Dear Parishioners, +JMJ
There are a couple changes you should know about regarding the Payne campus school Mass schedule every Friday this upcoming academic year. Because the school district is starting school 15 minutes later each day, we will have to start our school Mass at the Payne campus at 9:15AM every Friday, beginning this coming fall.The rest of our weekday Masses will remain at the time they are now, i.e., 8AM. I will still hear confessions for an hour or so before those school Masses (on Fridays, or when they are moved to Thursday’s).
Also, we have learned that the district’s teachers’ in-service days throughout the academic year–which formerly were scheduled on Wednesdays–have been moved to Fridays. These in-service days for teachers cause a two-hour delay in classes. There are seven of these Friday’s scheduled throughout the year (Oct 9, Nov 13, Dec 11, Jan 15, Feb 12, Mar 11, Apr 22). Therefore, the Payne school Mass, which would have been scheduled for those Fridays, will be moved one day earlier to Thursday. And whichever campus would have hosted the Thursday Mass will end up having the Friday Mass. We considered moving all of the school Masses to Thursdays, but since people are so accustomed to Friday’s, it seemed easiest just to move those days when we knew there would be a conflict with the teachers’ in-service. So we will move the Friday school Mass to Thursday only in those weeks when there is an in-service which delays classes.
We have now had three YDisciple group leader training sessions. While the first two meetings were primarily talks about how to reach out to parish families with high school youth, how to run small groups, and the basic needs of teenagers, etc., the last meeting was an actual practicum. That is to say, as group leaders we actually used the video materials from the first season of YDisciple. We got to experience first-hand the dynamic of a group using such materials. I very much appreciated feeling how an actual YDisciple session would work; and I left that meeting all-the-more convinced that this program can really be a blessing for our high school youth, and for the entire parish! Soon I will be contacting those high school students and parents who I hope will be willing to serve on our core team to help me plan the monthly whole-parish high school events. And I hope that all of you who want to participate in YDisciple soon will be in contact with Theresa Conley.
We are tentatively planning a meeting of everybody to be involved in YDisciple on Wednesday, August 26th at 7 PM. This will be a chance for group leaders, high schoolers, and parents to finalize details, such as where the groups will meet and who will provide refreshments and what technology will be available for viewing the video segments at each meeting.
Have a blessed week!
In cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Poggemeyer
