January Lifeline

Special Lifeline Road Trip for Parents and Teens

January 10th

New! Lower Cost: $15 for students $10 for adults
Saturday, January 10th Parents and teens in Gr. 8-12 are encouraged to attend a special Lifeline event: "Duc In Altum!" (Launch into the Deep!) With a special session for parents: “Keeping your Kids Catholic.” Plan to have your faith awakened, strengthened and renewed as a young apostle of Jesus Christ. (This covers all costs: transportation, pizza and pop, Lifeline donation and snacks. Bus will load at Holy Spirit at 3:45 PM and leave at 4:00 PM. We'll return to Holy Spirit at approx. 11:30 PM. Permission forms available in the gathering space kiosk.

Sign Up online! Click here to RSVP

Merry Christmas

The Baby Boy

To have Christmas peace and joy,
We can’t forget the Baby Boy.

From Heaven to earth,

the Son of God,
He came to walk this earthly sod.

To live like us from day to day,
And by his life to show the way…

To grace, abundance, hope within,
He came to save us from our sin.

A home in Heaven, our souls to life,
We’ll never get a greater gift.

So if we want real peace and joy,
Let’s not forget the Baby Boy.

-Tammy Scheller

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Jan/Feb Calendars Available

Pick up a Youth Ministry Calendar for January and February and take a look at all of our upcoming events!

Calendars can be found in the Church Gathering Space Kiosk.

Souper Bowl of Caring Meeting

Are you looking for a Confirmation Service Activity?

Participate in our first annual Souper Bowl of Caring! Join us for an informational meeting on Sunday, January 4th at 11:15 a.m. (After the 10am Mass) Students will be able to help in a variety of ways and will be asked to take some leadership roles in this project. All proceeds raised will be donated to a local foodshelf of our choosing. Attendance at this meeting is necessary if you would like to participate in this service project.

From the Souper Bowl of Caring Website:
A simple prayer: "Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat" is inspiring a youth-led movement to help hungry and hurting people around the world. This prayer, delivered by Brad Smith, then a seminary intern serving at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, gave birth to an idea. Why not use Super Bowl weekend, a time when people come together for football and fun, to also unify the nation for a higher good: collecting dollars and canned food for the needy? Youth could collect donations at their schools and churches in soup pots, and then send every dollar DIRECTLY to a local charity of THEIR choice. The senior high youth of Spring Valley Presbyterian liked the idea so much... (read more)

For more information on the Souper Bowl of Caring, please visit their website: http://www.souperbowl.org/

And come to the informational meeting on Sunday, January 4th!

Steubenville Conference: Info. Meeting

Join us for an informational gathering about the 09 Steubenville Conference.

(Open to students and parents current 8th grade to graduating seniors.)

Sunday, January 18th
5:30-7:00 pm
Church of St. John the Evangelist

(11 4th Ave. SW)

Meet us at St. John’s church to learn more about the Catholic Steubenville Conference for high school students. (This includes current 8th graders and graduating seniors!) The conference will be held at the Mayo Civic Center July 17-19th, 2009. This 3 day experience includes speakers, Mass, small groups, Adoration, music by SONAR, entertainment and more!
The informational get-together will give you the chance to learn about Steubenville, meet other students who have gone before, watch a promotional video about this year’s conference and have a good time! This Steubenville North Conference has been in Rochester just 3 years and numbers have doubled every year. Registration opened in November and we already have as many people signed up for this year as the total number of participants from last year!
Do not miss out on this opportunity! Meet with us on Sunday, January 17th at 5:30 at St. John’s Church to learn more. Registration will be available—you can sign up for the conference that night!

Simply RSVP for this event: Click Here.

More info on the Steubenville Conference visit the

Partnership for Youth Website.

Ice Skating January 17th

Middle School students join us for an ice skating night on

Saturday, January 17th. 4pm-9:15 pm

Meet at church at 4 pm--drop off your stuff in the activity room. We'll head over to the church for the 4:30 pm Mass. After Mass we'll have pizza and hang out in the Activity Room till open ice time at the REC Center. We'll head over to the REC Center at 6:45 and skate until about 8:45. Parents can pick up their students between 9-9:15 pm.

Cost:$3 (extra $2 to rent skates) Bring Cash.

Chaperones are needed to help provide transportation to the REC Center. Chaperones eat and attend for FREE!

NOW YOU CAN RSVP ONLINE! CLick HERE to RSVP for this event!

*If you sign up online, make sure to bring your money and a SIGNED permission sheet when you arrive. Blue permission sheets can be found on the Gathering Space kiosk at church.

RSVP by Wednesday, January 14th.

"Christmas Spirit" Night UPDATE

We had a great time showing Christmas Spirit on Friday night! The activity room was transformed (with the help of some students) into a winter wonderland.

We had almost 15 middle school students and we wrapped more than 20 presents for the Advent Christmas Tree Project!

We played a “snowball fight” game and watched the movie Elf which elicited plenty of giggles from everyone.

Our most festive dressed winner was Kathryn Heimer. Way to show some spirit, Kathryn!

Thank you to all students and parents who helped with this event.

Join us next time to have fun with this wild and crazy bunch!

Lifeline December UPDATE

We had another good trip to Lifeline this month! We listened to a speaker, had Mass, Adoration, and enjoyed fellowship together! High School students and parents from all over Rochester have attended each month for Lifeline since October. Lifeline is a day of fun, a little adventure, excitement, music, surprises, challenges and more. If you've never been before, then I encourage you to join us on January 10th--this night will feature a special breakout session for parents on "Keeping Your Kids Catholic". There will be breakout sessions for teens, too.

