News
Salt and Light Newsletter April 2026
A message from Maureen Quinn...
It has been a busy spring with numerous happenings going on.
- We hosted 2 Workshops in January which brought together the largest group of parish leaders than every before.
- We hosted numerous listening sessions in each of the deaneries for OCIA leadership on future curriculum guidelines.
- We ended up hosting 2 small confirmation retreats for a few communities.
- We hosted hundreds of young adults at the Missouri Catholic Summit and from this event we have identified a group of young adults in our parishes who are yearning for community and are discerning how we can best support them.
- We hosted a lenten retreat with a small group of leaders at St Jude parish in Mokane
- We have nearly hired our entire staff for summer 2026 (see below with updates)
We have also been working on the calendar for 2026-2027 and plan to release it at the regional gatherings in a few weeks. These gatherings are a chance for us to visit you in your regions, hear how your year has been going and how we can support you in the next year. We also provide a meal for you as this visit and love a chance to host you all. See the dates below and if any of these work for you RSVP by clicking here
- Monday, April 20 @ Jefferson City in the Chancery from 5:30-7:30pm
- Thursday April 23 @ Monroe City in Holy Rosary Parish Hall from 11:30am-1:30pm
- Thursday April 23 @ Herman, MO in St. George Rectory from 5:30-7:30pm
- Tuesday, April 28 @ Columbia, MO in Our Lady of Loudes, Flanagan Hall from 11:30am-1:30pm
- Tuesday, April 28 @ Kirksville, MO (Location TBA) from 5:30-7:30pm
- Wednesday, April 29 @ Sedalia, MO in Sacred Heart Parish Center from 11:30am-1:30pm
- Friday, May 1 @ Eldon, MO in Sacred Heart Parish Hall from 11:30am-1:30pm
Upcoming Events
Spring DREYM Regional Gatherings
We are coming to you!
The end-of-year regional gatherings are a great way for us to listen about what is going on in your parishes and about how your year in religious ed/youth ministry has been. We want to know how to better support you in the coming year and allow you to have a chance to discuss with other DREs and Youth Ministers in your area!
A meal is provided at each gathering, so please RSVP below so we know to account for you!
Women's Ministry Spring Pilgrimage
A message from the Office of Women's Ministry:
"This year join us as we pilgrimage to the Southwest Deanery of our Diocese and visit the National Shrine of Mary Mother of the Church for a day of prayer, reflection and fellowship. This event is appropriate for high school age women and up so grandmas, moms and daughters make it a family day!"
6th Grade Vocations Day
6th Grade Vocations Day is a diocese-wide event where 6th graders come together to explore and celebrate their call to sainthood.
6th Grade Vocations Day 2026 will be on Wednesday, May 6th from 9am-2:15pm at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Columbia, MO. Lunch will be provided.
For more information, or to register a group from your parish for 6th Grade Vocations Day, please contact followme@diojeffcity.org.
Summer 2026 News and Updates
Totus Tuus Coordinator Meetings
Totus Tuus 2026 is fast approaching and we want to make sure all Totus Tuus coordinators are confident and supported, so it's time to start scheduling phone calls for Totus Tuus coordinators.
Click the link below to schedule a phone call with Maureen Quinn to go over all the details of what Totus Tuus entails for parishes. This is especially helpful to those who are new to Totus Tuus, but is also nice for seasoned Totus Tuus coordinators to talk through the program.
Steubenville Conferences
The diocecese does not take a group to the Stuebenville Conference but we 100% support our parishes in going and want to help equip our parish leaders so it can be as successful as possible. Below are some resources that may be helpful to groups. If you are coordinating a group, please let us know! This helps us keep you all informed of your neighbors who are going. Afterall we are always better together!
If you are taking a group to a Steubenville Conference this summer, please don't forget to submit the names of your chaperones to the safe environment office as soon as you have them. You can email your list of chaperones to safeenvironment@diojeffcity.org.
Camp Registration is Open
Camp Registration is open and filling up fast. If you have families that may be interested in diocesan summer camps, please encourage them to register! You can find promotional materials for camp here.
There are limited full and partial scholarships available for camp based on need. If the cost of camp is an issue, please encourage families to register anyway and we can see if we can work out a scholarship.
Week 1 of Camp Siena is nearly full. Please encourage young women to sign up for Camp Siena Week 2 in the South Location. Camp Lolek Girls is also filling up fast, so encourage your families to sign up soon before camps fill up!
If you are interested in volunteering at camp there is still availability! This is a great way to accompany the young people on this adventure!
