Philosophy of Religious Education
We, the people of Immaculate Conception and St. Jude’s Parish, steadfastly support the principle that Catechesis is the main priority of our faith community. We actively endorse the right of every baptized person to receive proper instruction and education which will build and sustain a truly Catholic Christian life. While adult education is the principle form of catechesis, we are committed to instruct and educate people in all stages of life to embrace the sacraments and traditions of our Catholic religion. As a conscientious faith community, we partner with families to provide a solid religious educational foundation.

Mission Statement for Religious Education
We seek to instruct and educate all individuals to realize what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ and to celebrate joyfully their lives in Christ. We recognize our spiritual journey begins before birth and continues after death; we are committed to providing formal and informal religious education programs and opportunities for spiritual development through:

• Parenting education and enrichment
• Family education and enrichment
• Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (adapted form for children)
• Process of Sacramental preparation for adults and children
• Religious instruction for pre-school, elementary, middle and high school students
• Adult education
• Prayer
• Liturgies
• Retreats
• Community building experiences
• Social concern awareness and Catholic Christian responsibility

We remain open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to guide the continual development of our parish’s response to the religious educational needs of the people of Immaculate Conception and St. Jude’s Mission Parish.

IC Athletic Association Spring sports registration continues now through March 2nd or until the rosters are full.

Track & Field (co-ed) for grades 3-8 and Baseball for grades 6-8 are included. Both teams participate in the Diocesan Catholic Youth Ministry league.

We currently need a head coach and an assistant coach for Track & Field. Please contact Melinda Delia if you can help. Please see this page and related Athletic Association pages.

Have you been challenged about being Catholic?  Are you ready and able to share the Catholic story–your story–with friends and neighbors who do not understand it?

In a week and a half, Immaculate Conception Parish will begin an 11-week journey through the rich truth and beauty of the Catholic faith.  Join fellow parishioners in viewing and discussing Fr. Robert Barron’s epic, ten-part series, Catholicism.

The Catholicism series will be shown on Monday evenings (7-9 p.m.) and Tuesday mornings (9:15-11:15 a.m.) beginning January 9th.  The Tuesday sessions, which begin January 10th, are a repeat of the Monday evening session.  All meetings will occur in the ICC Parish Center library.

Registration is encouraged, but not required.  Registering will help us ensure that we have enough resources for everyone who attends.

Click here to download the registration form.  You can deliver this form to the parish office, or call the parish office (410-398-1100) with the information contained on the form.

Please pray that through this series many hearts will turn toward Jesus, falling more deeply in love with Him and his Bride, the Church.  Also, please help us by spreading the word and inviting your friends and family (Catholic and non-Catholic alike) to come!

ALL are most welcome, invited, and encouraged to attend.

Join Bishop Malooly and hundreds of youth and adults for the third annual Diocesan Pilgrimage on Saturday, March 31st.

See this link for more information, including the promo video and online registration.

Families with younger children are encouraged to register online as a family.

Youth in grades 7-12 and college-age young adults not registering as a family may email our youth ministry office to participate as part of our parish group. Parents who are “cleared adults” (background check) and would like to chaperone should also email our youth ministry office.

Don’t wait! Registration ends March 23, 2012. See the link above for all the details.

Come and join the fun, and be “Irish for a Night!” Our evening includes dinner, DJ, dancing, games, raffles, and a special guest. For dinner you have the choice of Shepherd’s Pie or Ham and Cabbage. Register by February 29th and receive a free drink ticket!

When: Saturday, March 17, 2012  6:30 – 10:30 PM
Where: Singerly Fire Hall, Route 279 in Elkton
Tickets: $25.00 a person, for sale only until March 5th.  No sales at the door.

Please contact the Parish Office at 410-398-1100 for more information. Click here to download the registration form.

If you are interested in attending Vacation Bible School this year, please click here and download the flyer/interest survey and return it to the Religion Office by Feb. 15, or you can email  re@iccparish.org to let us know you are interested. Thank you.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2012. Please join us on Fridays during lent for Stations of the Cross at 7:00 PM at Immaculate Conception Church.

On two Fridays, March 2nd and March 23rd, our teens will perform Shadow Stations. If you’ve never seen Stations of the Cross done this way, please join us.

On the remaining Fridays we will have traditional Stations of the Cross.