THE YOUTH: St. Mary’s Grades 7-12

2017 Youth harvesting sweet potatoes at Cape Cod Organic Farm to donate to a local food pantry

YOUTH GROUP is open to all teens in grades 7-12 and their friends. We usually gather on the first and third Sunday of the month from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. At our meetings, we check in about our lives, plan upcoming activities, and learn about ourselves, society, spirituality, and healthy relationships. In addition to learning together, we also have lots of fun! Bowling, lock-ins, trips to the beach, cooking meals together…. come us!

Special Projects

THE YOUTH have built fantastic floats for and participated in the Barnstable Village Fourth of July Parade, where our creative and thought-provoking entries have won prizes and praise from onlookers!

We also partner with the St. Mary’s Holy Smokes woodsplitters group to chop wood from dead and fallen trees to sell as firewood. Chopping wood gives us great practice for our Summer Mission Trip, where wood-splitting is one of our biggest service projects.

Summer Mission Trip

For several years THE YOUTH have travelled to the Rosebud Episcopal Mission at the Rosebud Lakota Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Click here to follow our first trip in 2015. Since then this mission trip has also included adult members of the parish.

Youth Outreach

In addition to our big Summer Mission Trip to Rosebud, THE YOUTH also participate in many outreach projects throughout the year.

In January, we join with the Cape Cod Council of Churches’ (https://capecodcouncilofchurches.org) Youth Street Reach outreach ministry to the homeless in downtown Hyannis, hosted at the Federated Church. This opportunity to meet and care for our homeless brothers and sisters is an eye-opening experience and prepares us for greater engagement with social justice issues throughout our lives.IMG_3994

In March, after the snow has melted revealing the detritus of winter, we clean up trash and debris at local beaches and ponds, like Hathaway Pond.

In August, we and other parishioners collect school supplies and fill backpacks for the children at Hyannis West Elementary School.

In December, we organize, shop, and wrap gifts for teens and children identified through Department of Children and Families (DCF) and supported through a grant from our Outreach Committee.

Youth Formation

When THE YOUTH engage in times of learning, we use the Journey 2 Adulthood (J2A) curriculum, which explores the themes of Spirituality, Self, Society, and Sexuality as means of learning more about ourselves, our world, and God.