What a great opportunity to try out Lifeline--its Mass like you've never experienced before PLUS so much more! Just ask any of the other 800 youth who attend on a regular basis!

Now, you can sign up online for this event!

Follow the link and register for the January event!

Iron Chef Challenge 2008: UPDATE!

The secret ingredient? Candy Canes!

Don't these all look good? So creative. Great job, everybody!

After the judges had their taste, it was time for all of us to try! YUM!

We had 3 wonderful judges: Fr. Schmitz of Holy Spirit, Joe Cors of Holy Spirit, and Fr. Reker of St. Francis of Assisi. They had the tough job of deciding the winners in each division. Each team had an opportunity to sit down with the judges and tell them why their creation should be the winner. Thanks, judges!

Here are our winners with their "Colorful Christmas Candy Cake" that took first place in our Middle School division. Great job, girls! The winning team in each division took home the coveted "Golden Spatula" as well as giftcards to Target, Culvers or Cold Stone Creamery!

We had a total of 6 teams and about 15 youth (not all pictured here) who participated in the Iron Chef Challenge. Everyone had fun (and learned a little more about baking!)

Thanks to Mary Nowakowski and Holy Spirit for hosting this event for us! See you at the next one!

Would you forget to celebrate Christmas?

You would never want to miss Christmas--so celebrate with us! Middle School students don't forget to RSVP for the "Christmas Spirit" Night by Wednesday December 10th! RSVP by calling or emailing and tell me you're coming! Don't forget: bring your Advent Tree gift, a sleeping bag and your most festive outfit!

(Click the picture to see more details!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a peaceful and blessed Thanksgiving Holiday.

Give thanks to the LORD,

for he is good.

His love endures forever.

"Let each of us be mindful

of all that we have received from his hands and for which we give thanks: food, family, friends, work, health, and happy memories.

In giving thanks we are blessed.

Amen."

Junior High Youth Rally: UPDATE

Here are pictures from the Youth Rally on November 9th. We had a great time travelling with Holy Spirit for this event.

Tony Melendez was a great speaker and an amazing musician!

Join us next time!

Can you take the heat?

Get your team together and send me your team's name.

Sign up by Wednesday, December 3rd.

Christmas Spirit Night

Middle School Students here is your chance to "get in the spirit" and have some Christmas fun!

(click to view larger)

Click here for the movie review of "ELF" by the USCCB.

RSVP by calling or emailing Carol by

Wednesday, December 10th!

Steubenville 08

Here is the promo video for last year's event. It was a great time. If you are a high school student who is interested in growing in your faith this summer then consider Steubenville North Conference 2009 July 17-19. (Eligible students range from entering 9th grade in the fall to graduates from high school this spring).It will be a conference you won't forget.

Click here for more info.

Steubenville Conference 2009

Above All

Looking for an opportunity to grow in your faith and grow closer to Christ? Join us at the Steubenville North Conference 2009! This annual event will be held at the Rochester Mayo Civic Center July 17-19 summer 2009. Join hundreds of other Catholic high school youth from all over the Midwest. Keep your eyes open for more info!

(click to view a larger picture)

Here is the blog (and more pictures) from last year's event!

Click here to visit the Partnership for Youth/Steubenville Conference Website!

November 22nd Concert

Only $5 plus cash for food on the way!

Join us for this mini-road trip and concert!

November Lifeline: UPDATE

We took a bus of 25 people from Rochester up to the Net Center in St. Paul on November 1st for the monthly Lifeline Mass. We were joined by over 800 young people to celebrate Mass, sing and dance in worship, hear a wonderful speaker and spend time in Adoration. We ended our night with a stop at a local pizza place. This is a great event that happens every first Saturday of the month (October-May). Consider venturing with us next month to see what 800 young people get so excited about!

Our next Lifeline will be held Saturday, December 6th.

Note to parents: Parents are welcomed and encouraged to come to Lifeline events.

January’s Lifeline on January 10th will include special breakout sessions—one specifically for parents!

Join us!

Austin Youth Rally: UPDATE

Here is a video of Tony Melendez performing at the Austin Youth Rally:

We joined a group from Holy Spirit Parish and a total of 15 people to attend the 7th and 8th Grade Junior High Youth Rally in Owatonna, MN on Sunday November 9th. We had a great time! We were joined by about 300 other youth from the surounding area parishes.

The event began with some crazy mixer games that everyone participated in! We listened to Tony and his band perform. The performance included electic guitar and drum solos by members of his band! We heard about Tony's story of hope and miracles. He challenged us all to be open to our faith and to dream big dreams! We celebrated Mass, ate pizza, and enjoyed a dance to end the night.

Overall, this was a great event! Join us next year.

Cardboard Box City UPDATE

We raised almost $400 to benefit the homeless community of Rochester!

(and we had a GREAT time doing it!)

We had fun trying to build our houses. It was a challenge in the cold--but we did it! We used duct tape, tarps, boxes and anything else we could think of to put our houses together!

There was a live drum band with great music and choreography! It really was a small "cardboard box city." There were houses big and small, all different shapes and colors.

The next morning we spent some time thinking about the cold, uncomfortable night we had. We thought about those who don't have options. We were challenged to think of ways that we can show our faith in our everyday lives.


Check out the gathering space this weekend to see more pictures and a display of this event!

Get in on the service and fun---join us in 2009!