Middle School CREW

MS Summer Small Groups 

MS Crew may be over for the year, but we still the opportunity to grow in faith this summer! Join us on Mondays from 10am – 11:30am to dive into our faith and get to know other middle schoolers from HNOJ. We’ll be addressing topics that middle schoolers are interested in, learning different forms of prayer over the summer, and playing games along the way. Feel free to bring a lunch to eat together after small group is over! Summer Small Group meets Mondays between June 14 & August 16* 

These small groups are available to our current 5th – 7th graders.  

Things You'll Want for Summer Small Groups: facemask (required if we go indoors, lawnchair, Bible & notebook, waterbottle, sunscreen.

*We will not be meeting for small group on 7/5, 7/19, and 8/2.

Click here to register for MS Summer Small Groups

MS Crew Summer Olympics 

Grab your closest friends and put your team together for the MS Crew Summer Olympics! Twice a month we’ll be competing in different sports and challenges for the title of MS Crew Summer Olympic Champions! Dates for our competitions are 6:30pm – 8:30pm on June 15 & 29, July 13 & 27, and August 10 & 17. These events are available to our current 5th – 8th graders!

We'll be playing kickball, ultimate frisbee, 9-square, basketball, gaga ball, relay races and so much more. Have an idea for a competition? Let Elliut know!

What to bring: tennis shoes, waterbottle. If there is any additional gear required, Elliut will contact families prior to the current session.

Click here to register for MS Crew Summer Olympics 

Extreme Faith Camp - July 19 - 23, 2021

***Please note you must be registered ahead of time for camp. As of 5/5, our spots for girls are filled and we have 3 boy spots left for current 6th-8th graders. There is a waitlist for anyone who wishes to register once spots are filled.*** 

Extreme Faith Camp is the premier high adventure camp packed with incredible activities! High ropes, paintball, zip lines, climbing walls, and more! Extreme Faith Camp is integrated closely with other parishes from the Archdiocese, guaranteeing that summer camp is not just a mountaintop faith experience, but one that builds lifelong foundations of faith. Our faith programming is founded in the sacramental life of the Catholic Church, and our mission and work is anything but boring.

This year we have entered into a collaboration with Catholic Youth Summer Camp, an Ohio camp whose mission is to awaken, empower, and equip a generation to live the adventure of the Catholic faith through world-class programs and an environment of encounter.

To register for Extreme Faith Camp, visit our camp webpage.

For any questions regarding middle school summer events, please contact Elliut Fonseca.

Click here for the schedule for MS Crew 2024-2025

Session times

Sessions for MS Crew will take place on Wednesdays from 6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.  During each session small groups will rotate through the weekly lesson, small group conversations, and an activity to help them connect to the lesson.  Our Faith Formation year runs from Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024 to Wednesday, May 7, 2025.

Curriculum & Materials

We use a combination of sources for our MS Crew curriculum - EDGE from Lifeteen, The Bible, The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the YouCat, YDisciple, FORMED.org. We rely on all of these sources to build our talks, activities and small group questions.

MS Crew is designed for our 6th through 8th graders to find community while engaging in their Catholic faith.  As part of MS Crew, we will be diving into scripture every week. Each middle schooler will be provided a copy of the Catholic Youth Bible to use for prayer and during our time together. If you are new to MS Crew or need a new copy, you can pick one up on the first night of MS Crew. If you already have a copy of the Catholic Youth Bible, feel free to bring it on Wednesday nights! It is also encouraged to bring a notebook and writing utensil for journaling and taking notes.

What does a session of MS Crew look like?

MS Crew takes on a small group approach rather than the traditional classroom model. Instead of having "Catechists/Teachers", we have one primary presenter for all three grades and each small group of teens has a leader that they participate in conversation with. We start our nights with weekly announcements and a brief overview on the week's topic. After weekly announcments, each small group will participate in three, 20-minute rotations that include the weekly lesson, small group conversation and an activity pertaining to the weekly topic.

Small Group Requests

You can request one friend to be with for small groups. Our small groups are going to be limited at 10 members per group to allow enough time for people to share during conversation time.  We will try to honor requests as best we can, but do take into consideration date of registration, group size, and leader availability.  If a group grows to be too big, it will be broken into two smaller groups. 

Small Group Leaders

Parent involvement is absolutely crucial for MS Crew to run well. We are blessed to have a large program at Holy Name of Jesus, but that requires many people to help lead! Small Group Leaders are responsible for walking with a group of about 10 middle schoolers and help faciliate conversation as well as pray and lead activities for the group. All materials and aspects of MS Crew is prepared ahead of time for you by Elliut in a Small Group Leader Guide each week. You can check out a Small Group Leader Guide by clicking here.

Small Group Leaders have the option to lead a group on their own, tag team with another adult, or alternate every other week with another leader. 

If we do not have enough small group leaders, we will have small groups have to wait to participate in MS Crew until a leader is found for them.

Registration & Pricing

Early bird fee (May - July 31, 2024): $125

Regular fee (Aug. 1 - Sept. 13): $150

For questions, please contact Elliut Fonseca