What does Summit look like for children in grades 6-8?

Middle School Summit contains four components: Gather, Proclaim, Break, and Send.

• Gather: Youth gather with their catechists. A silly game, ice breaker, challenge, or other activity introduces the theme of the evening and helps the youth have some fun social time together.

• Proclaim: One of the catechists gives a brief (<15 minutes max) teaching on the lesson content of the evening. Because middle school attention spans are short, the Proclaim section is designed to be engaging and dialogical – not a lecture!

• Break: Catechists facilitate discussion, activities, and get to know the youth better so everyone feels they have a place in the group, will be listened to, and grow in faith and friendships.

• Send: We  end our evening in Church with closing prayer. We also review reverent (respectful) behavior and allow the youth to be in the Presence of Jesus Christ, truly present in the tabernacle!

Family Faith Nights

This refers to the evenings when the parent(s) or grandparents attend with their child(ren), rather than simply dropping off and returning. Family Faith Nights begin at 6:00 p.m., just like normal class nights, and end between 7:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. depending on the event. In 2025-26, we have five Family Faith Nights:

• September 24: Kickoff Family Faith Night
• Decmber 3: Advent Family Faith Night
• February 18: Ash Wednesday Family Faith Night (Families attend Mass for Ash Wednesday)
• February 25: Lent Family Faith Night
• April 8: Easter Family Faith Night

Other family opportunities including P3 Nights (Pizza and Prayer with Parents), Family Service Saturdays, and Parish Events, may be found on the

Master Calendar. 

What’s a Catechist?

Summit is not a traditional classroom style of faith formation,but leaders are still called catechists because a catechist echoes the teachings of Jesus and the Church. Catechists are responsible for presenting the curriculum in an engaging and relevant way, but they also lead and participate in the games, activities, and small group discussions. We are focused on getting to the core – the very center – of what really is going on in the heart and mind of a young disciple who is following Jesus in the midst of these challenging middle school years, as well as getting ourselves oriented toward the Summit: our eternal home in Heaven, but also the Holy Mass here and now. That takes a lot of care, prayer, and listening. I am so grateful for catechists this year! Please pray for them and the youth they serve! If you have a heart for middle school youth of this age, you are invited to learn more and help out as an aide or substitute. Please pray about it and reach out to Maggie if you’d like to serve our youth in grades 6-8.