2026-27 Program Components
Overview
- Weekly Sunday (or Saturday pm) Mass attendance
- In-person catechesis
- A visit to Kessler-Fahrenkrug Funeral Home to talk about faith and Catholic funerals
- Vocation Project—1 per Academic Year (but feel free to do more)
- Periodic knowledge assessments
- Demonstration of standard Catholic prayers
- Selection of a Confirmation Name (by mid-year 10th Grade)
- Selection of a Confirmation Sponsor (by mid-year 10th Grade)
Additionally, for 9th Graders (and those who are entering the program after 9th Grade):
An initial one-on-one meeting with Father to go over the program and so Father can begin to know the students.
Students can sign up for a time via the parish website starting in July.
Detailed View
1. Weekly Sunday (or Saturday pm) Mass attendance
Regular participation in Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation is a basic and easy way that our youth are formed in the Catholic faith.
2. In-Person Catechesis
Our 9th and 10th Graders will be using textbooks from the “Didache Parish Series,” published by Midwest Theological Forum.
These texts are intended for us in a Catholic parish religious education program, and are designed for upper middle and early high school students.
Two options are offered for faith formation classes:
1. Wednesday evenings during the school year (see schedule HERE)
2. Two-week Summer Intensive Program in July 2026 (see more information and schedule HERE)
Please NOTE: The number of instructional minutes, as well as tuition, are the same for both options.
Attendance will be taken at all class sessions. Any no-show will trigger a phone call to parents to check on the child’s safety and whereabouts.
3. A Visit to Kessler-Fahrenkrug Funeral Home
In the Spring of 2027, 9th and 10th Graders will visit Kessler-Fahrenkrug Funeral Home (304 S. Commercial St., Neenah, WI 54956)
during regular class time. The purpose of the visit is to learn about Catholic funerals and how they’re an expression of our faith
in the resurrection and how we reverence and respect those who have died. It’s also a way that students can experience a
funeral home as part of Catholic life, and that there’s a ministerial relationship between the Church and funeral homes.
4. Vocation Projects—1 per academic year
The goal of “service projects” or “service hours” in high school faith formation programs is generally to teach students that our Catholic
faith and Christian Initiation leads a person to “live out” and “practice” his or her faith. With the St. Gabriel Faith Formation Program,
we would like students to focus specifically on their own sense of vocation and calling from God, and to do projects which express and explore
that personal sense of calling and vocation.
One project per academic year will be required (1 project in 9th Grade, 1 project in 10th Grade, and 1 project in 11th Grade).
These projects should not be approached as something the student “has to do,” but as an opportunity for students to explore their
God-given potential. Below are some possible vocation project ideas. But this list is not at all exhaustive, and students are free to
think of ideas which are not on the list below. In fact, students should be creative in tailoring their vocation projects to fit their
sense of life purpose at this time in their lives:
– Organize prayer for the faithful departed in the cemetery
– Assist with cemetery groundskeeping (for example, weed eating)
– Assist with planning and celebrating the annual All Soul’s Mass of Remembrance
– Commit to praying the Liturgy of the Hours (Morning, Prayer, Evening Prayer, or Compline) for one month
– Visit the homebound or those in assisted living (with Pastoral Minister and peers)
– Commit to Altar Serving (once a month, Sept through April—although, more often is welcomed!)
– Serve as an assistant catechist (for 4 class period) for the younger grades
– Foster prayer among your family at home (e.g., lead the Rosary once a week, hang religious art in the home,
watch content on formed.org as a family for an hour a month)
– Organize Rosary walks with others around your neighborhood
– Participate in monthly Pastoral Council meetings at the parish
– Study and write a history of the parish
STUDENTS—PLEASE CONSULT WITH TINA BEFORE COMMITTING TO A VOCATION PROJECT.
THIS CAN BE DONE BY SUBMITTING A PROJECT IDEA THROUGH THE PARISH WEBSITE here AND GETTING IT APPROVED.
5. Periodic Knowledge Assessments
Students will complete three 15-20 minute online knowledge assessments at the beginning, middle, and conclusion of the Faith Formation year.
Students and parents will be notified when each assessment is available and when its completion is due.
The purpose of the assessments is to track the individual student’s progress in the head-knowledge of the Catholic faith.
6. Demonstration of standard Catholic prayers
Learning standard prayers of the Catholic faith is a cumulative effort.
Starting in 1st Grade, students learn new prayers each year, building up a repertoire of prayers they can draw upon from memory throughout life.
These prayers are learned with the help of parents and are reinforced during Faith Formation classes and Sunday Mass.
Click Here for a list of standard Catholic prayers and the year during which a student should be learning them.
9th Graders will be responsible for knowing the prayers up through 8th Grade,
and will be responsible for learning the Anima Christi and the Angelus during 9th Grade.
10th Graders will be responsible for knowing the prayers up through 9th Grade,
and will be responsible for being able to lead the Rosary during 10th Grade.
7. Selection of a Confirmation Name (by mid-year 10th Grade)
At Confirmation, the students will be called by name as they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and complete their Christian initiation.
Students are encouraged to choose a new confirmation name; however, they may decide to use their baptismal name.
In either case, the name that students use at Confirmation should be significant to them. A confirmation name is reflective of a person’s
new life in Christ as a young adult, engaged member of his Church. It should have special meaning and should express something about
who the student hopes to become as an adult Catholic.
When choosing a Confirmation name, the student should choose a name connected with, perhaps, a person or saint whom he or she admires
and would like to have as an inspiration for the ongoing life of faith. The Confirmation name should challenge the student to grow as they enter
into this next adult stage of practicing the Catholic faith.
There are several online resources that students can use in the selection of a Confirmation Name:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Roman_Calendar
catholicsaints.info/roman-martyrology
8. Selection of a Confirmation Sponsor (by mid-year 10th Grade)
When the student is confirmed, he or she will be presented to Bishop by their Sponsor. The Sponsor represents the Catholic community and,
by presenting the student to Bishop, basically testifies that the student is ready to be confirmed. Because of this, the Confirmation Sponsor
MUST be an already practicing Catholic.
In choosing a sponsor, the student/candidate for the reception of Confirmation should select a person with the characteristics listed below.
These characteristics come from the Canon Law of the Catholic Church and the guidelines for the Green Bay Diocese:
a. The sponsor may be a man or a woman, but not a parent.
b. The sponsor MUST be confirmed, MUST practice his or her faith by regular participation in Sunday Mass and Eucharist,
and MUST lead a life in harmony with the Catholic faith.
c. The sponsor will willingly participate in the Confirmand’s process of sacramental preparation, by being both a guide in the faith
and an example whom the Confirmand can look to. The sponsor exemplifies in faith and action a lifelong journey toward a closer
relationship with the Lord, participates in the communal prayers and gatherings of the Church, and will encourage the young candidate
to delve more deeply into Catholic living during the preparation period and after the Sacrament of Confirmation is received.
If the student is unable to find a suitable sponsor, he or she should contact Tina or Father. There are many parishioners at St. Gabriel who would
be more than happy to serve in the role of Sponsor for confirmation students.