You may be acquainted with Men of Christ and Women of Christ — now meet Students of Christ.
Students of Christ is a new Catholic middle school youth rally initiative that is both led by and partnering with longstanding organizers of Catholic conferences in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
Organized as a ministry of Men of Christ, Students of Christ plans to bring together 4,000 6th through 8th graders March 13 to meet Christ in a personal way in a morning of adoration, music, energy and community at the Miller High Life Theater in Milwaukee.
“They’re going to get an experience of the Universal Church with great speakers and musicians and opportunities for prayer. We want to pack that entire place and really have this be an awesome conference experience,” Students of Christ Conference Co-Director Brian Magliocco said.
“As a former middle school teacher, I’ve always wanted something like this to be able to bring my students to,” said Students of Christ Conference Co-Director Lindsay Rybold. “It’s going to be just a way to come together with peers of their age, especially from all around the archdiocese.”
Magliocco and Rybold played key roles for the previously longstanding Wisconsin Catholic Youth Rally held for youth and teenagers from 2006 and 2024.
“That conference has since ended with the closure of Arise Milwaukee. There was a group of people that were involved with that conference for many years, but there were also people that just saw a need for the continuation of a conference similar to that,” Magliocco said.
The Holy Spirit brought them to work under a new organizational umbrella through a well-established host of similar conferences, he said.
“I had reached out to Kevin O’Brien, the president of Men of Christ, and asked if there was an opportunity, knowing that they (the annual Men of Christ conference) were moving back to the Miller High Life Theater in Milwaukee,” he explained.
“This new initiative, Students of Christ, could come together and utilize that wonderful space downtown because it can seat nearly 4,000 people. We knew there could be some efficiencies budget-wise, but also the opportunity for us to grow.”
For the first conference, Students of Christ organizers are inviting Catholic schools to bring classes as well as Catholic parents who want to register and attend with their children.
The middle school years are a critical time in a young person’s personal growth to encounter Christ.
“Twelve-, 13-, 14-year-olds are at such a vulnerable age that we need to be able to guide them and help them on their faith journey, especially as they transition to high school,” Rybold said.
She describes the morning event as one with a procession and Eucharistic Adoration where “kids will get a very up-close encounter with Jesus Christ and the monstrance.”
Magliocco and Rybold also say dynamic speakers, a band with praise and worship music, time for silent prayer and more will help young people open their hearts and minds to Christ and his message with thousands of peers in one of the largest atmospheres of praise that many of them will ever experience.
“They’ll never have experienced the Church in this magnitude, like you would if you went to a World Youth Day, a National Catholic Youth Conference or something like that,” Magliocco said.
“Some of them may be even accepting Jesus for some of the very first times where they’re willing to say, ‘There is something here, the Catholic identity is something. What more can I seek from this?’” Rybold added.
Both said that school groups already are reaching out to bring their young people, but they look to expand that roster of schools. They say holding the conference in downtown Milwaukee is giving them more opportunities to touch lives.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to bring in some of the schools in Milwaukee or other urban areas in the archdiocese,” said Magliocco.
They are also looking for volunteers to preregister and receive proper Protecting God’s Children training and background checks so they can participate and help facilitate a day that aims to be a game-changer for the faith lives of thousands of young people in southeastern Wisconsin.
“If we can even be that seed planter in helping them have that moment to meet Christ, then they can go back to their Catholic school and continue to be drawn out through their religion classes, through their weekly Mass attendance and the Catholic identity that they have,” said Magliocco.
“Can you imagine being a teenager sitting here with 4,000 other Catholic school kids your age, with Jesus processing around and just having that experience for the first time?” Rybold said. “It’s just very cool.”
Students of Christ Conference
For: 6th through 8th graders, with their schools or with parents/guardians
Where: Miller High Life Theater, Milwaukee
When: Friday, March 13, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Tickets: $7 per individual before Dec. 2; $12 per person on or after that date
More: Details at studentsofchrist.org or contact event Co-Director Lindsay Rybold at studentsofchristwi@gmail.com for more information or to volunteer.
