St. Mark's Youth Group

Game show hosts Maddie Barth, Drew Conley, Edward & Fiona Tomlins

We are fortunate at St. Mark's to have clergy who are excited to work with our children. From our Pastor Msgr. Browney to our associate Fr. Gifford to our two deacons, John Skender and Jim Heatwole, our children have wonderful, involved role models for the Christian life.

Fr. Gifford has taken on our youth ministry, and we are so happy Luke and other SMS students have this opportunity to develop their faith. Today we met at the school and after a potluck lunch, our high school students led us in a fun activity: the parent-child version of the Newlywed Game. 

Luke and I were up first and I must say that he knows his mom pretty well. He was asked, "What would your mom take with her on a desert island?" I immediately wrote my answer on the white board. When it came time for Luke to guess what I wrote, he said, "Her family."

                           

Yay! That is correct!

He also answered correctly my favorite university (University of Wisconsin--could have been Bradley too!) and my favorite compliment from him (Love you, mom!)

The other families present had an opportunity to play. When asked what she would do first with the money if she won the lottery, Jamie Stortz, mother of Sara and Ben, answered, "Give some to SMS." We love that answer!

After the game, a Bradley student gave a talk on the importance of family. Then the students broke off into small groups for discussion.

The parents went up to the library to listen to Fr. Gifford explain the plan and schedule for the youth group for the coming year.

 Here is a quote from Pope Francis in the youth group pamphlet that Fr. Gifford gave us: "When we come into contact with life, with people's lives, not just images on a screen, something powerful happens. We all feel the need to get involved. . . Our response to a world at war has a name: its name is fraternity, its name is brotherhood, its name is communion, its name is family."

In the pamphlet, Fr. Gifford goes on to say, "Pope Francis called the youth of our world to appreciate the beauty of encountering one another, communicating with compassion and care, understanding each other, and sharing  life in community, especially joining in prayer in the communion of the Church. In our world today, broken in so many ways, living the Christian life is hard. But we don't have to live it alone. In fact, we are not made to try. We need each other. And we were made to enter into communion with Him and with each other, to support each other on the often difficult journey of moving closer to Christ and becoming the saints he made us to be."

We are looking forward to all that the youth group has to offer our students.