WHAT IS SJAKIDS?

•  SJAKids is St. Joan’s Faith Formation program for children in grades K-5, and their families
• We believe that the best examples of faith for children are their parents! So SJAKids is a family-based program - at minimum, kids come with at least one parent, but are welcome to bring as many parents, siblings or grandparents who want to come. Everyone in the family is welcome at SJAKids!
•  SJAKids brings kids and parents together with other families to learn about our faith through Scripture, music, prayer, crafts, games and more! We do our best to make our beautiful Catholic faith engaging and fun for both kids and parents.

 

 SJAKids meets about 15 times during the school year, and there are three different sessions to choose from:

• SUNDAY A session meets before 10 a.m. Mass, 8:45-10:00 a.m. Sunday mornings
• SUNDAY B session meets before the 12 noon Mass, 10:45 a.m.-12 noon on Sunday mornings
• Thursday session meets Thursday evenings, 6:00-7:15 p.m.

 

We do ask families to pick just one session to attend consistently, and each family is put into a small group with other families with kids of similar ages. Of course, if you cannot make a particular session, it is better to attend one of the other days/times than to miss completely!

• We know that living our faith includes attending Sunday Mass - your family may of course attend any of our weekend Masses, but we do encourage our Sunday SJAKids families to attend Mass together right after their SJAKids session (and for our Thursday families to attend either the 10 a.m. or 12 noon Mass with other SJAKids families). But of course whatever Mass you attend is awesome!

 

HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT SJAKIDS?

Email Mary Machi (mmachi@sjasr.org) or call 925-830-4710.

We look forward to seeing you and your family at SJAKids!

FIRST RECONCILIATION AND FIRST COMMUNION

Children preparing for First Reconciliation and First Communion:

• Are at least second grade or older
• Have participated in SJAKids with their families for at least one year prior to the First Communion year (i.e. it is a two year process)
• During the First Communion year, families again register for and participate in SJAKids, but also attend a few extra sessions specific to the sacraments - three sessions to prepare for First Reconciliation, and three sessions to prepare for First Communion
• But much of the preparation for the sacraments is done at home - children and parents read through and discuss what they learn in the “Blessed: First Reconciliation” and “Blessed: First Communion” books

 

HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SACRAMENTS?

Email Mary Machi (mmachi@sjasr.org) or call 925-830-4710.

We look forward to celebrating the sacraments with you!

About EDGE

The EDGE program is organized by small grade-level groups that stay together for the whole year. We aim to have no more than 10 middle schoolers in a small group, led by 2-3 Core Team members. Core Team members consist of adults and high school sophomore, junior and senior students.

 

A typical EDGE Night

We meet every Wednesday, 6:50-8:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room. We gather all small groups together for large group activities: opening music and prayer, announcements, an overview of the night, a celebration of Baptismal dates, and ice breakers.

• Proclaim the lesson through scripture, skits, games, video clips, and/or witness/catechetical talks.
• Break into small groups and get into the meat of the topic. In the small groups, we may have discussion questions, small group activities, video projects, skits, and/or crafts.
• Send forth the youth after rejoining the large group to be reminded how to live the lesson in their everyday lives!

 

A typical EDGE Month

2 catechetical theme nights. We typically choose one or two topics to cover in a given year.

• 1 issue night. An issue night covers current issues that are relevant to this age group: peer pressure, gossip, stress, self-image, depression, bullying, friendships, cheating, taking care of our earth, advent, lent, etc…
• 1 social night. Social nights are designed to build our EDGE community. We have game nights, team building nights, movie nights, bingo nights, a Halloween party and an end of the year celebration.

 

Service

Service projects are also a component of EDGE. It is important to learn about our faith, but we must also live it! Through the year we will do service projects together monthly at an EDGE Night. EDGE youth/families can expect the following projects to benefit Monument Crisis Center.

• October – Cereal and peanut butter collection.
• November – Thanksgiving boxes
• December – Christmas Stockings
• January – Sock Drive

 

EDGE Prayer Shawl Ministry

EDGE also leads the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. Joan of Arc. We make prayer shawls for those in need of our prayers and support.

Anyone can request a Prayer Shawl for themselves or a loved one. It can be for any situation in which the recipient is in particular need of prayers-illness (either physical or mental), death of a loved one, a celebration of new life, etc. For each request, the 6th, 7th and 8th graders make a fleece, tie-blanket prayer shawl, and a personalized card and note. They then pray specifically for each prayer shawl recipient. You can fill out a prayer shawl request HERE. After filling out the form you can either print it and drop it off at the Parish Office or Youth Ministry Office or you can save the file to your computer and then email the completed form to Gina Camp at gcamp@sjasr.org.

 

Retreats

Hands & Feet Retreat (Jan. 10-12, 2025)

• The first opportunity for a student to experience an overnight retreat at St. Joan of Arc is the 8th Grade Hands and Feet Retreat.

NET Retreat (March 7, 2025)

• More info coming soon

 

HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT EDGE?

Email Gina Camp (gcamp@sjasr.org) or call 925-830-4720.

About LIGHT (Living In God's House Together)

We are a Catholic-based youth ministry program serving the community of St. Joan of Arc Parish in San Ramon. The LIGHT program welcomes all high school teens throughout the year. The mission is Leading Teens Closer to Christ.

 

LIGHT Nights

LIGHT Nights are almost EVERY SUNDAY during the school year! We invite teens to come to LIGHT every Sunday from 6:50-8:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room (MPR). We start in a large group and break out into small groups providing a consistent experience of friendship, fun, and faith for our high school youth.

 

S.A.L.T. (Serving And Leading Together)

Get involved!

 

Retreats

Spring 2025 Retreats - TBA

 

HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT LIGHT?

Email Youth Ministry (YouthMinistry@sjasr.org) or call 925-830-4710.

Confirmation

For information about the Confirmation program, please click here.

Prerequisites

•   3 semesters of LIGHT with consistent attendance
•   20 hours of Community Service
•   1 High School Retreat

Every year St. Joan of Arc Parish provides preparation and formation for the Sacrament of Confirmation for high school juniors and seniors. In order that each candidate for Confirmation has a foundation of faith experiences within the Christian community, we ask that candidates take time to complete the above prerequisites within youth ministry before entering into the Confirmation Program their sophomore, junior or senior year of high school. You must be approved to enter the Confirmation Program and the fee for the Confirmation program includes enrollment in LIGHT.

Once enrolled in the Confirmation program, teens will attend weekly Monday sessions from late January through mid-May before being confirmed. There will also be a mandatory Confirmation retreat that all candidates will attend.

 

HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT CONFIRMATION?

Email Gina Camp (gcamp@sjasr.org) or call 925-830-4720.