EDGE is a high-energy faith formation program for sixth, seventh and eighth grade youth interested in discovering how to walk with Christ and live our faith. The EDGE serves as the primary catechetical program for public middle school grades and it is also open to all St. Simon middle school aged children.
When We Meet
The EDGE catechetical component for Grades 6 through 8 is offered twice a month with a choice of attending either Sunday mornings from 10:15am - 11:30am, or Sunday evenings from 6:15pm to 7:45pm. The catechetical component is a requirement for all youth attending public and non-catholic private schools, however, St. Simon students are welcome to attend.
The social and service/outreach components of the program are offered to all parish youth, including St. Simon School students. These include various activities that have been a very successful part of the EDGE program in the past, such as One Warm Coat, and preparing for and attending the Special Olympics Dance. Along with each service activity there is a short “hot topic” discussion, such as discussing homelessness in conjunction with the One Warm Coat project. In response to input, we also include social events such as a paintball night and movie night.
More About the Program
Curriculum for The EDGE is published by LIFE TEEN Parish Ministries based in Mesa, AZ. The curriculum is supplemented with guest speakers and topics intended to address the critical issues relevant to young adolescents.
There are multiple components to The EDGE program at St. Simon:
A. The Sunday night youth liturgy is a powerful mass that is geared to our youth. Contemporary liturgical music, homilies geared toward young people, videos, drama and skits that bring the gospel message of Jesus home to middle school youth, high school teens and young adults are a part of the Sunday night youth liturgy.
B. EDGE occurs every week during the school year except when there is a school holiday weekend. EDGE offers social and recreational activities designed to create a greater sense of community among our middle school youth. We are open to exploring new ideas and suggestions presented to us throughout the year.
Graduating eighth graders are invited to participate in LIFE TEEN programs immediately after Confirmation and before their freshman year of high school.
C. The EDGE offers middle school youth different occasions to put their faith into action through a variety of service projects. There are many opportunities for service such as Operation Christmas Child, Military Care Packages, our Annual Hunger Banquet and Heritage House clean up.
D. In order to meet the catechetical diocesan standards issued in 2007, we reviewed a number of catechetical ministry programs published for junior high students. We selected “Call to Faith” published by Harcourt publishing. In addition to meeting the requirements of the diocesan standards, this program is designed to provide age-specific catechesis that helps youth deepen their relationship with God and others through prayer and service in a contemporary and engaging way.