Star of the Sea Youth Ministry

Core Values

Faithfully Catholic
As members of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, we believe that we have been given the gift of the fullness of truth. We firmly believe that the Catholic Church is the safest and surest way to heaven. In addition to this, we also believe that by joyfully embracing all of her teachings we can find true happiness and meaning in this life. Learn more about the Catholic faith by visiting the Explore the Catholic Faith page.

Fun
Being young and Catholic can be a blast, and we aim to include the essential ingredient of good clean “fun” into our activities (although it often comes with a dose of weirdness to keep it real). Through this, we hope to foster holy and happy friendships that will last a lifetime and beyond.

Evangelical
Having discovered the great gift of our Catholic faith, how could we not share it with others? We respect the goodness and free will of those who are not fully within our Catholic family. At the same time, we seek to invite them to the fullness of truth by presenting our faith in a charitable, convincing and humble manor. We also seek to reach the large number of “baptized unbelievers” who are Catholic but have not yet embraced the faith. We know that the way we live our lives will be the single greatest factor in whether God uses us to draw more young people more securely into the fold of his Church.

Family Centered
While we seek to reach teens from non-Catholic and non-Christian homes with the love of Christ, the core of our ministry is to the young people of our parish. We recognize that parents are the first evangelists and primary catechists of their children. We are here to support parents in this important role and provide a community where the values they taught at home are reinforced. In today’s busy world we do not want to be just another extracurricular activity that takes teens away from their family, but one that enhances family life. Visit our Parents Page to find out more.

Powered by Prayer
Our ministry has a supernatural purpose, therefore it must by fueled by a supernatural source. We strongly encourage our volunteers and prayer partners to commit serious time in prayer for the students by name before the Blessed Sacrament on a regular basis and ask our parents to do the same for their teens and the volunteers. As a Marian parish, we entrust all our efforts to the powerful intercession of the Blessed Mother, asking that she might be the Star that guides all of us to her Son.

Sacramentally Focused
Through teaching the virtues, saints and moral theology of the Church we give young people the key to happiness in this life and the next. Through drawing them to the sacraments and modeling prayer we give them the grace that fuels a life of virtue.

Dynamic
While the truths of our faith do not change, our culture is constantly changing. New issues and needs arise with each generation, and a model of ministry that worked a decade ago may not necessarily speak as effectively to young people today. For this reason we seek the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit in adapting the way we do ministry so as to speak the timeless message of the Gospel through language and mediums that effectively reach youth today.