Parish Religous Education Program (PREP)
Together with parents, the Hamilton Catholic Pastoral Region's Religious Education program staff hopes to instill and nurture a love for Jesus Christ and His church, a growing understanding and lifelong participation in the sacraments and a habit of regular prayer and Christian Service.

PREP Catechist

Shares the Good News! Prepares lessons using the Bible and curriculum provided. Show up each Sunday, Sept. - April to teach for 1 hour. Online training classes are paid for by the parish. New Catechists works with the CRE and other catechists to prepare for this ministry. It usually takes about 1 hour of preparation to ready a lesson and 1 hours to teach it. Catechists meetings are 3 times a year.

Children's Liturgy of the Word (CLOW)
This ministry enhances the Mass experience of young children by providing age-appropriate text and reflection for the Sunday reading. Activity, prayers, songs, and crafts are used to help our youngest parishioners understand the Good News of the Gospel. Children will hear the Sunday reading and participate in reflection of the reading. Volunteers for this ministry must successfully complete all requirements of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Child Protection Decree.
This ministry is available at:
St. Julie Billiart Church at the 9am English Mass and the 11:45am Spainish Mass September-May.
St. Peter in Chains Church at the 10am Mass year-round.

Coordinator
The CLOW Coordinator works with presenters and aides on your lessons and explains the procedures. 
Presenters read over the lesson plans and teach and activity or lesson. using the provided matrials. The preparation booklet is easy to follow. It usually takes about an hour to prepare and read the readings to present CLOW during Mass. During the Mass your presentation is around 20 to 30 minutes usually.
Aides assits the presenters in the weekly activity or lesson.
 

Youth Ministry
Our youth ministry serves students in 6-12th grade from all 3 parishes in our region (St. Julie Billiart, St. Joseph, and St. Peter in Chains) but students from surrounding parishes are welcome to join. It is run by volunteers, under the direction of our pastor, who work with our parishes and youth (and their parents) to draw young people into discipleship.

Jr. High (6-8th grade) meets separately from High School (9-12th grade), with some outings for both groups. Meetings are usually held on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month in the Youth Room at St. Peter in Chains Parish Center, 451 Ridgelawn Avenue, Hamilton, Ohio 45013 (behind the school). Our youth nights include fun, faith, friends, food, plus we do outings, retreats, and more!

Team members work with each other playing games, teaching/witnessing, and mentoring youth. Members meet a few times a semester for planning group meetings. Members must be compliant with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Decree on Child Protection. There are also training videos/materials and other live training via Life Teen.

Vacation Bible School
Takes place one week each summer for children entering grades K-6. This ministry is lead by a team of volunteers who choose a theme and activities for the week.  Presenters read over the lesson plans and teach an activity or lesson. Aides lead the chidren to various activity stations. There are usually one or two meetings to decide on a theme and activities for the week. You can volunteer  for one day or for five days. Some tasks may need to be done at home. Registration forms can be found here. 

Rosary Making Ministry
This ministry makes handmade rosaries to promote the devotion of praying the rosary. Rosaries are sent to the Our Lady’s Rosary Makers (OLRM) for distribution to missions around the world.

St. Stephen Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order
Secular Franciscans are members of the Third Order founded by St. Francis of Assisi. It is a religious order for Roman Catholics, married, single, young or old, laity and clergy who are not bound by religious vows, who desire to follow Christ more closely through the example of St. Francis of Assisi by living “Gospel to life and life to the Gospel”. The Fraternity meets monthly for prayer, study, and fellowship, on the 4th Sunday of the month, 1:30-4:00 PM, at St. Julie Billiart in the Fenmont.