net discipleship team

NET stands for National Evangelization Teams. NET Ministries originated in Minnesota and for over 30 years NET has provided peer-to-peer youth ministry in schools, parishes, and universities across the US and the world. Each year, NET recruits and trains teams of young adults from around the world aged 18-30 who volunteer a year of their lives to share their experience of Jesus and to serve the Church. These volunteers receive five weeks of intensive training led by experienced and qualified staff. They receive formation in prayer, Scripture, theology, Catholic spirituality, evangelization, liturgy, ministry skills, and Christian community living.

While most NET teams will travel around the country running youth retreats from September-April every year, a select few teams (called Discipleship Teams) are assigned to stay in one specific community in order to enhance a culture of intentional discipleship and minister to that community’s youth. NET supports our parish and school ministries for youth in grades 5-12 by assisting with Young Church and school discipleship activities, running retreats, developing and leading small groups, building relationships with the youth, and helping young people develop ministry leadership skills.

host the team

net ministries

meet the missionaries

faq’s about the net team

NET stands for National Evangelization Teams. According to NET Ministries, their organization seeks to “challenge young Catholics, through relational ministry, to follow Christ and embrace a life of community in the Church”.
“Discipleship Teams offer a unique opportunity that combines the efforts of a parish or school and that of a NET team, in order to enrich Catholic culture and build a community of disciples that have a lasting relationship with Christ. A partnership is formed between a parish/school and NET Ministries, in which they work side-by-side to bring Christ to the community.” (source: netusa.org/discipleshipteams/)
Yes! NET Ministries also deploys missionaries on Retreat Teams to minister to middle school and high school youth at parishes and Catholic schools across the country.
The missionaries are here to support and expand our existing efforts to accompany young people on the path of becoming spirit-filled disciples of Jesus Christ. The Discipleship Team will engage in a variety of outreach and discipleship activities for the youth of our parish and school community.
Our current team of missionaries will be here through the end of April 2024. This is our second year of having a team here, out of a three-year contract with NET Ministries. A third team (composed of different missionaries) will rejoin our parish and school next school year, as well.
The missionaries stay in host homes with parish families who have generously agreed to house 2-5 missionaries in their home for 3 weeks of the year. We still have openings in the housing schedule - if you’d like to learn more about being a host family, click on the “Support the Team” button on this page.
The missionaries are thoroughly screened by NET Ministries in order to ensure their suitability for working with youth. NET Ministries follows the recommendations laid out by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in their “Charter for the Protection of Young People”. These measures include: criminal background checks, numerous reference checks, a letter of suitability from their Pastor, and completion of “VIRTUS - Protecting God’s Children” course, and additional instructions on maintaining safe environments for youth during their initial 5-week training.
All NET Missionaries complete a 5-week training process prior to beginning ministry. This training equips them to conduct outreach and discipleship efforts among the youth in a parish/school community. They are taught how to model a life of discipleship for young people, engage youth in outreach activities outside of church/school, share testimonies, run small groups, encourage peer-to-peer faith sharing, mentor individual youth, teach young to develop a habit of daily prayer, and more.
Our Discipleship Team works closely with St. Patrick parish staff members Marissa Dawson (Coordinator of Youth Discipleship) and Kevin Bailey (Director of Discipleship). They also are supervised and supported remotely by staff at the NET Center in Minnesota. These supervisors are in regular weekly contact with the missionaries and make 4 site visits throughout the year.

contact the net missionaries

Please note that the missionaries do not use their personal devices, phone numbers, or email addresses for ministry. Any communication with youth and parents is done through shared team phones and NET email accounts.

Email: net@stpatchurch.org
Men’s Phone: 810-772-6586
Women’s Phone: 810-772-9953