Greetings, I'm Stephanie Tierney...the new/old Youth Minister here at St. Thomas a'Becket. I am short, loud, and have a very hard time opening my mouth without something sarcastic coming out of it. I live for Detroit baseball, Michigan football, and Kentucky basketball. All three teams are way better than the teams that you follow-trust me on that!

I have lived in Canton my entire life and have no intentions of ever leaving (sorry folks, you're stuck with me!) After graduating from Divine Child High School in 1999, I moved down to Kentucky to higher my education at Bellarmine University. Due to the severity of my nesting disorder, though, and the fact that they talk kind of goofy down south, I transferred back home a year later and continued my studies in Adolescent Psychology at Eastern Michigan University.

While attending EMU, I was employed by Canton Township's Youth Development Team, a division of Canton Leisure Services catering directly to the needs of the youth in Canton. The experiences I endured and the people that I was given the privilege to work with and learn from in Canton changed my life in ways that I will never be able to adequately put into words. The CYO has always been such a huge part of my life and I am honored to have been given the chance to now work for such an amazing program.

The Youth Group here at St. Thomas a'Becket is spilt into two different age groups: Middle School (grades 6-8) and High School (grades 9-12). Over the past few years, the group has grown from just a few to almost 300. We offer a High School Youth Leadership Team, a Middle School Youth Leadership Team, and a variety of fun and spiritual events for any and all. The newly formed YACHT Club (Young Adult Catholics Hanging Together) offers a fun and exciting way for the young adults in our parish to meet. The YACHT Club is open to anyone over the age of 21, married or single.

They meet once a month (and sometimes more) for a night out on the town. The events range from shows down at the Fox Theater to games down at Comerica Park. And the best part? The Youth Group offers free babysitting the nights of the events! Free babysitting and a night out...what more could you ask for?

In addition to running the departments of Youth Ministry and Young Adults, I am also the head of Athletics. Our CYO Basketball league, directly affiliated with the Archdiocese of Detroit, runs from November to February, and is open to all students, grades 5-8. We compete against neighboring parishes from all over Metro Detroit and participate in 3 tournaments, totaling roughly 20-25 games per season. St. Thomas a'Becket also offers a T-Ball/CBall league for the younger ones during the summer months. T-Ball and C-Ball is open to anyone and everyone, ages 4-10. It is an beginners inter-parish league, and competes only against other parish teams, thus, the level of competition is very minimal (don't get me wrong, though...we do have some sluggers!)

If anything above interests you, or if you would like to learn more about the programs offered here at St. Thomas a'Becket, please feel free to drop me a line anytime at abecketyouth@hotmail.com. If you are interested in arguing about a rivaling sports team, stop on by! My office is located on the Lower Level of the church, just to the bottom of the stairs...I'll be waiting for you!