From left, Joshua Soots of Holy Family Parish, Andrew Riesberg of Our Lady of Victory Parish and Trever Bloominger of St. Paul the Apostle Parish, all in Davenport, try to solve a Thanksgiving-themed Pictionary Play-Doh word during a high school youth ministry meeting Nov. 11 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — Five Scott County parishes have teamed up to offer a youth group for high school students twice a month at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish-Bettendorf and Holy Family, Our Lady of Victory, Sacred Heart Cathedral and St. Paul the Apostle parishes in Davenport collaborate with help from Zac Robinson, a theology teacher at Assumption High School in Davenport.
Brett Adams, the director of discipleship at St. Paul the Apostle Parish came up with the idea of the multi-parish ministry after talking with the parish’s former youth minister, Luke Ebener, about the vision for youth ministry. The idea evolved to open the ministry to various parishes.
Adams approached the Davenport Deanery priests for their input and blessing to pursue the collaboration. Conversations continued after that initial meeting. The staffs of many parishes are part-time or have multiple roles as full-time employees and cannot offer full-time youth ministry. “We all shared a vision to collaborate.”
Youths from eight area high schools and homeschoolers have participated in the new youth ministry. Attendance has varied from about two dozen to nearly 75. A “Haunted Mansion” event at Sacred Heart Cathedral drew the biggest crowd, including neighborhood youths. “This is open to anyone. It’s a shared ministry and intermingles youths from different parishes and high schools. This shows how we are the greater Catholic community,” Adams said.
“This shows unity,” said Hieu Nguyen, youth coordinator for Holy Family Parish. “As parish leaders, we work together. This joint ministry pulls us, and the youths, together. It has worked well so far.”
Susan Stanforth, director of faith formation at Sacred Heart Cathedral, said a variety of youths show up. “It is not cliquish. The youths know they can come here even if they do not know anyone. They will meet someone new.”
Sacred Heart hosts the gatherings because it is centrally located and has space and availability on Monday nights. “There are so many perks,” said Kathy Schluter, director of faith formation and evangelization at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, referring to multi-parish ministry. “It brings many teens together in a faith-filled environment who might not have the opportunity to meet each other otherwise. This can spark friendships, great discussions and the greater number of kids brings more energy and fun to the whole experience. The shared gifts, experience and resources of the six youth ministers bring a richness to the group and allow us to serve the kids with much more than we could separately.”
The evenings include treats and drinks to get things started. The youths participate in a variety of interactive games, readings with reflections in small groups and prayer or time for personal reflection. During the Nov. 11 gathering, the youth ministers served a variety of sweets and hot apple cider. The students played Thanksgiving Bingo, followed by Pictionary Play-Doh. Each group received a list of readings, which they read and discussed in their small group. They had time to reflect in the dimly lit cathedral.
Trever Bloominger, a senior at Assumption High School and member of St. Paul the Apostle Parish, said Robinson, the school’s theology teacher and Bible study leader, encouraged students to check out the new youth group. Bloominger likes the variety of activities and seeing youths from a number of parishes. “I plan to keep coming.”
Assumption junior Andrew Riesberg of Our Lady of Victory Parish said if he were not at youth group, he would just be sitting around the house. He only missed one youth group meeting. “I can be myself here. I can talk and there are no arguments. We can have discussions, talk religion and be a community.”
The multi-parish youth ministry typically meets the second and fourth Mondays of each month from 7-9 p.m. at the cathedral. Schluter said, “I think it really brings a universal character to our work with the youth and that’s a truly Catholic way to work.”
