The faith formation programs at our parish bring to life the mission statement of St. Francis of Assisi: Inspired by our patron Francis of Assisi, we seek to proclaim the reign of God by growing in Holiness through our experience of Christ in word, sacrament and one another, offering Hope to those who hunger for human dignity, and extending Hospitality to all. The long-standing faith formation program is a small-group-based model that allows your youth to interact and discuss their faith. We work to accompany all parishioners on a lifelong journey to meet, know, love, and serve Jesus.
Jess Montrella, the Coordinator of Middle School Evangelization and Formation at St. Francis, is charged with the ‘Cross Train’ Program in Faith Formation. “As the Middle School Faith Formation Coordinator, in collaboration with Tim Hetzel, Director of Youth Ministry, I work to help our youth build an ever-deepening relationship with God and Jesus Christ, create fellowship within the Cross Train community, and foster connections with the Parish of St. Francis. We work towards these goals by offering Cross Train meetings on Sunday evenings during the school year in which we establish a strong sense of community through inclusivity, compassion, and a common desire to live out the principles of our Catholic faith within our time together and beyond. The Cross Train program is rooted in scripture, with the content and activities designed to be highly experiential so that youth can integrate meaning at a deeper level with the intentions of planting seeds from which spiritual growth occurs.”
Jess emphasizes that it is not only a formation program, but one that also integrates the youth into the life of our community. “Service is an underpinning value of our parish and one that forms our youth faith formation at St. Francis. Our youth learn that our call is to not only live a life of loving our brothers and sisters, but to take action to care for them in our daily lives,” says Jess. The emphasis of the program is grounded in the St. Francis parish tradition of service and community focus. “I hope that in offering our youth opportunities to serve,” she says, “we are modeling to our local community our commitment to help those in need.” It is also a call to be models to their peers. “At Cross Train,” she adds, “we ask our youth to be beacons of God’s love every day to those around them. Perhaps this means sitting with a schoolmate who is alone at lunch, standing up for the mistreated, or simply offering a smile or kind word to someone who is having a rough day. We encourage our youth to evangelize God’s love for all of his children through their actions and words in the hopes that they become conduits for love, peace, and compassion in their communities.”
Jess says, “We often speak of Cross Train programming as an experience rather than just content. We want our youth to feel acceptance, love, forgiveness, inspiration, and joy as we strive to model the Franciscan values expressed by our Parish of dignity, mercy, justice, care for creation, peace, and service to others.” The future of our Church is our youth, and you may be able to help build them in their faith while building the future of the Church. Interested? Jess has advice: “If you have a feeling that you want to get involved, but you aren’t totally sure. My advice is to follow that feeling! The Holy Spirit is working in ways we don’t fully understand, but trust yourself that you can make a positive impact on the lives of the youth in our parish. Throw yourself into God’s invitation for you!”