Life Teen & Edge Youth Ministry
2021 #GiveCatholic Fundraiser

This year on “Giving Tuesday,” Nov 30, we need your help!! We are collecting donations to help get our teens to Steubenville, Atlanta, and Life Teen Camp Covecrest. Many of our teens have encountered Christ in a deep way on these trips, so we are very excited to be going again next year! Any donation you can make is greatly appreciated and puts us one step closer to our goal. Thank you very much.  You can make a donation online starting Nov 15 at the following link

 Donate Now to Edge/Life Teen #iGiveCatholic

Registration for Edge and Life Teen (6th through 12th Grade) is online.

Please make sure to complete a registration form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfEsgo51 if you want to join us, so we can plan accordingly. Thank you for being patient and understanding this past year.  We have been praying for everyone’s safety, we miss you and can’t wait to see you at KICKOFF ON SEPTEMBER 12!!

Since its start at St. Thomas Parish in 1999, the Life Teen program has proven an effective model for teaching the Catholic faith to our young people and help to guide them in forming personal relationships with Jesus Christ. St. Thomas the Apostle Parish has always put the religious education of our young people first, and this will never change.  Teens are a gift to the Church and are hungry for the truth.

We’re ready to take things to the next level for our youth.  Through feedback and prayers we have decided that, moving forward, the best way to reach our youth is through this shift in our teaching methods.

Weekly Life Teen nights (9th through 12th grade) and Edge nights (6th through 8th grade) replace the traditional classroom catechesis and offer a large group, interactive atmosphere where teens can grow in their understanding of God’s relevance in their lives while building community within the parish.  Teens experience a large-group format that removes the classroom desks and draws them into an interactive learning experience.

Life Teen is a complete, comprehensive and interactive model of religious formation.
Weekly Life Teen nights and Edge nights will fall into one of the three categories: Catechetical, Issue, or Social.  The primary goal of these nights is to encourage teens to develop a deeper relationship with Christ and to challenge them to live their faith as they carry out their daily lives. All lessons will follow the liturgical calendar and form a strong foundation to bridge our youth to both the mass and our parish community.

So, what is actually changing?

• Pre-K through 5th grade: Remain the same and still meet on Sunday mornings.
• 6th grade through 12th grade: Will now meet on Sunday evenings after the evening mass.

Life Teen and Edge will become the new “SRE” for our students in grades six through twelve. Sacramental preparation for Confirmation will also be completed through the Life Teen Program, with our 11th graders meeting for special classes on a different evening about two months before their Confirmation.  

The Edge Nights allow the youth to learn about their faith through talks, skits, videos, small group discussions and sharing what they know with their friends. As part of the Catholic Church’s mission to evangelize, middle school youth are encouraged to go out and bring their friends to the Edge.

Edge Nights are open to any 6th through 8th grader.  We gather immediately after the 5:30 p.m. (effective August 7th) Life Teen Mass upstairs in the youth room.  Edge is led by a wonderful group of volunteer adults who are eager to share their faith with our middle school students.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kaitlynn SNow, Youth Minister at (228)236-4899.