Overview
St. Peter’s is very committed to raising up our young people to be strong, caring, spiritual people who will learn how much they are important to God’s creation. We are also very serious about having fun! The adult youth leaders are serious about creating and sustaining a loving, safe, nurturing community for each of our teens. To this end, we utilize the Journey to Adulthood curriculum and have since the program’s inception. Its style, lessons and philosophy fit well with our hopes and dreams for our young people. Upon this framework, we’ve built a comprehensive program utilizing the gifts and experience of our Youth Director and the nine dedicated and knowledgeable adult parishioners who volunteer their time to teach, play and nurture our youth.
We have added much to the basics of Journey to Adulthood. For example, we incorporate lessons about the Liturgical seasons, we build on the lessons in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program that our children take part in throughout their elementary years. We also teach our young people about Episcopal traditions and practices and the Book of Common Prayer. We have also created a curriculum to prepare our juniors and seniors for Confirmation, the process of adult acceptance into the church. We offer mission experiences every summer, and for each of them, a chance to experience the spiritual benefits of a Holy Pilgrimage when they reach their junior or senior year.
The four goals of the Journey to Adulthood (J2A) curriculum are:
- To guide and celebrate the transition from youth to adulthood
- To train our young people in the skills, promises and joys of adulthood
- To explore their own faith and beliefs and the mystery of our faith heritage
- To establish our experience in the strength of community and liturgy
The program is divided into three sections: Rite-13, J2A (includes the Pilgrim year) and YAC. In order to give our young people the best possible experience, to develop true community and to provide for their holistic growth into adulthood, the St. Peter’s youth program follows the recommended minimums for meeting together each year of their teens:
- One hour of formation each Sunday morning during the church school year
- Participation in worship with their family and as an Acolyte.
- A large group experience one every other month
- Two to three overnight experiences throughout the year (Winter Retreat, Beach Retreat.
- A summer retreat or mission trip experience.
Each Journey to Adulthood lesson and various activities are grounded in scripture. The program has an overarching group of five guiding scripture passages:
- The calling of Moses (Exodus 3:1-4:20)
- Jesus’ ministry to the Twelve and the sending out of his disciples (Matthew 10:1-11:1)
- Putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18)
- Gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-13:13)
- The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30)