In June, Million Minutes and Diocese of Hallam Youth Ministry were invited by the Union of Catholic Mothers (UCM) to facilitate their annual study days. The theme this year was ‘Towards Impactful Youth Ministry and Outreach’.
We discussed our hopes for the outcome of these study days, which included (but was not limited to): knowing more about the issues young people face, how to engage specifically with young people in parish settings and how to attract young people to be active members of church communities.
We reflected on the life span of young people aged 11-18 today, looking at the years 2006-2024. We discussed the many significant political, economic, religious and cultural events that have taken place in that time. Thinking of the UCM members’ own experiences around similar events that have happened in their lifetime, we were able to highlight how significant events and times shape the trajectories of the lives of all young people.
At the start of the second day, we opened by talking about the existing youth ministry work across England and Wales. We used this as a starting point to talk about opportunities that we can pass on to young people in our own settings; taking those existing opportunities for young people, we then considered the systemic changes that we could make in order to enhance existing opportunities or create more of them.
At the end of the final day, we invited small groups to reflect on what they had heard so far. They were encouraged to think again about their motivations for working with young people, where it became clear that they were now better equipped to articulate these motivations. They spoke about how they value young people as individuals, how they must meet young people where they are (and not where they think young people should be), and how they celebrate young people for their joy and enthusiasm.
“We need to recognise that for young people life is not a continuous party. We shall hold them in our prayers to give strength and courage as they encounter difficulties in life”
We are grateful to the UCM for the invitation to facilitate over these study days. It has been a real joy to work with the youthful energy of UCM members. We would welcome any future opportunities to work collaboratively with members of the UCM to accompany young people.