SOUTH AMBOY — When his students spoke, youth minister John Kobiernicki listened.
Kobiernicki, who currently teaches religious instruction to eighth-graders at St. Mary’s Church, said the students have been asking for a youth group, lamenting that after their Confirmation sacrament, there weren’t any other near-term milestones for them in the church.
“After Confirmation, they say basically there is nothing more for them,” Kobiernicki said, adding that some teens have told him that after Confirmation they don’t feel they need to go to church anymore. “We’re trying to change that attitude. We’re giving them the opportunity to be able to continue their faith.”
Kobiernicki said he has actually wanted to start a youth group for years, so when there was interest, the church was ready to move ahead. The first meeting was held Jan. 25.
“The first session went fantastic,” he said.
Despite the unfavorable weather, seven youths from grades seven through 11 from South Amboy and Sayreville attended. He said many more have said they plan on attending the next session.
Kobiernicki said he has spent the past nine months working on creating the group with Laura Forsthoffer, a third-grade teacher in Sayreville who has been involved with St. Mary’s choir. They have been writing up a plan based on the Diocese of Metuchen’s youth group curriculum. Forsthoffer’s sister Jessica was among Kobiernicki’s religious education students who asked for the group.
Kobiernicki said he sees the group doing a variety of activities — from discussing topics from the “Family Life” program targeted to eighth-graders in the St. Mary religious instruction program, to community service and spiritual activities. He said he sees the group as a forum to discuss the somewhat difficult topics of peer pressure and drug abuse, but added that other times, the content would be lighter.
He also said the group may get more involved with the St. Mary Mass service.
Depending on interest, Kobiernicki may break the group in two, divided by age.
Kobiernicki, a teacher in Spotswood, has spent 30 years in the parish — he is a graduate of St. Mary’s (now Cardinal McCarrick). He said he has never seen something like this before.
The youth group is also being prompted through Sacred Heart School and Cardinal McCarrick High School, both of which have very supportive administrations, he said.
Kobiernicki added that anyone from seven through 11 who wants to attend is welcome, regardless of municipality or school.
“Basically it’s whoever wants to come,” he said. “We don’t want to exclude anyone.”
Kobiernicki said parents have also shown their support, providing feedback after he addressed the audience in church and sent out an email a few weeks ago.
He said people volunteered to hold bake sale fundraisers and some wanted to make direct donations. He said he has also received support for the program from Our Lady of Victories in Sayreville, which already has a youth group.
“We were really able to win over the adults,” he said.
Next month, the group will meet from 5:30-7 p.m. Feb. 1 and 15 in St. Patrick’s Hall at St. Mary Church, 256 Augusta St., South Amboy.
For more information, visit saintmarysa.org.