St Joseph's Catholic Church: Youth

Groups: Youth

Our aim is to provide opportunities for young people to encounter Jesus in a real and personal way and then respond to His call, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to serve and to Worship God.

"And don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanour, by love, by faith, by integrity... Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature before their eyes!" Timothy 4: 12, 15 (The Message)

A youth committee has been formed, made up of representatives from each of the following groups:

Mothers and Toddlers (children aged 2/3 years old)
Children's Liturgy (pre-school, reception and Years 1 &2 primary school children)
First Communion (Year 3)
jGYM (Years 6-8)
Confirmation (Year 10)
GYM (Years 9-13)

Other youth activities are also available at St Joseph's such as SUST, altar serving, the priest's ministry in the local catholic schools.

jGYM/GYM

GYM is an open, accepting, non-judgemental and fun environment for young people in the Guildford area where they can grow as a community. GYM seeks to understand, encourage and empower young people aged between 10-18 years of age, in their search for meaning in life today and provides a model of how Jesus met with people.

jGYM (Years 6-9): Fridays at 6.00pm-8.00pm
GYM (Years 10-13): Fridays at 8.00pm-10.00pm
in St Joseph's Church Hall

Mothers and Toddlers

Mothers and toddlers runs Mondays 10am - 11.30am during term time. Please look at the calendar for all the dates.

St Joseph's Mother and Toddler aims to provide a caring, safe environment for play for babies and toddlers and a welcoming, friendly and mutually respectful evironment where mothers and other carers of children can meet and share experiences and build realtionships. It is run by volunteers on behalf of the Vhurch with an entrance fee of £2 charged per family.

The session includes free play on all the toys/equipment laid out and an art/craft activity when possible. Children are provided with juice/water and a fruit and biscuit snack at 10.30am. Snack time takes place in th ehard hall and with the carer's co-operation, children are encouraged to remain seated at tables laid out for this purpose. Adults are then provided with tea/coffee and biscuits. Tidy up takes place at 11.15am where all are encouraged to help, followed by a song time just before the end of the session at 11.30am.

Children's Liturgy

To bring the Word of God to the younger members of our community in a way that they can understand and relate to.

Children's Liturgy takes place at the 11.00am Mass and at some special Services. The children have their own Service, including Liturgy of the Word, Music and activities.
There are three groups:

"Pre-school" Group - aged between 2-4 years, attend accompanied by parent or adult known to them.

"School" Group - aged 4-8 years, who have started school and no longer need an adult to accompany them.

"First Communion" Group - over 8 years or for children following First Holy Communion.

For more information contact Susan Milford via the parish office.

First Holy Communion

The First Holy Communion programme usually starts in September/October for those children who have just started in Year 3 at school There are 8 monthly sessions, including a Reconciliation service and a celebratory Mass at the end of the programme. Meetings are held on Saturday afternoons for children and parents to encourage a sense of belonging to the Church community. Parents are asked to register their interest in the course from August. For more information contact the Parish Office.

Confirmation

Confirmation is a sacrament which completes the Christian's initiation and begins their journey as an adult member of the Catholic Church. In this diocese the preparation takes place when the young person is in year 10 at school. All schools in the area are represented. Here we expect the young person to make the initial enquiry as this is part of their taking responsibility for their own faith journey. The preparation consists of several enquiry sessions, after which the young person makes a commitment to the course and to the group. The group meets regularly and the Course starts in October/November and finishes in June the following year. For more information contact the Parish Office.

Altar Servers

For girls and boys in the Parish. They are encouraged to take part after they have received their First Holy Communion. The young people are given a great responsibility and, hopefully, develop their faith. They take turns to experience different roles and, when responsible, may be chosen as a Team Leader. This involves organising a Team and having security responsibilities. There are rotas for each of our Masses.