year.

Pray for Our Children
We also invite you to pray for our students in grades pre-K through 8th grade.  On September 9-10, we will have bookmarks in the back of church with a specific student’s name so that you can remember to pray for that child’s growth in the faith throughout the year.