Saint Margaret Youth Ministry is going to Hersheypark!

RESCHEDULED:

Thursday, August 11, 2016

8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

(Bus will pick up and drop off at the Saint Margaret Elementary School parking lot.)

Cost: $53/person

(includes round trip bus & park ticket)

Bring a friend! Bring the family!

All youth who are not entering at least 7^th grade for the 2016/2017 school year must be accompanied by a SHIELD certified adult.

If you want to join us, please complete the registration/permission form on the back of this flyer and return to the parish office along with the $53 fee.

CLICK HERE FOR PERMISSION FORM

Due to the possible thunderstorms this evening, we are sorry to announce that Middle School Madness is cancelled. We will try again on July 28.

High School and College Hangout Nights

All are welcome to our weekly hangout nights at FiRE House. Newly graduated eighth graders and current high school students are invited to join us at our Tuesday night hangouts. From 7:00 to 9:30, we gather together for a small prayer and activities like board games, sports, movies, video games, and more. Our activities from this past year include filmmaking, Human Hungry Hungry Hippos, Human Battleship, Nerf Wars, scavenger hunts, and so many other creative games and activities planned by our high school students. This week, we will be playing hide-and-seek and capture the flag games outside. This is the perfect time for students to relax, have fun, make friends, and become more involved in our parish.

We also have college hangout nights from 7:00 to 9:00 on Wednesday evenings. All graduated seniors and college-aged students are invited. Activities range from geocaching to trivia nights to game nights. Typically, we meet off-campus at a specific location, so we ask that all college students under the age of 18 fill out a permission form. This week, we will be meeting at Churchville Mini Golf and the Arctic Circle for ice cream afterwards. Again, this is a great time for students to hang out, play games, make friends, and have fun. 

For more information about our hangout nights or other opportunities for high school or college-aged students, please email saintmargaretyouthministry@gmail.com. We hope to see you soon!

Farewell, Rich Rome

St. Margaret Youth Ministry is full of goodbyes this summer. Senior peer ministers are moving on to college, older peers are moving on to their adult lives, and our catechists are moving on to new beginnings in their own lives. Just a week after we bid Karissa Pavelka farewell, we celebrated the departure of another catechist and friend. Rich Rome, a major part in our Youth Ministry and Confirmation programs for the past several years, will be moving to Chicago next month in order to enter discernment with the Franciscan brothers. Rich has helped on retreats, leading prayers and discussions, and taught Confirmation classes throughout the years, impacting the lives of so many young people in our parish. On Tuesday night, our peer ministers gathered for pizza, cupcakes, and to send Rich off with our best wishes. We surprised Rich with a handmade cross and a special memento from his many Confirmation retreats at the O'Dwyer Retreat House. We will miss Rich, or Richrome, as he is best known, as this Confirmation year begins. His many stories and conversation-starting t-shirts will always hold a special place in our hearts. Join us as we wish Rich the best as he enters this very special time in his life and as we pray for more young people to answer the call to discernment or vocations, just as Rich has. 

Goodbye, Karissa!

Just over a month ago, we came together to celebrate the marriage of one of our own, Karissa Pavelka, to parishioner and doctor-to-be Andrew Simon. Now we bid farewell to the happy couple as they head to Sayre, Pennsylvania to complete Andrew's hospital residency. Karissa has been a peer minister, Catechist, musician, Parish Council member, and Living Stations of the Cross director throughout her life at St. Margaret. Most importantly, however, she has been a friend and mentor for our youth, joining us on trips, retreats, and hang-out nights. While she will be back to visit on occasion, she will be missed by all of us at St. Margaret. To celebrate her new beginning in Pennsylvania, the youth presented Karissa with a print of one of her favorite verses from Psalms, "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). On the back of the frame, each student wrote a personal message to Karissa with anything from an inside joke from years ago to best wishes in their new home. We thank Karissa for everything she has done for the youth in our parish and the parish as a whole. Thank you for the kind words, the hugs, the jokes, the games, the stories, the fear of obscure diseases, and, most importantly, the compassion for our youth. Please pray for Karissa and Andrew as they begin a new life in Sayre.