By Amy White
The Texas Catholic
Full of joy and buzzing with energy, the Dallas Catholic Middle School Conference kicked off its inaugural event bright and early on Oct. 18 at John Paul II High School in Plano. The first of its kind hosted by the Diocese of Dallas, the conference invited hundreds of middle schoolers across the diocese to gather for a day of formation, praise, and community. About 650 people from 26 parishes participated.
Geared towards middle schoolers, DCMC is meant to serve as a “pathway” between childhood formation and the Dallas Catholic Youth Conference, an annual event for high schoolers in the diocese, said Josh Salinas, Diocese of Dallas director of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries, whose office worked in coordination with the office of Evangelization, Catechesis, and Family Life to organize the event.
“This is an opportunity for [middle schoolers] to experience an encounter moment with Jesus prior to receiving the sacrament of confirmation,” Salinas said. “It’s an opportunity for them to really take that ownership of the faith and really step into who God is calling them to be.”
The daylong event consisted of a collection of talks, games, and moments of prayer, culminating in a Mass celebrated by Diocese of Dallas Director of Vocations Father Mark Garrett. All Saints Catholic Parish’s director of evangelization Paul Bianchi emceed the event, while Abraham Salas provided music, and Ali Hoffman and Gian Gamboa led women’s and men’s sessions respectively.
The theme of the inaugural conference, ARISE, served as a nod to the event’s patron, the recently canonized St. Pier Giorgio Frassati.
“Pier Gorgio Frassati, obviously a patron of young adults, was able to evangelize through sports and through mountain climbing and through everyday activities,” Salinas said, “and so, it’s that encouragement for our middle school kids to… arise to the occasion and evangelize through ordinary means.”
Today’s Church
Walking into the diocesan middle school conference for the first time, chaperone Sophie Acuña was immediately struck by the ambience of the place: the lights, the music, the movement. This was a space set aside for encountering God and community, “a space where the kids could fully immerse themselves into the conference,” said Acuña, the junior high youth minister at All Saints Catholic Parish, who brought more than a dozen middle schoolers to the daylong conference.
Acuña was one among many DCMC chaperones who expressed gratitude for the creation of a diocese-led conference specifically geared toward middle schoolers. The middle school years, several chaperones noted, are a time of particular growth, discovery, and change. The Church must be ready to accompany young Catholics during those formative years, they said; after all, the youth are a part of today’s — not tomorrow’s — Church.
“Middle school is probably one of the most important times in the kids’ lives, as far as going through changes,” said chaperone David Sanchez, coordinator of youth and young adult ministry at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Parish in Forney. Adding that he was “blown away” by the “love and care and attention to detail” at the conference, he continued, “Having events like this puts more of an emphasis on middle school youth ministry, which is really needed.”
Like Catholics of any age, middle schoolers can benefit from faith formation, Sanchez said, but at their particular developmental phase, they often need to be eased into the bigger concepts of the faith. Conferences replete with activities and opportunities for friendship, therefore, can be especially effective tools of faith formation for that age group.
Fellowship and faith
While many middle schoolers started the conference as they likely start many of their days — bleary eyed and sleepy — at the end of the event, they emerged energized by the faith and fellowship they encountered, chaperones shared.
Lizzie Beauchamp, director of youth ministry at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Allen, said DCMC provided the middle schoolers from her parish a place of belonging in the diocese, a place not only “to see that the Church is living” but also to know that “they have a community amongst their peers, amongst their leadership who care for them, who love them, who want what’s best for them.”
The conference, she said, fostered new friendships — both within and across the parishes represented.
“I definitely saw a growth in bonding and community, especially in our boys,” said the Our Lady of Angels chaperone, who accompanied 15 middle schoolers from her parish. “Some of them came in not really knowing each other… By the end of the day, they were joking with each other and laughing and playing and just being kids.”
Ojas Inamdar, a DCMC chaperone and the director of youth and young adult ministry at St. Joseph Catholic Parish in Richardson, echoed Beauchamp’s sentiment.
“Having a group of friends that have similar values — going back to those early Christians who lived in those smaller communities and grew in faith — we want to have that” in the Diocese of Dallas, he said. “Our group started out very, very tired in the morning; but by the end of it, there’s a lot of energy, a lot of talking to each other… They’re still talking to their parents about it, from what I’m hearing.”
Erika Garcia, a St. Pius X Catholic Church parishioner who accompanied a group from her community, including her son, noted that DCMC not only offered middle schoolers an opportunity for friendship and fun but also “a reset” from the many demands and challenges of adolescence.
“No matter what trouble the world may be, what you may be going through in your own little world, we will arise from that,” Garcia said.
“You felt that peace… You felt the Holy Spirit in the room with all the kids,” she continued. “It literally had me in tears to see children in the middle school age just surrender to God.”
Cutline for featured image: Participants join hands in prayer Oct. 18 during the Dallas Catholic Middle School Conference at John Paul II High School in Plano. The event was organized by the Diocese of Dallas offices of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries and Evangelization, Catechesis, and Family Life. (Diocese of Dallas office of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries photo)
