St. Catherine's enthusiastically welcomes all families with children! Family & Children’s Ministry provides families opportunities for prayer, service, socialization, and faith formation, all designed to bring families together as they seek to deepen their relationships with God, strengthen the mission of the Church, and serve the community and beyond.

Check out some of what we offer below and see the full calendar for upcoming events to join us.

• St. Catherine's provides meaningful Catholic faith formation for kids and their families together through Encounter. This is our monthly parish-wide, intergenerational faith formation program where we seek God in community. Each session features different activities designed for all ages to grow in our Catholic faith while in community.
• We offer sacramental preparation for First Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation. Preparation for Reconciliation & Communion takes place during workshops for students and their parents. Confirmation preparation takes place with small-group meetings. For information on Baptism, please contact the Office.
• Vacation Bible School (summer)
• Family Faith Connect: gatherings that provide a chance for parents to talk about ways to grow closer to God as a family.
• During Mass, enjoy a collection of children’s board/picture books related to prayer, Scripture, Mass, the saints, etc. The bookshelf is located in the Gathering Space.
• Children’s Liturgy of the Word during 10:00 Mass for kids in Pre-K and up. Two adults are always present to facilitate & supervise.
• Donuts after every 10:00 Mass.
• Opportunities for Youth Lectors to proclaim the Word at 10:00 Mass.
• St. Catherine's hosts many social, prayer, and service events throughout the year for families with children. Past events include our Annual Christmas Pajama Breakfast, Easter Egg hunts, and socials to end and start the school year.
• Hands-on service opportunities to put God's love into action. Past events include collecting money on Super Bowl Sunday for DMARC Food Pantry, making Blessing Bags for those in need, grocery shopping trips for our St. Catherine's Little Food Pantry, and making birthday cake kits for the food pantry.
• Emails with resources related to growing in faith at home as a family.

We believe that the variety of our families' backgrounds, including schooling experiences, strengthens and adds value to our St. Catherine's community. Within our parish are families whose children attend public schools, as well as families whose children attend Catholic schools.

For families with children in Catholic schools, families registered and contributing at St. Catherine's typically receive the "in-parish" tuition rate for any Des Moines Area Regional Catholic School.