Youth Ministries

Catholic Heart Workcamp is a week-long summer service trip where high school students from across the nation draw closer to Jesus through daily Mass, praise and worship, adoration, and daily service to the poor. Work teams, made up of campers from various high schools and youth groups, go out into the community to work on homes, serve at homeless shelters, volunteer at soup kitchens, or do whatever the community has a need for. Catholic Heart Workcamp is an excellent opportunity to see other young people who are on fire for their faith, and form virtuous friendships rooted in Christ.

Religious Education Classes are available for 3 – 6 year olds of families who attend 9:15 am Sunday Masses and last around 20 minutes. The children are led by an adult and a few youth aides to hear, discuss, and enjoy activities related to the Sunday Scripture readings. They are able to experience the message of God’s word on a level of their understanding. Each Sunday they receive an activity leaflet to work with and take home with them.

This program is available for every family that wishes to attend the 9:15 am. Sunday Liturgy. It is not required that parents register their children before they send them to enjoy the Children’s Liturgy. An information letter will be sent to the parents by way of the children.

Junior High students annually attend the Illinois March for Life in Springfield. They attend a statewide Mass on the campus of University of Illinois Springfield(UIS). A Right for Life rally is held at the State Capital building and the students obtain the full experience of practicing their faith by defending the most vulnerable through participation in the march around the capitol that follows.

Students participate and engage in deepening their relationship with our God through attending annual retreats hosted by the NET Ministries teams. Students attend mass, participate in small group discussions, receive the sacrament of reconciliation and attend adoration to grow in the development of becoming a lifelong intentional disciple.

The January display commemorates the tragic Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade on January 20, 1973.  This decision legalized abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy.  On June 24, 2022, it was overturned by the Supreme Court returning the authority to regulate abortion to individual states.  We continue to light up our luminaires every January in thanksgiving for Roe vs Wade being overturned while still bringing awareness that the Pro-Life movement continues now on a state level.

Students in PSR, Junior High and High School decorate paper bags with messages celebrating life from the moment of conception to natural death.   These decorated bags illuminate the church steps one weekend in January each year.  Before decorating, the students learn what it means to be pro-life, some of the tragic effects of abortion and why it is so important that we all speak up for the pre-born.

6th grade students attend the annual Diocese Vocations Rally hosted by the Department of Vocations at the Diocese of Springfield. Students serve for the Bishop at Mass, engage in discussions on how to discern their own vocation in life and how they can use their gifts and talents to live their vocational call.

World Youth Day (WYD) is a worldwide encounter with the Pope typically celebrated every three years in a different country. St. Anthony Parish sends a group of high school students and young adults on the WYD pilgrimage each year, led by the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. As information is released for the upcoming World Youth Day, we will be sure to communicate our parish’s plans for a pilgrimage. It is an experience to never forget!