Parish’s LOOP ministry provides fellowship, care to teens

Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Parish in Pompton Plains offers a very inviting community atmosphere for high school students courtesy of LOOP.

The LOOP ministry program meets on a monthly, designated Sunday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. for two hours of faith building games, prayer, and snacks, and, most importantly for the attendees, fellowship with their peers.

John Towey, 16, a junior in high school, is in his third year in the LOOP program.

“This program has helped me feel more connected to people my age in the church community,” Towey said. “My favorite parts of LOOP are the crafts we do and the ‘Share Prayer’ at the end. I like the crafts because it is fun to hang out with friends from church, and then at the end, I like the ‘Share Prayer’ because it is nice to connect with everyone in LOOP in prayer, even people I do not know.”

LOOP was started about 20 years ago when small parish groups would meet during the Lenten season.

Laura Shamber, OLGC youth minister for 16 years, provided further details. “It was really a grassroots kind of effort, and the pastor back then, Father Pat Scott, was very supportive of it. He jumped in and hired a youth minister and then hired me as an assistant for the next year.”

As for the name, LOOP stands for Living Out Our Purpose.

“That was something that the young people came up with on their own,” Shamber added.

According to Towey, LOOP is beneficial now and for his future.

“LOOP will definitely stick with me in the future because of all the opportunities it has given me. I was a co-leader of the Journey Retreat in 2022 and am excited to work on this year’s Antioch team.”

Shamber stated of the program, “We've had the young people involved in all the different components of youth ministry. We use Renewing the Vision: A Framework for Catholic Youth Ministry, which is from the USCCB. There are eight components of youth ministry, and that is what we have been following ever since the beginning.”

Twenty-four-year-old Megan Schaffner, who now teaches high school English, was in the LOOP program all four years of high school.

“I think that the biggest, most helpful part of the program for me was it was a consistent place to feel really wanted and cared about,” she stated. “Laura ran the program for as long as I was there, and she just does an incredible job, giving us ways to build our relationship with God and build our relationship with the Church, but also ways to genuinely take care of ourselves. The high schoolers feel like they can say anything, that they are always going to be supported, and that there is just a strong sense of community. As part of LOOP, it is really obvious that Laura cares about you, and it is also really obvious that the other members care about you as well.”

More information and the LOOP calendar for 2023. 

In other parish news, OLGC will be offering Discovering Christ, a seven-week program beginning Feb. 6, for all to encounter the love of God the Father. Fellowship and small group discussion accompany a video presentation, and free dinner will be served. More information and online registration.