Quest is our small faith communities for our Freshman and Sophomore teens. The Sacrament of Confirmation takes place at the end of Sophomore year. The high school religious education programs are administered by Candy Rice.

GOALS...

1. empowering young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today;
2. drawing young people to responsible participation in the life, mission, and work of the faith community; and
3. fostering the personal and spiritual growth of each young person. To accomplish these goals it will take the people and resources of the entire Church.

The above is taken from “Renewing the Vision,” A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry.

Quest meetings are held twice a month on Sunday afternoons or evenings in the home of the Quest leader from September through April. Each year, all teens expecting to be involved in ANY aspect of the Youth Ministry program at any level during any year must register in the spring for the following year. This includes incoming Freshmen, returning Sophomores, and those joining Peer Ministry.

QUEST is... For all high school teens to experience acceptance, love, faith and challenge. Quest offers teens an atmosphere in which they are free to question and search out issues they are wrestling with in an open and Christian environment.

September - April - Quest home meetings. Teens gather in homes for small group discussion on faith issues, teen related topics, and personal support for a choice in faith. Also this is a time to share their visions, hopes, dreams and questions.

September - Parish Picnic and Quest Kick-off.

October - Sleep Out Saturday is an overnight stay, every other year, on the parish grounds every other year to help raise awareness of the homeless in the DuPage area.

November - Harvest Sunday is a service project to collect food for the local food pantries.

November - Alpha Retreat (Freshmen) focuses on our relationship with God.

February - Spirit Retreat (Sophomores) allows time to contemplate how God is calling them. This retreat is mandatory for all teens making their Confirmation.

March - High School Stations of the Cross

April - Confirmation (Sophomores - Seniors)

High School Youth Ministry Calendar for 2009-10

Freshman year will concentrate on the process of relational ministry and the theme of Becoming, Believing and Belonging. The events and activities are geared to help one discover good times, friends, Jesus, and personal faith.

The theme for Sophomore year is Jesus: His Vision, His Values. It concentrates on the journey of becoming a disciple of Jesus. The world “disciple” comes from the Greek word meaning learner. The events are designed to deepen one's faith commitment and ongoing service involvement.

“As the primary educators of their children, parents (along with the QUEST Leader) are to be intimately involved in the Confirmation process This will help them renew and strengthen their own faith besides enabling them to set a better example for their children (119 NCD)”

We encourage parents to:

• Take an active role in the preparation of their son/daughter for the Sacrament of Confirmation,
• Support the decision of their son/daughter to enter the preparation process because a free response is required of a candidate, the parents should not exercise any coercion,
• Share their own faith experiences with him/her,
• Participate in all meetings designed specifically for parents,
• Participate in all the major liturgical celebrations of the preparation process as well as attending weekly Mass,
• Provide a home environment that is conducive to the faith development of the candidate
• Be willing to assist the candidate with his/her preparation, and
• Encourage the newly confirmed candidates to continue their involvement in the Church/Parish/Youth Ministry beyond Confirmation.