Youth Education

The Journey to Adulthood Program In 2003, we launched a powerful, multi-year program for our youth called The Journey to Adulthood (J2A). J2A is a six-year program, divided into three two-year components:

Rite-13 (Grades 7-8)                                                                                       

Named after a liturgical celebration integral to the program, Rite-13 celebrates the gift of gender and provides the foundation for the entire faith exploration program to allow our teens relevant real-life spiritual support as they walk towards (and earn) adulthood. The culmination of this group is a Rite-13 banquet celebration, similar to a bar mitzvah ceremony in the celebration of their entrance into young adulthood.

J2A (Grades 9-10)

Building on the foundation of Rite-13, J2A seeks to train young people in six necessary skills of adulthood: Listening, Assertion, Negotiation, Research, Information Management, and Partnership and Leadership. There are two additional components to the J2A program: 1) During the second year, the students participate in a confirmation program given by the United Parish pastoral staff. 2) The culimination of this group is in the amazing experience of pilgrimage, which occurs at the end of the second year of J2A. Students embark on a week long journey where they are involved in outreach, spiritual mediation, and community building. In the past, such trips have included San Francisco and Arizona.

Young Adults in the Church (Grades 11-12)

YAC builds on the previous four years of the program by enabling the young people to practice their newly acquired skills in the context of our supportive parish community. We are currently restructuring the Young Adults in Church class to provide an engaging and effective group for this age. They will be involved with direct service to the community inside and outside of the church in an effort to further culminate their journey from Youth to Adulthood. More details about this groups transition to follow!!

The Rite-13 and J2A classes meet from 9:45-10:45 Church School Hour in the upstairs classrooms.

Each group has a common systematic focus on all the aspects of a whole person. The programs cover topics such as Self, Society, Sexuality*, and Spirituality in depth, by the light of the Gospel, in order to strengthen, encourage, heal, correct, and empower our young people’s lives through the wisdom of Jesus Christ.

*The J2A teachers will hold in-depth meetings with parents prior to presenting the material on Sexuality.