Faith Formation
Faith Formation
Level 1, ages 3-6—Sundays, 9:00 am-11:00 am (location in the Atrium)
Level 2, ages 7-10 — Sunday 12:15 pm-2:15 pm (located in the Atrium)
Level 3, ages 9-12 — Sunday 9:00 am -11:00 am (located in the Atrium)
Youth Ministry — 9:00 am-11:00 am —2 Sundays a month. We will meet in a new location, the “Rectory”, located above the office. We will be using the back door entrance. Parents may drop their children off or walk them up the back entrance.
Sacraments are received in 2nd grade and requires 2 years of Sacramental preparations.
Confirmation preparation — Sign up for Confirmation is in 8th grade and received the following year.
Contact Carolyn Davis, 724-599–7406 for more information.
**Please note:If your family is unable to make our Faith Formation and Scheduled events, you are welcome to join SS. Simon and Jude Parish for their Faith Formation program. We are now partnered with them, which gives families flexibility with busy schedules. For information, go to their website: www.saintsimonandjude.org
Formation for Children
All children K-12 should be involved in some form of Faith Formation. At the parish, we currently offer Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for children age 3 to Grade 6 and Youth Ministry for Grades 7-12. Students who attend our Catholic Schools receive formation as part of their curriculum. Other options like classroom-based formation (at another parish) and home-based formation can be arranged by contacting the Parish Office. Please reach out to us if you have questions, or if your child has not been in Faith Formation in previous years—we want to help you connect!
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
At Church of the Good Shepherd, we follow the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd model of Faith Formation. The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd gives primary focus to the relationship with God through Jesus and offers a sacred place where the child can be initiated into the religious life. God and the child have a unique relationship with one another, particularly before the age of six. Through the proclamations of the Word, this relationship is affirmed for the child and assists in helping the child to draw nearer to God. To speak about the religious life of the child is to speak about how the child dwells with the mystery of God.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd sessions take place in a particular space, known as the Atrium. The Atrium allows the child the space to draw closer to God. It is a place where the child can listen to the proclamations of the Good News from the Word of God; meditate on the Word of God and begin to live it according to the child’s own rhythm. It is a place for the announcement of the Word of God, a place for celebration and also a place for work. It is an environment in which work becomes meditation and prayer. The child’s expression of the religious life is manifested through prayer responses whether silent or aloud, in contemplation, and through artwork.
Our atria are available to all children age three (3) through sixth grade and on various days and times throughout the week. Please e-mail Danielle Cribbs ([email protected]) or Carolyn Davis ([email protected]) for the complete Faith Formation calendar.
All other questions may be directed to Father Dino Laude ([email protected]) in our Parish Office at 724.479.3881, Danielle Cribbs at [email protected], or Carolyn Davis at [email protected].