Parish club led by older peers helps girls grow in faith, life

Father Richard Carton, pastor of Stirling’s (Long Hill Township) St. Vincent de Paul Parish, was in the winter of 2023 actively trying to boost his parish’s youth programs.

Joann Kleinle and Kathleen DiLorenzo had an idea. The duo introduced Father Carton to Challenge, a group for girls in fourth through eighth grades, which is run by girls in grades nine through 12.

An ad in the parish bulletin describes the group this way:

“It is a CHALLENGE to be a young woman today.

It is a CHALLENGE to follow God’s lead when the world leads you in another direction.

It is a CHALLENGE to find girls who share your values — who want to follow God and still HAVE FUN!

Challenge Club of St. Vincent’s is a group FOR girls in grades 5 to 8 run BY girls in Grades 9 to 12. We perform acts of service, go on retreats, and have lots of fun, all while learning about and growing in our faith with girls that we can look up to.”

Kleinle, who serves as co-president of the Challenge Club of St. Vincent’s with DiLorenzo, said, “Middle school girls do understand the logic of what their parents are teaching them, but they're getting a lot of mixed messages from the world at large, and it makes them feel alone. The idea of this group is that it’s run by girls who’ve been through the program who are high schoolers — high schoolers reinforcing this message with middle schoolers in their own language.”

The Challenge Club of St. Vincent’s first meeting for the 2023–2024 school year is Sunday, Oct. 1. The group will meet in the St. Paul JP II room on Sundays through April from 6 to 7:30 p.m. except for Thanksgiving and teacher break weekends, the Christmas through New Year’s holidays, Super Bowl Sunday, and Easter Sunday. A two-night girl’s Advent retreat is held in December, and a one-night mother/daughter retreat is held in May.

Jackie Krenek, a volunteer and chaperone for the club, feels it’s an excellent program for the girls to deepen their faith and their love for Jesus while growing their relationships with each other.

Krenek said, “Having the high school girls run the meetings also gives the younger girls good role models and makes it more relatable for them. Several dedicated adult women (mostly mothers) are also a blessing and keep the program running smoothly and always focused on God.”

Kleinle, whose daughter Amelia participates in the program, added, “The meetings were pretty well attended. We had 52 girls, but it does vary. That’s the beautiful thing about it. People can come and go, so everyone might not be there every week, but every week, we did have a fair amount of girls.”

Each meeting includes a Gospel reading, craft, snack, and a Gospel-based activity.

Rosalie Krenek, Jackie’s daughter, has been a member for two years since the fifth grade.

She said about the club, “We learn about the Gospel from Mass and play some games or do crafts related to that Gospel or theme each week. We also do service activities a few times a year, like sorting donated shoes (the annual Soles4Souls project) and making meal bags for Bridges (Outreach, Inc.). There are a few retreats each year, one with our mothers, which I enjoy.”

Kleinle added, “It just normalizes our religion, and it shows them how to kind of incorporate it into their daily lives, and it also gives them another group of girls that they can be friends with outside of school.”

Rosalie Krenek, now a seventh grader, is looking forward to being one of the high school mentors when the time comes.

She said, “I would like to help other girls learn about their faith.”

For more information about Challenge Club of St. Vincent’s, email [email protected]