Summer Wednesdays meets need for Ascension Parish youth

By KATIE BORKOWSKI
Special to Lumen Media
 
After seeing a need for middle and high schoolers to gather during the summer, Ascension Parish initiated Summer Wednesdays.

“The idea was born out of a few different things,” said Megan Ulrich, director of religious education (DRE) at Ascension Parish for the churches in Boone and Ogden. “For one, last school year on the last night of our Middle School EDGE program, a girl who wasn't really a member of our parish but enjoyed coming to our events asked me if it was really the last night.”

When Ulrich confirmed it was the final session for the year, the girl commented to her friend, "Oh darn, I guess we'll have to find another church to go to this summer."

“That really stuck with me,” said Ulrich. “Our faith life doesn't end at the end of the school year, so I wanted to find a way to continue walking with this age group through the summer in a way that still allowed us as leaders to take it a little easier in the summer.”

This year Ulrich met a parishioner from St. Thomas in Ames, and this person mentioned that they offer a "Ministry Light" in the summer for kids and “told me how simple it was.”
“To gauge interest, we added a question about offering summer events on our year end survey for youth and got a positive response,” said Ulrich.  

Summer Wednesdays
Ulrich explained the Summer Wednesdays gatherings are “really as simple as possible. We meet on our school playground, have a snack, prayer and free time.”

“It’s important for kids to know that growing in your faith isn't something we only do during the school year,” said the DRE. “But also, meeting for Summer Wednesdays will hopefully allow us to continue to build relationships with our leaders and youth and for the youth to continue relationships with each other. It's all about community.”

Plus, Ulrich explained their playground is a “popular summer hangout for all kids in the area. I'm hoping to invite kids who aren't from our parish to join in the fun if they want.”

“We all need community,” she said. “Christ didn't create us to walk alone. All ages also need community. I'm hoping to reinforce their strong Christian friendship here while learning how to just simply pray.”  
 
First gathering
The first gathering was on June 11. Ulrich pointed out for the first night a family donated pop tarts for a snack, including “s’mores flavored pop tarts which I am told are a ‘fan favorite.’"
Ulrich noted they all had a snack first and then they played football before moving on to the gaga ball pit.

“When there was a lull in the game, about a half hour before our event was over, we simply asked the youth for their prayer intentions and prayed together for those intentions,” she said.
Ulrich explained the event went better than expected for the first time.

“We had about 10 students present,” she said. “I challenged them to each invite one person to the next gathering. They played and laughed so much.”

Eighth grader, Chris Smith, said he “personally really enjoyed it. It was nice being able to see my friends.”

Amira Swalwell, a seventh grader, decided to attend because “I really enjoyed going to Edge during the school year.”

She plans to attend future Summer Wednesdays because she got “to see kids my age during the summer that I wouldn't normally get to see and there were good snacks. I will probably invite more friends to come next time.”

On Wednesday, June 18, there were four seminarians in town for Vacation Bible School. Ulrich noted the seminarians joined the students for Summer Wednesdays that evening along with pizza.

“It'll be fun for the youth to meet them and hear their stories,” Ulrich said prior to the seminarians’ arrival in Boone.

Katie Borkowski is a freelance writer from rural Carroll County. She and her family attend Manning Sacred Heart Church, St. Rose of Lima Parish.