Faith Formation Information 2025-2026

Jul 14, 2025 | Blog

Dear St. Ambrose, St Anthony’s & St. Joseph’s Faith Formation Families,

Several years ago, our three parishes, St. Ambrose, St. Anthony & St. Joseph’s combined our Faith Formation Program.  This may be new information to some of our families just joining us.

Please welcome our new Co-Director, Cara Conti, a parishioner of St. Anthony of Padua

Cara & Sally Herceg are excited to share the responsibilities of the Director of Child & Family Catechesis

Please note our new email contact: [email protected].

We pray you and your families are well and hope you enjoy the summer.

In the meantime, registration is open for Faith Formation 2025-26 for Grades Pre K – 10th (this includes First Communion & Confirmation 1 & 2).  Early registration for Faith Formation is ideal.

Children need to have a basic understanding of our faith and, therefore, should attend Faith Formation Classes for a full year before the start of preparation to receive the Sacraments of Penance & Communion.

Also, children are required to attend the full year (8th grade) before entering classes for Confirmation (9th Grade)

Faith Formation Classes will begin in September.  Please register as soon as possible.  Online Registration will continue until Thursday, August 28.

Register by using the following link.   https://forms.gle/LHMBVmPK6K6ViykV9

ALSO, we are asking all our families to complete a short survey in order to serve our families better.

The survey can be found at the following link:

https://forms.gle/3wK3uGyukJdXzCzm7

The forms for registration and the survey can also be accessed by using the QR Codes attached to this email.

  • On Sunday, 9/7, our Faith Formation OPEN HOUSE is scheduled from 9:30 am- 10:30 am for grades Pre-K through 8th Grade.  This is an opportunity for students accompanied by their parent (s) to stop by and meet the catechists (teachers).  It won’t be necessary to stay the entire hour on this day.
  • The weekend of September 14, we plan to have families attend Mass.  Further details will be provided regarding this later.  Parents are expected to attend Mass with their child(ren).   This will be considered our Faith Formation kick-off.

Faith Formation Classes will be held at St. Joseph’s School building on Sunday mornings, 9:30 am-10:30 am, excluding holiday weekends.  Doors open at 9:15 am.  Class begins promptly at 9:30 am. The entrance and exit are located on Hayes Ave.

  • Starting September 21, Faith Formation Classes will take place at 9:30 am-10:30 am (note a slight time difference from previous years)

Attending Mass regularly as a family is a component of strengthening family faith life and is a great way to pray with other families and form new relationships and nurture existing relationships to build our faith community.

 

 

 

A note regarding Confirmation:

Dear Confirmation Families,
 
We hope you have had a great Summer Break so far!
 
We are reaching out to inform you that we have received our date for the Sacrament of Confirmation for our 10th grade class from the Bishop’s Office. 
 
The Sacrament of Confirmation will be held on Sunday, September 21st at 2PM at St. Joseph’s Church. 
 
This date is a lot sooner than we were expecting due to the fact that the Bishop had other Confirmations on the dates we requested. This means that our Confirmation Program will be condensed into a shorter time frame. Attached to this email is the schedule of the remainder of the Confirmation Program. Please look it over and mark your calendars. Because our timeframe is limited, attendance at all remaining classes/events is vital as we do not have time for makeup work. We have only three events/classes left so please prioritize these the best you can. 
 
The first event back will be our annual Candidate & Sponsor Dinners with Fr. Ken. This is an opportunity for Fr. Ken to ask the Candidates questions about how they have prepared themselves for Confirmation. This is also a time for Candidates to ask Fr. Ken any questions they may have. We will also have them begin writing their letters to the Bishop, under the help and guidance of their sponsors. Sponsors are asked to attend this dinner with their candidates. If the sponsor is unavailable, a parent may take their place. It is your responsibility to communicate this information to the Sponsors. 
 
We are offering three dinner times for Candidates and Sponsor to choose from: August 14, 25, or 27. Please see this Doodle and select all evenings that would work for you and your sponsor. Confirmation Dinner with Fr. Ken Sign Up
 
The Confirmation Retreat will be held Sunday, September 7th at Sky Lake in Windsor from 9AM-6PM. 
 
And the final class will be a mini-retreat held at St. Joseph’s on September 14th, 8AM-12PM, ending with 11AM Mass. This will substitute for the remaining classes we had planned for September-October. 
 
Thank you all so much for your patience as we awaited the news from the Bishop’s office. It took a lot longer to receive this news from the office due to many different pastoral assignments being switched and parishes in the Diocese having to change their programs with Pastors being reassigned. We look forward to the final preparations for the Sacrament of Confirmation! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. 
 
 
Blessings,
Mary & Beth