Since 2016, St. Thomas the Apostle parish has been blessed to have Ashlie Moran on its staff as Youth Minister.  Sometimes in life, we experience what we like to call “full circle moments”, where something happens and we can see the fruits of our labor, or life just seems to come full circle.  For many of us adults at St. Thomas, Ashlie serving as youth minister here was a “full circle moment.” You see, Ashlie was a very active and involved member of our St. Thomas Life Teen program during her middle and high school years. For those of us who have been in youth ministry for decades, seeing Ashlie return as the youth minister to the parish that “raised her” was a full-circle moment. 

As youth minister, Ashlie has led high schoolers on mission trips, youth conferences, and other various retreats. She has spent countless hours organizing the logistics of these trips and making sure there were always opportunities available to our young people. Because of her commitment to our young people, the teenagers of our parish have had opportunities for discipleship, mission work, personal growth, and fellowship. 
Shortly after Fr. Cuddy’s arrival as Pastor, Life Teen became the catechetical model of religious education for St. Thomas. Ashlie led the way as the parish transitioned from traditional SRE classes to Life Teen’s more interactive model of religious education.  This involved the training of Core members to become catechists and the development and implementation of a new parish Confirmation preparation program. Ashlie’s dedication and commitment to the young people of St. Thomas have been a tremendous gift.  Beginning in July she will start a new chapter in her life. She will become the Assistant to the Director of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Biloxi. We wish her many blessings as she takes on this new role. 

As Ashlie leaves and begins her new chapter, St. Thomas is excited to welcome Kaitlynn Snow as Youth Minister.  Kaitlynn is also a “full circle” story as she too was a former teen who was active in the Life Teen Program here at St. Thomas.  Kaitlynn has served as Youth Minister at St. James Parish for the past two years and is excited to return “home” to St. Thomas. More about Kaitlynn in the upcoming weeks!