BREMERTON – At Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish, teens in the Fraternus and Fidelis youth groups are learning about their faith and finding support, encouragement and mentorship from adults. 

“You know you’re all on the same journey,” said Bridget Powell, 17, who has participated for six years in the Fidelis group for girls at her parish. God is their priority, she said, and “you can help each other get to heaven.”

Started in South Carolina, the Fraternus (for boys) and Fidelis (for girls) groups have spread around the U.S., including chapters at Holy Redeemer Parish in Vancouver and St. Michael Parish in Snohomish.

At Our Lady Star of the Sea, the parish wanted to “do something different than the traditional youth group,” said the pastor, Father Derek Lappe.

According to the parish, about 120 young people and adults participate in the two ministries. (Star of the Sea also offers the Spark program for middle schoolers and Ignite for high schoolers.)

The Fidelis group, which has about 15 adult mentors, offers a place where girls can be more open than they would be around boys, said Gabby Herndon, the parish’s evangelization director.

“We really want to grow our sisterhood,” Herndon said. “We want to lean on each other.”

Star of the Sea parishioner David Gates, a leader for the parish’s Fraternus group, also serves in a regional role to help start Fraternus chapters.

“It’s a brotherhood that started in the southeastern United States to address the crisis of fatherless men,” Gates explained. The program focuses on adult men mentoring young men, he said.

“They’re on the same journey to grow in brotherhood together,” Gates added.

At Star of the Sea, the Fraternus and Fidelis groups meet separately on Wednesday nights but conclude together with compline (night prayer) in the church, where parents are welcome to attend.

Outdoor excursions are also part of the groups’ offerings. At Star of the Sea, the Fraternus members went camping in Montana last summer and more recently camped in Ravensdale, east of Maple Valley. The Fidelis teens spent a recent weekend at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, an outing that included adoration and confession.

“The kids need to be able to unplug,” Father Lappe said of the weekend trips.

‘A really good recipe’

At Holy Redeemer Parish in Vancouver, some 130 students — 43 boys and about 90 girls — participate in the Fraternus and Fidelis groups, said Mark MacKenzie, director of faith formation.

Girls at Holy Redeemer Parish in Vancouver participate in Fidelis, which fosters sisterhood while they grow in their faith. (Courtesy Jamie Kohler)

Although the parish has a Scouting program, religious education classes and a Lenten men’s group, “what was missing was something that tied all those things together,” MacKenzie said.

He said Fraternus and Fidelis offer a mix of food, fun, game playing, lessons and prayer.

“They have a really good recipe,” he said, and parents have been giving positive feedback.

Simon Prill, a high school sophomore and Holy Redeemer parishioner, said he joined Fraternus because a lot of his friends were members. But the group has made a difference in his life — Prill said he has started praying every day.

And the outdoor opportunities give him a chance to disconnect from the internet and think about his faith and what he can do to improve himself.

“I’ve been able to ask a lot of questions to the leaders of the group,” Prill said. “They’ve addressed a lot of misunderstandings.”