Coordinator of Faith Formation for Youth

Brian Sousa came to join our Pastoral Team last year at a time when we really needed him. We had been without a Coordinator of Faith Formation for Youth for many months due to our financial challenges at the time, and we could only afford to hire Brian for limited hours. Because he saw the faith and spirit in our team of staff and volunteers, Brian was willing to make sacrifices to take a job with a long commute and without the benefits he needed. He and I had hoped that we would be able to increase his hours and offer health insurance in the new fiscal year. Brian has contributed to this spirit of faith-filled ministry throughout the year. In addition to his primary duties of helping parents and catechists share the faith with our middle school and high school classes, Bri-an has been a dedicated member of our Pastoral Team - contributing to the youth ministry program and even becoming our chief IT and videographer when the pandemic hit!

Sadly, with the pandemic adding financial challenges to our parishes like it does for so many others, we have had to decrease the hours of our staff - not increase them as I had hoped, and so Brian is not able to continue working with us. Health insurance is extremely important, especially now that he and his wife Julie are expecting their first child! Brian will return to celebrate Confirmation at St. Mary’s on September 3, 2020. We are very grateful for Brian’s ministry and sacrifices for us this past year, and we pray for him and his family in the future.

Thankfully, our collaborative parishes are blessed that Fr. Lambert Nieme has graciously stepped for-ward to help coordinate the Faith Formation for Youth. Fr. Lambert will continue in this role until we are able to implement a new, long-term leadership plan for this ministry at the heart of our mission to live and share the faith. Fr. Lambert has worked in education for many years, rising to the level of a college professor, and he has developed his ministry skills with youth over his years in our Archdiocese of Boston, including as a Confirmation catechist this past year. He looks forward to working closely with Maureen O’Brien who provides administrative support in our FF for Youth program, as well as Maggie Hoagland, our Director of Faith Formation for Children. As we work diligently to adapt our ministries so our parishioners both young and old remain safe, it will be a challenging but exciting year for faith formation. Interestingly, Fr. Lambert has found that moving his adult Bible study program online has actually increased the participation level, and we are hopeful this will translate to our primarily online programs for youth. Please pray for our families, catechists, Fr. Lambert, Maggie Hoagland, Maureen O’Brien and Michelle De-Lorenzo as they continue to bring their enthusiasm and joy in the faith to our young parishioners!