Faith Mentor Formation

Faith mentors are essential to the new vision for Faith Formation. To equip and support those serving in this role, the Diocese of Crookston is offering regional Faith Mentor Formation sessions throughout the fall. Each session will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Directors of Faith Formation, catechists, pastors, and prospective faith mentors are encouraged to attend one of the six sessions at a location or date that is most convenient for them. Please click on More Events to see all the dates listed. Registration is requested. (Registration link can be found below.) 

ComPanis Faith Mentor Formation: Walk Together. Break Bread.
 
“Our love for Jesus and for our neighbor impels us to speak to others about our faith. Each believer is thus a link in the great chain of believers.” (CCC166)
 
ComPanis Faith Mentor Formation prepares adults to walk with young people — offering the encouragement, guidance, and presence that draw them deeper into the life of the Church.
 
Designed for catechists, faith formation leaders, small-group leaders, pastors, and volunteers, ComPanis equips adults to walk alongside youth and young adults in faithful companionship — forming the kind of intentional, Christ-centered relationships that draw young people into a deeper sense of purpose and belonging within the life of the Church.
 
What Is ComPanis Faith Mentor Formation?
ComPanis takes its name from the Latin com ("with") and Panis ("bread") — the roots of accompaniment itself: to walk the road together and meet Christ in the breaking of the bread.
 
ComPanis is grounded in the USCCB's Listen, Teach, Send: A National Pastoral Framework for Ministries with Youth and Young Adults (2024), itself rooted in the Emmaus narrative (Luke 24:13–35) — a model of encountering others on the road, entering their story, and leading them toward the living Christ.
 
At its heart, ComPanis is about relational ministry — the patient work of showing up for young people and walking with them over time.
 
How It Works
This fall, the Office of Missionary Discipleship will offer a day-long workshop at six locations across the Diocese of Crookston. No prior experience in youth ministry is required — only the desire to show up for the young faithful in your community.
 
For adults looking to dive deeper into faith mentor formation, you are invited to a Faith Mentor Formation Retreat, January 15 – 17, 2027, at the Nazareth Retreat House.  The retreat will focus on exploring the discernment of charisms and will dive deeper into practical approaches to accompanying the next generation.
 
Registration for the ComPanis Faith Mentor Formation Workshops and Retreat is offered at no cost through the generous support of a grant from the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. 
ComPanis Faith Mentor Formation Retreat
Date    Time    Location    City
January 15 – 17    7:00 PM – 1:00 PM    Nazareth Retreat House    Crookston
 
Registration
 
Registration will open Friday, August 7. 
Register

 ComPanis Faith Mentor Formation is an initiative of the Office of Missionary Discipleship, Diocese of Crookston, developed in the spirit of New Life: Through the Tender Compassion of Our God and the diocesan faith formation initiative Faith Formation for New Life.