Journeying with Youth

Youth is a time for fundamental decisions and the beginning of fulfilling our dreams. And yet, young people today face enormous challenges: the uncertainty of relationships in a digital era, diminishing opportunities for work, the growth of political violence, discrimination, degradation of the environment. All of this makes it difficult for them to find a road where they can build supportive personal and family relations based on solid spiritual and financial foundations. 
 
This UAP asks us to provide a solid spiritual foundation so that our children and youth can personally know Jesus in a deeper way and follow Him more closely. Over the 2023-2024 ministry year, our parish actively supported children and youth in their faith journey in a variety of ways. 

• 105 dedicated volunteers and staff helped children and youth in our parish increase their knowledge of and actively practice our Catholic faith through our Faith Formation, Youth Ministry, and Sacramental Preparation programs.  
  • 85 youth participated in our High School Youth Ministry program on Sundays.
  • 89 youth participated in our Middle School Youth Ministry program on Sundays.
  • 185 children participated in our K - 5 Faith Formation program on Sundays.
  • 23 families participated in Family Faith Formation Small Groups (2-3 families per small group).
  • 20 children and youth over the age of 7 years old were baptized.
  • 151 children and youth celebrated their First Reconciliation and First Communion.
  • 30 youth will receive the sacrament of Confirmation in September.
• 459 children and youth had the opportunity to increase their knowledge of and actively practice our Catholic faith as students in Saint Raphael Catholic School.
• 160 children discovered the wonders of God’s world as students in Saint Raphael Catholic Preschool.
• 40 children learned that everyone is welcome at God’s table at Vacation Bible Camp this summer.
• Youth and young adults were offered opportunities to attend retreats during the year
  • 60 youth and young adults attended a retreat at our parish (in Spanish)
  • 5 youth joined youth from 4 other parishes at the “Face to Face” retreat hosted by Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral at Camp Rockfish in Parkton, NC
  • 2 youth and one chaperone from our parish joined other local parishes to attend the Youth Steubenville-Atlanta Summer Conference in July
• 60 children in grades K - 5 learned more about food insecurity during family volunteer days at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.

While these numbers are impressive, it only allowed us to provide a basic Faith Formation and Youth Ministry program for many of our children and youth. We need many more volunteers on Sundays, especially for our middle school and high school programs, to be able to provide a high quality program that offers service opportunities, community building, fellowship, spiritual reflection opportunities, and retreats for our children and youth. Click here to learn more about volunteer opportunities in our Youth Ministry programs.