Our Parish has transitioned from the typical classroom model for faith formation to a dynamic way of reaching teens where they are at. Edge is a nationally known Catholic program designed for Middle School students. Which is made and distributed by Life Teen Inc. Edge has been proven time and time again to be very effective. 

Hopefully not to confuse anyone, Life Teen is the High School youth ministry program and Edge is the Middle School youth ministry program. 

When I interviewed for this position  I was thrilled to hear that Edge was being used. I am very aware of how the program operates and to make it impactful, not just for the teens but hopefully to bring the energy that the teens get from an Edge night and to bring that energy home to their families. 

  A typical Edge night looks something like this:  

Large Group

• The teens arrive, the Core Team (a group of adults who are involved with helping plan each night, lead prayer, lead games,
  lead the teaching and lead small groups. Without the Core team, this program would not be able to work) welcomes the teens in
  our gathering space. We start as a large group.
• Get everyone settled
• Check-in with the week challenge, welcome any newcomers and introduce the night. (5 minutes)

Large Group

• Game-that is related to the theme of the night (10 minutes)
• Opening prayer (5 minutes)
• Teaching (10-15 minutes)
• Movie clip (5 minutes)

Small groups 

• Break out into our small groups (each small group has up to 18 per group. Our dream is to get that down to at least 12.
  We currently have 7 small groups). During small groups is when we are able to dive into the material and is where the teens
  are able to take ownership of the material that was taught in the large group. (25 minutes)

Large Group

• Transition to the Church
• Send (this where we ask the whole group some of the questions that were asked during small group and have some brave souls
  share what they talked about during small group) 
• Give the weekly challenge and any announcements
• Closing prayer 

We typically meet every other Wednesday of the month at St. Patrick's site from 6:30-8:00 pm.

To learn more about the program and to watch the promo video about Edge please visit their website: 

https://lifeteen.com/edge-ministry/

For those who wish to have their child Confirmed in 9th grade, it is required that they attend Edge in the 8th grade.

It is not too late to register for Edge. Please send me an email or call me and I'll get the necessary information for you. 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me! 

Hello everyone!        

My name is Sean Austin. I was born and raised in Hagerstown, MD.  I graduated from Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD, in 2013 with a B.A. in Theology with emphases in Youth Ministry and Pastoral Ministry. Right after college I moved to Buffalo, NY, and worked full time as the high school youth minister and confirmation coordinator for a little over a year then left to discern religious life. In April 2016, I had the great pleasure of hiking the El Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James) and completing the entire French Way in Spain before I entered St. Vincent Archabbey as a monk. I was Br. Robert “Bob” S. Austin, O.S.B. (Order of St. Benedict) from July 10, 2016 till July 10, 2019. I would not trade those years for anything. With a lot of trust in God, He blessed me with introducing me to my now wife soon after leaving the monastery. In October of 2020, married the love of my life.

Ever since I was in middle school, I have been very active with the Church. I was a part of my middle school youth group, Life Teen all throughout high school and campus ministry in college. It seemed like no matter where I went, I always ended up working with youth. I never thought I would enjoy working with middle schoolers, until last year, when I was assigned to run two separate middle school programs (which used Edge) I was surprised how much I loved it!

I would like to personally invite you to pray about helping out with the middle school Edge youth ministry program. As the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. I would love for you to join our prayer team to pray for these teens. Or consider helping help out with the snack ministry. Or if you want to work with these teens, please consider joining our Core Team family to help out with the Edge Nights on Wednesdays. The best part is that there is no experience required and you do not need to have a Theology degree. All of the 12 disciples, had no experience with what Christ was calling them for, but God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the called. If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please contact me.

Thank you so very much and God Bless,

Sean