Parishes...

There is no standard approach to parish Youth Ministry. Each parish seeks to identify its own provision in response to the needs of the faith community. What works in one parish may not work in another. The emphasis is not just about having a Youth Club/Group but is much broader, developing appropriate ways for young people to be involved in every aspect of parish life and in a safe and supportive environment. This requires a holistic approach by addressing every aspect of the development and formation of young people. The process for developing a realistic Youth Ministry also encourages a collaborative approach.
In supporting the provision of Youth Ministry, Animate offers training, information, resources, encouragement and promotion of good practice:

• Working to identify ways that enables every Parish or Pastoral Area to recognise and value the importance of [their] young people by having a functioning Youth Ministry; using gathered and non-gathered approaches.

• Moving towards assembling a strategic plan that provides clear direction and is adequately resourced.

It should be our aim to work with young people in such a way that their every concern is explored and examined under the searchlight of the Gospel of Christ.
By this process young people may come to realise for themselves their part in God’s mission.

It should be our aim to work with young people in such a way that their every concern is explored and examined under the searchlight of the Gospel of Christ.
By this process young people may come to realise for themselves their part in God’s mission.

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What people have said...

The young people enjoyed a relaxing and rewarding day at Lowe House which helped them in their preparation for Confirmation. The team of young leaders were friendly and welcoming, sharing themselves and their faith in an open and unthreatening way. The cost was met by the Parish and I think was great value for money.
Fr Steve Cooper,
Parish Priest  of St Richard’s and Sacred Heart, Atherton, and St Ambrose Barlow, Astley; Dean of Leigh Deanery

"Animated" and "Inspiring"! My simple yet honest evaluation and experience of working alongside the animate team during our parish confirmation away day. 'Inspired young people, inspiring young people!' A privilege to witness. May I also commend the whole team for the support, encouragement and welcome they offered to the catechist team.
Cathy Jones,
Parish Catechist, St Benedict’s, Warrington

The ideas and enthusiasm of the animate team worked with our young people, who were led through group and shared work in an enjoyable way, which also led into deeper thought and times of prayer and reflection… The team have also offered to support and develop the catechists for a parish programme in the coming years. Thank you animate for your input and for your continuing work in the diocese.
Fr Sean Kirwin,
Parish Priest St Paul’s and St Timothy’s, West Derby,
and Episcopal Vicar for Finance

 

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Eucharistic Ministers Training:

We welcomed 35 young people from across the Diocese for a weekend of fun and faith as they explored the Eucharist in a greater depth before being commissioned to be Eucharistic Ministers in their parishes and schools. Over the two days the young people played games and got to know each other, thinking about the community of the church at home, across the Archdiocese and across the whole world. There were also practical elements as everyone had a demonstration and a chance to have a ‘practice’ of how to minister the Eucharist as well as how to lead their own Eucharistic service if the situation arose. As always the parish of St Mary’s, Lowe House, gave everyone a warm welcome as the young people were commissioned in the parishes 4:30 mass. Thanks to all those involved.

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Diocesan Conference Day

On July 9th we ran a day at De la Salle in St Helens to gather representatives from all Pastoral Areas who are passionate about youth ministry in the Archdiocese. We welcomed Danny Curtin to speak about the different types of young people that we come across in Youth Ministry and how we may be able to reach them in different ways. Former Animate member Stephen Davies developed these ideas further after lunch before PA groups met together and had an initial meeting to discuss hopes and dreams for young people in their PA’s. It was a great initial discussion before a follow up meeting later this calendar year.

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We are glad to announce the start of our weekly youth night has been fantastic. It has been running for just two weeks now but the numbers more than doubled from the first week to the second. It has been a great chance for people to meet up with old friends and make new friends while playing games, baking cakes, praying together and making plans for what TGI is going to be. As it is only the beginning, we want to make it a night for young, with the ideas from young people and so in our second week we explored different characteristics of what we want TGI to be and also looked at what activities and topics we would like to have at TGI over the coming weeks, months, and years!!! If you are interested or know someone who might be interested then come on down on a Friday night, details are on the home page!

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London Papal Visit

Those who made the journey down to London for the Papal Visit had an amazing time! The journey down on the Friday night gave everyone a chance to get to know each other a bit better and the University accommodation gave us a good night sleep for the early start on the Saturday. In the morning it was off to Westminster Cathedral for Mass with the Pope (via the big screen out on the Piazza). It was a great experience for all and especially for Matty Fitzhenry who was the Archdiocese representative on the steps outside the Cathedral with the Pope at the end of Mass.

After that the experience got even better as all the diocese’ processed from the Cathedral to Hyde Park for a packed lunch on the grass before entering the arena in the middle of the park. We entered into an amazing atmosphere with entertainment, faith sharing and much, much more happening on stage. As the ‘carnival’ continued the excitement grew as the big screens showed the journey of the Pope through London in the ‘Popemobile’ towards Hyde Park. We were lucky enough to be only a few feet away as the Pope entered the arena and once on the stage there were cheers for the Pope but silence as he gave his message to the youth of Britain. This all lead into a time of silence from 80,000 people kneeling in front of the Blessed Sacrament for a time of Benediction. The whole day was an experience we will never forget.

On the Sunday we were welcomed by the parish of St Aloysius for Mass. It was extra special due to the links that the parish priest and sister had with Lowe House here in St Helens. After Mass we had a few hours to explore the streets of London with the whole group heading down to a central meeting point of Covent Garden, enjoying the variety of street entertainers, shops and famous landmarks.

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Papal Visit Reunion

We welcomed the Papal Visit pilgrims from the Archdiocese to Lowe House for a reunion recently. It was a great evening with a celebration mass followed by chance to catch up with everyone and also to take part in the most amazing quiz ever! It was a fun evening and a great way to continue the journey that we all shared together. The experience of the visit is still living strong in everyone and it was great to see everyone again. Long may it continue!

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Hearts speaks to Heart Retreat 11-13th Feb

'Really fun, spiritual and relaxing' was the way one young person described the wekend retreat. This was a great opportunity to re-visit what the Pope said and did when he came to the UK in Sept. The weekend was spent at Savio House near Macclesfield. The workshops, looked at where your treasure is there is your heart. There was an amazing treasure hunt in the grounds of Savio House where different parts of our faith were discovered and relfected upon. There was a discussion workshop to speak about the words of Pope Benedict particularly when he said, 'look into your own heart, we were made for love…deep within your heart, he is calling you to spend time with him in prayer.' Later there was a time of prayer and reconciliation. For young person 'my favourite thing was the time of prayer and confession because it gave me a chance to address a lot of things.' There was the infamous walk up White Nancy and not fogetting the Savio's Got Talent, talent show. For others who went away it meant that 'I now have a stronger faith and others have 'grown in confidence.'

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National Youth Symbol Tour

Many of you will remember the scenes in September when Pope Benedict XVI visited Britain. Those of you who saw or attended the events down in London will remember that outside Westminster Cathedral, the Holy Father blessed a candle stand which was to be a symbol of young people and youth ministry across England and Wales.  The tour reached the Archdiocese of Liverpool on 27th May and was housed at Lowe House. Unfortunately this coincided with the half term break so we were unable to do much with it in schools but the candle stand did spend time in St Mary’s parish as part of liturgical celebrations and we also gathered round the symbol at our June Youth Alive.
For more information on the tour and the meaning behind the different panel designs visit www.cymfed.org/national-symbol