What do you on Sunday nights from 7:30 to 9 p.m.? Maybe you relax and watch your favorite TV show, read a book, or perhaps you are feverishly planning for Monday. Remnants of Father Joe’s sermon may still be swirling through your head. If you are in high school chances are you are gathering in the Upper Room for an hour and a half of fellowship, singing, games, and group discussions. Maybe you even arrived a little early to get a "good seat" on one of the sofas. Unless you have been there, it is hard to describe the kind of energy that fills this room every other Sunday night from 7:30 to 9:00.

The Sacred Heart youth group fall kick-off meeting this year drew the largest crowd in the four years that we have been involved with the group. The unofficial count was about 77 high school kids and 5 or 6 adult volunteers. If you have ever been in the "Upper Room" you can imagine how packed the place would be with over 80 people! The growing size of the group is largely due to the chain of siblings of some of our "alumni". Also, we encourage people to bring their friends (regardless of their faith), realizing that some people are more comfortable coming to a meeting if they bring somebody that they know.

The group draws from at least four area high schools including Highland, Wadsworth, Hoban, and St. Vincents. Most importantly, this group brings together some of the finest young people from the area; we are blessed to have so many high school students who are willing to give up two hours of their Sunday night, and many additional hours of community service.

The ministry philosophy of the high school youth group is a multi-layer approach. The very first layer is simply to provide a fun and safe place for kids to get together. At a very minimum, this layer is nearly always achieved. Every meeting has at least some element of fun, including competitive games and a short time to hang out and socialize after the meeting. The next layer of our ministry is for kids to come together in fellowship, realizing that there are many other Catholic teens who are interested enough in their faith to come to a bi-weekly meeting. Many kids look forward to the time together, reminded that they are not alone in their faith.

The first two layers of our ministry are well served by our growing number of participants. The deepest layer however becomes more and more challenging as the group continues to grow. The third layer of our ministry is to get to know the kids personally, taking note of their spiritual and emotional needs and creating relevant meetings to address those issues. This year for the first time ever we have started a small group meeting about once a month on Wednesday evenings. This is an optional meeting where we get together in an informal setting, and spend time just hanging out. These meetings, which typically draw about 15 people, are designed to be a platform for conversation on everyday questions and concerns that high school students may be struggling with.

Some of the topics that we have discussed are: discovering your faith and growing in it, popular music and Christian alternatives, service to our community, the sacrament of confession, and we had a wonderful guest speaker (Michele Tepas-Harrison) come tell us about dating: God’s way versus the world’s way. Also, we are planning a night out for "the guys" where we will gather for an overnight event consisting of games and entertainment, with a chance to talk about the awesome responsibility of becoming a Godly man. This will be our first experience with this event. We hope that it will become a regular part of our ministry.

The group strives to provide something for everyone, and we really believe that if you try it once, you will find that you like it. If you have been thinking about coming to a meeting but aren’t sure if it’s for you, you’ll have to try it to find out! We welcome new members throughout the year, and you can always arm yourself with a friend. Any questions or inquiries about the group can be directed to Josh and Beth Watson (330-334-3549), Mike and Joanne Gahan (330-334-6220), or Joe and Bree McNeill (330-927-9568).

-- JOSH WATSON