Miracle Church Bus offered for middle school students

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communications
 
A brainstorming session resulted in a mini pilgrimage experience set for June 12 for middle school students to experience the beauty of diocesan churches and grounds.
 
Danielle Fennessy, a coordinator for the Faith Formation Office, explained that the directors of religious education (DREs) in the southern tier of the diocese wanted events to be available for their middle-school aged students to attend.
 
“They have a great desire for their kids,” Fennessy said. "They didn’t want a random conference because those are already happening and (the students) are on fire and want something a little different.”
 
Father Brian Feller, pastor of Our Lady of the Plains Parish based in Lake City, asked during a brainstorming meeting if students could simply “hop on a bus and just have fun?” Soon plans for the Miracle Church Bus were formed.
 
The team selected four churches in Carroll County for the students to visit on June 12 – St. Bernard in Breda, Sacred Heart Church in Templeton, St. Mary in Willey and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Mount Carmel. All are part of Good Shepherd Parish except St. Mary, which is part of St. John Paul II Parish based in Carroll.
 
Fennessy pointed out that there’s more to the Miracle Church Bus than simply touring the four churches.
 
“It is equally as important to see Christ present in the churches and also to see Christ present on the buses through forming friendships and facilitating community,” she said.
 
It is the hope of organizers that by offering programs geared to middle school students throughout the diocese that they will meet students from other communities and would reconnect in future years at diocesan retreats, events and even Steubenville youth rallies.
 
For the convenience of the middle school students, the trip kicks off at 12:30 p.m., allowing the students to be able to attend morning athletic practices. The trip concludes around 7:30 p.m.
 St. Bernard, BredaThere will be two Miracle Church Buses journeying through Carroll County on June 12 trip, the coordinator said.
 
“We will load up kids in two different loading locations – one bus in Breda and the other in Willey,” Fennessy pointed out. “They will start in either direction on two different routes. They will come together at Mount Carmel at the end.”
 
To build camaraderie amongst the students, organizers will have the students interact on the buses with games, rosary or Divine Mercy Chaplet as a group as well as other activities. Some of the diocesan seminarians and Father Travis Crotty, director of seminarians, are assisting and lead some of the activities. Deacon Don Evans will also be helping with the Miracle Church Bus event.
 
As parish faith formation and religious education programs will be concluding in the next few weeks, parish DREs will be sharing the information and registration with their families about the Miracle Church Bus.
 
Fennessy said she toured the sites several months ago with EmmaLee Miklosovic, director of evangelization for St. John Paul II Parish, to take a closer look at the churches and what they would have to offer for a pilgrimage event.
 
“There were some unique things about each of them that were just beautiful like Templeton and Mount Carmel – I love their cemeteries. Templeton has the Stations of the Cross that are incredible. In Willey it added the sense of the natural and supernatural because they have stars on the ceiling,” she said, adding that the outdoor shrines at Breda and Mount Carmel were impressive.
 
The coordinator pointed out that these are churches that the students may not normally visit. St. Mary and Our Lady of Mount Carmel have church building status and no longer have regularly scheduled weekend Masses.
 
Fennessy said she is excited to offer a mini-pilgrimage, especially in this Jubilee Year of Hope when many parishioners are visiting the four pilgrimage sites – Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City, St. Joseph Church in Milford, the Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption in West Bend and Sioux City Trinity Heights Queen of Peace Shrine.
 ​https://scdiocese.org/mcb.“I’m really wanting them to encounter beauty – how do we know Christ within the icons, stained glass – and how all of our senses end up craving Christ in who we are,” the coordinator stressed.
 
Registration is open to all students in grades 6 through 8 for $20 per student. The fee includes transportation, snacks and dinner. Participants should eat lunch prior to boarding the buses. Register and learn more here: https://scdiocese.org/mcb.