Youth Ministry – St. John – St. Paul Catholic Collaborative

This Sunday, April 12: World Youth Day Seoul 2027 Information Session for Teens and Parents

Join Us this Sunday, April 12 at St. Paul following the 5pm Youth Mass for an Information Session with the SJSP Youth Ministry Team

St. John-St. Paul Collaborative Youth Ministry is going to South Korea next summer for WYD Seoul 2027! Interested in joining? All current high school students and their parents/guardians are invited to this information session to learn more – the session will be held immediately following the 5pm Youth Mass in the Parish Hall at St. Paul (food provided!)

Come learn more about this incredible opportunity to deepen your faith and connect with youth from around the world!

Our Teen Reconciliation And Worship Service

Each year during Lent, our Youth Ministry team invites all teens – particularly those preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation in the spring – to experience God’s love and mercy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This year more than 60 teens participated.

After an opening prayer and welcome from Christian Wilson, our Sunday 5pm Youth Music Coordinator and member of the Youth Ministry team, Elsi Ojanen, our Interim Coordinator of Youth Ministry, shared a reading from scripture and offered a short reflection, providing a taste of what is to come in Youth Ministry for our 8th graders. Kelly Meraw, Director of Pastoral Care and Liturgy, then led the teens through an Examination of Conscience to prepare for the Sacrament…

Friday, March 13 at 5:00pm: Teen Reconciliation and Worship Service at St. John the Evangelist Church

An open invitation to all teens – particularly those preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this spring – to experience God’s love and mercy.

There will be music, a brief reading from scripture, a short reflection, and a walk through an examination of conscience. The Youth Ministry team will help guide you through all the steps to leaving a little lighter and filled with God’s mercy! Interested, but not sure if you’ll feel ready to receive the sacrament? That’s OK – please come to the service anyway, and encourage your friends to come too! There will be no pressure, just an open invitation to experience God’s love and mercy.

All teens in Grades 6-12, particularly students in Salt & Light (6-7), Confirmation (8+), and Youth Ministry (9+) are encouraged to come! (Confirmation students attending the Spring Retreat will be participating as part of the retreat.)

Sunday 5pm Music Group Heads to Boston for Cathedral Concert!

On Monday, December 8th, the SJSP Sunday 5pm Music Group traveled to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston to see Catholic contemporary worship musicians Matt Maher and Sarah Kroger. The night was an awesome opportunity for fun, fellowship, and a deepening of faith as the concert spanned everything from Eucharistic adoration to a jazzy rendition of Jingle Bells.

The group is already working to bring some of the music they heard back to the Collaborative for this Christmas season!

No Youth Group Sunday, September 28 – See You October 5 at St. John!

This Sunday, September 28 is our annual Collaborative Outdoor Mass, which will be the only Mass celebrated at the Collaborative on Sunday.

That means no Sunday 5pm Youth Mass – and no Youth Group after – on September 28.

We’ll see you next Sunday, October 5 at St. John for the 5pm Youth Mass and Youth Group after!

Sunday 5pm Youth Music Group: Come Sing with Us!

Calling all teens in Grades 8-12 – do you sing or play an instrument? Join the Sunday 5pm Music Group!

We rehearse at 4:00pm before the 5pm Mass – we’re at St. Paul this Sunday, September 14 and at St. John next Sunday, September 21.

We’re a fun and easy-going group (promise!) – just show up and join in!

If you have any questions, please email Christian Wilson, Youth Music Coordinator, at christian.wilson@sjspwellesley.org

Starts this Sunday, September 14: Sunday Night Youth Group

Following the Sunday 5pm Youth Mass at St. Paul – join us in the Parish Hall from 6:15-7pm!

All high school students are invited and encouraged to attend – bring your friends! We’ll start getting to know each other and building our community as we plan together for the year ahead! (And yes, there will be food!)

If you can’t make it this Sunday, that’s ok – come next Sunday after the 5pm Mass at St. John – it’s going to be a regular thing!

For more info and updates visit the website sjspwellesley.org/youth ministry and follow us on Instagram @sjspyouthministry

Our Collaborative Outdoor Mass

Please join us on Sunday, September 28 at 10:30am on the St. Paul Lawn for our annual Collaborative Outdoor Mass and fellowship event! This will be our third time celebrating Mass on the expansive lawn in front of St. Paul Church, recreating what Fr. Jim calls “our own Tanglewood East!”

Our SJSP Society of St. Vincent de Paul chapter is once again sponsoring a cookout after Mass, providing hotdogs, hamburgers, and veggie burgers for all! Please plan to bring a side dish/salad to share if you are able!

So that as many members of our community as possible can join together for this special liturgy and fellowship event, there will be a reduced Mass schedule at the parishes on the weekend of September 27-28…

Introducing Elsi Ojanen, Our New Interim Coordinator of Youth Ministry!

My name is Elsi Ojanen, and I am from Hampton, New Hampshire. I graduated in 2024 from the College of the Holy Cross with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Religious Studies, and I am currently pursuing my Master’s degree in Theology and Ministry at the Clough School of Theology and Ministry at Boston College.

I have been blessed with opportunities to lead and facilitate retreats and love working with people of all ages in their journeys of faith.

Most of all, I love Jesus with my whole heart, and I am excited to continue my time here at the Collaborative in this new role and for all that God has in store for us this year!

Renewing Youth Ministry at Our Collaborative

In 2024, the Archdiocese of Boston lowered the ordinary age of Confirmation from Grade 10 to Grade 8, to make the grace of this Sacrament available to young people in greater numbers, to strengthen the role of families in the faith formation of their young teens, and to facilitate a renewal in family engagement in the life of the parish, especially Sunday Mass.

As a result, this past spring, 234 young people in Grades 8-12 received the Sacrament of Confirmation at our Collaborative – an exponential increase in the number of newly-confirmed high school teens needing a robust youth ministry program to help them stay connected to their faith during a time of great transition and growth in their lives…

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