What is TEAM?
TEAM is St. Perpetua’s middle school (6^th-8^th grade) youth ministry program that meets on Sundays from 6:00-7:15 pm. We use the acronym TEAM to remind us of what our middle school youth need most in their faith development:

TEACHING: As our youth are going through this incredible period of growth, they begin asking some important questions, such as:

• What is my purpose in life?
• How do I know that God is real?
• Who are my real friends and am I a good friend to them?
• Who can I believe and trust?
• Why should I be part of a Church community?

As their critical thinking skills continue to grow and develop, we want TEAM to be a place where they can find answers to their biggest questions. We want to offer them a space to learn and to be challenged by the Gospel and the wisdom of our Church.

ENCOURAGING: As we all know, middle school can be a time of intense peer pressure as our youth seek out ways of belonging. Unfortunately peer pressure can lead to conformity—our youth just following the crowd or that popular clique. We want TEAM to be a place where students are encouraged to take a risk, to stand up for what they believe in and to be unafraid to courageously live out what they know to be right and true.

AFFIRMING: In their search for clarifying their own values and identity, our middle school youth do some pretty amazing things! Oftentimes these great things (e.g. serving at a homeless shelter, taking care of an elderly grandparent, standing up to a bully, etc.) go unnoticed. We want TEAM to be a place where the good work that our youth do is celebrated and affirmed. Our hope is that TEAM is a safe space where our students have their good affirmed so they will continue to make a difference in this world.

MIDDLE SCHOOLERS: Although middle school is a relatively short three-year time in the lives of these young people, it is a time of GREAT change. It is during this time that our youth are changing socially, physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Unfortunately, according to the most robust study of young people in the Catholic Church, it is at the age of 13 that most young people make their decision whether or not to stay in the Church. And many do not stay. (Read Going, Going, Gone: The Dynamics of Disaffiliation in Young Catholics by St. Mary’s Press for more information.) We want TEAM to be a place where our middle school students recognize how vital and important they are to the Catholic Church. They are a huge part of the TEAM!

How does TEAM work?
Throughout the school year TEAM will be meeting a dozen times on Sunday evenings 6:00-7:15 pm. At each gathering middle schoolers can expect good music and singing lead by a worship band consisting of high school and college students. They can expect fun activities and icebreakers. They can expect to hear a challenging message based on our year’s theme. They will have time to meet in smaller groups (led by high school and college students) where they can talk in a safe space about things important in their lives. And they will be sent home hopefully more informed, encouraged, and connected to the rest of the TEAM.

What is this year’s theme?

2023-2024: Walking Through Fire

Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

If you’ve ever been camping, you know the necessity of a good campfire! Fire provides warmth for our bodies, cooks our food (like delicious S’mores), and keeps predators away. Carelessly, we sometimes get too close to the fire and suffer burns. Sometimes too, we allow a useful fire to get out of control, destroying everything good.

Living in Northern California, where the stunning landscapes encompass majestic mountains, and the mighty Pacific Ocean, we are intimately acquainted with the wonders of our natural surroundings.  We also know all too well the ravages of wild fires and winter storms.

None of us escapes the fires and storms of this life. It may even seem that there is more encroaching flame and high water than calm. But, our God has promised that even when the blaze or the swell that is about consume or drown us is due to our own carelessness – or worse, is of our own prideful doing – He is with us; He will help us “walk through fire.” This confidence gives peace knowing that whatever we go through, God has been, is, and will be, with us.

Which leaves us with a question: what do we do? The simple answer is to WALK THROUGH. To follow Him through the difficulty, to say “Yes” just as Mary, our Blessed Mother, said yes! When we give ourselves completely to God and allow Him to do what He wants, we can “pass through the waters.” He loves us so much that he will never abandon us, whom he calls: sons and daughters and, in return, we have the privilege and honor of calling God our Father.

How do I join TEAM?
We want all students in 6^th-8^th grades to feel welcome at TEAM meetings. We hope TEAM can become a supportive community for all middle schoolers. Students are encouraged to invite their friends to be a part of TEAM. Please click the “TEAM Registration” link on this page to be part of the TEAM.

Welcome to TEAM!