Youth Ministry

Welcome to the Youth Ministry page for Saint James the Greater parish in Concord, NC!     

 Our ministry serves the high school students of our parish. Through Life Nights on Sunday (6pm-8pm), the Liturgy each week at the Teen Mass (Sunday, 5pm), retreats, service opportunities and youth gatherings, we seek to bring our teens into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.

Our goal is to lead teens closer to Christ. To do that, our focus is on relational ministry and the Eucharist.

 What does that mean? It means our ministry is focused on building relationships—with the youth and, in turn, the youth with Jesus Christ (especially Jesus in the Eucharist)—so that real change and transformation can occur in our young people’s lives.

 Why do we do ministry this way?  Because this approach is founded in the Gospels.

Jesus called men to follow him as disciples and eventually those disciples were commissioned and became known as the 11 apostles. The Gospel of Matthew ends with these words of Jesus to the 11 apostles,

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

 Jesus talks about the need to spread the Good News throughout the world. This is where “Evangelization” and “Catechesis” come into the picture.

“Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize.”  Pope Paul VI

Evangelization
Sharing the “Good News” and inviting someone to experience the good fruit of that Good News.

Catechesis
The teaching and forming of students in matters of the faith. 

Catechesis is a necessary component of Christian Discipleship and flows from Evangelization. So how do we share that “Good News” (Evangelize)?

Relational Ministry 
We relate to the youth. We make the faith relatable to the youth. We show that Jesus Christ is relatable to who they are and what they want to become.

We all want the best for our youth: that they would be successful, responsible, caring, giving, happy adults. The Church has always taught that we can only experience true happiness when we are fulfilling our true purpose. How can we know our truest purpose apart from Christ?

If you’re in high school or you have a son or daughter in high school, we invite you to come join us today and begin the adventure of finding yourself in Christ.

God Bless,

 

Youth Ministry contact is Gustavo Gallo, 704-720-0600x720 or GustavoG@saintjamescatholic.org.