WE ARE NOW HIRING FOR SUMMER 2026
We are still hiring Totus Tuus and Summer Camp Missionaries for Summer 2026!
We are currently looking for:
1 male missionary for Totus Tuus
If you know of faithful young adults in your area that may be interested in a summer job, please encourage them to apply or to reach out to us!
Totus Tuus and Summer Camp has always been an opportunity to build up young adults into leaders that are ready to go back and live out the Christian life in their communities. These young adults experience a faith community that transforms their lives for the better, all while working a paid summer job. Here are just a few quotes from staff at the end of last summer:
Spring 2026 Calendar
April 22-May 1
End-of-year DREYM Regional Gatherings
April 20: Jefferson City @ Chancery, 5:30pm-7:30pm (Dinner)
April 23: Monroe City @ Holy Rosary Parish Hall, 11:30am-1:30pm (Lunch)
April 23: Herman @ St. George Rectory, 5:30pm-7:30pm (Dinner)
April 28: Columbia @ Our Lady of Lourdes Flanagan Hall, 11:30am-1:30pm (Lunch)
April 28: Kirksville @ TBA, 5:30pm-7:30pm (Dinner)
April 29: Sedalia @ Sacred Heart Parish Center, 11:30am-1:30pm (Lunch)
May 1: Eldon @ Sacred Heart Parish Hall, 11:30am-1:30pm (Lunch)
May 1
Midwest March for Life in Jefferson City
May 6
6th Grade Vocations Day
June 6
Diocesan Ordination
June 7-11
Camp Lolek Week 1
Summer 2026 Calendar
June 14-18
Camp Lolek Week 2
June 21-26
Camp Maccabee North
June 28-July 3
Camp Siena North
July 12-17
Camp Maccabee South
July 19-24
Camp Siena South
August 2026
NEW DREYM Meeting & Retreat for Parish Leaders
FREE Formation Opportunities and Resources
Checkout The Youth Ministry Mindset Podcast Season 2
4 years ago, when I started with the diocese, season 1 of this podcast was released and was everything that I believed, knew and experienced when it came to youth ministry and really ALL ministry.
Now years later, they have released a Season 2 about the Sacrament of Confirmation. More specifically how we shift from transactional model to truly transformational. Really all of ministry needs to shift from transacactional to transformational! These guys are the real deal, they are practical, and challenge our thought process.
If you want to start with episode 1, I think this is a great place to start!
YDisciple is available to ANY of our Parishes
YDisciple is an online resources which includes small group discipleship resources, training videos, tools and content to help adults launch small groups and make young disciples. These resources can be used for middle and high school age youth. Though they are not intended for this age level, many of the resources could also be adapted for adults of all ages.
Any parish that is hoping to use YDisciple, we can set you up with an acocunt free to our parishes, thanks to the generousity of the RIB Grant through the Knights of Columbus.
If your parish is interested let Abby or Maureen know and we will get you setup!
Revive Parishes is a GREAT Training Tool
Revive parishes has a long list of courses, where you will learn from an expert who understand the challenges facing parishes and who has dedicated his or her life to renewing the Church.
This is free of charge and they continue to add courses that are practical to ministry. Any course I have taken I have found to be beneficial! A few topics worth mentioning are Small Groups and Mental Health...topics we get asked about all the time. You can do a course on your own or better yet, gather a small group from your parish to do together!
Stay in Touch:
Youth Office Contact
Director of Youth Ministry
Maureen Quinn
573-635-9127, ext. 233
Assistant Director of Catechetical Formation
Mary Madelyn Mertes
573-635-9127, ext. 228
Administrative Assistant
Abby Thompson
573-635-9127, ext. 237
Moderator of Youth and
Young Adult Ministry
Fr. Joseph Luzindana
660-665-2466
Alphonse J. Schwartze
Memorial Catholic Center
2207 West Main St
Jefferson City, MO 65109-0914
Join the Dio Jeff City DREYM Team on GroupMe
This is a new(er) resource for our office that we are going to start using more with DREYM Team. This is a way for us to share resources, get quick feedback from others, share successes, add calendar invites, send out reminders. It functions much like text messages but is its own app (which can be accessed on your phone or a desktop computer) with more features such as events, polls or document sharing.
Event Calendar: We will be using the calendar feature which allows people to easily get the info, reminders, express interest and add things to your personal calendar.
Polls: We will use polls especially when needing quick feedback from people.
Topics: If this grows into something that is used often, then we will add topics that individuals can choose to join. For example there could be a topic on Jubilee year where people could share ideas they are doing in their individual parishes or there could be one for an event we are hosting that those who are going could join and share info throughout the event.