Youth room gets boost with grant

By ROB HERBST
The Catholic Week
A burgeoning youth ministry program at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Enterprise recently received a big boost from the “Generations of Faith – Endowing our Future with Hope” campaign and the people of the Archdiocese of Mobile.
The parish painted its entire youth room and purchased a ceiling-mounted projector with a motorized wall-mounted screen, plus Bluetooth microphones and speakers. St. John the Evangelist Parish Youth Ministry Leader Teresa Warner estimated the improvements cost $1,800. A $1,500 grant provided by the Generations of Faith’s Youth Ministry Endowment paid for most of the improvements, while the additional $300 came through youth group fundraisers.
“We want to do everything we can to inspire our students to learn more about our amazing Catholic faith and to go out into the world and be the hands and feet of Christ,” Warner said. “This endowment has helped us be able to do just that and we are so incredibly grateful.”
St. John the Evangelist’s upgraded youth room is just one example of the Generations of Faith’s impact on the archdiocese.
The “Generations of Faith” campaign was initiated in 2019 and created three permanent endowments to support seminarian formation, priests’ retirement and youth ministry, plus support parishes. 
The youth ministry endowment was created to primarily aid parish youth ministry programs.
Thanks to the generosity of those in the archdiocese, more than $36 million has been pledged and $3.9 million is earmarked for the Youth Ministry Endowment. 
Eligible ministries, such as St. John the Evangelist Parish youth ministry, have applied for grants to the Youth Ministry Endowment’s board of trustees.
In fact, St. John the Evangelist was recently awarded a second grant which will allow the parishes to pay for new youth room furniture.
“Our youth room was built in 2008 and has needed upgrading for years,” Warner said. “Today we have over 100 students registered for both LifeTeen and Edge and our program is still growing, so we were in desperate need of more room and updated resources.”
Warner added: “The funds we have been awarded by Generations of Faith have given us the opportunity to provide a more teen-friendly catechism experience for our students. By upgrading our space and purchasing the much needed AV equipment, we were able to use all kinds of resources to reach our teens that we weren’t previously able to use.”
— The Generations of Faith Youth Ministry Endowment’s board of trustees is currently accepting grant applications until March 25. Awards will be issued May 1. Those interested in applying for a grant may do so at youthministryfund.org.