In Our Own Words: Agents of Change Invite the Church to Listen

Reflection written by Kate Wilkinson, CEO of Million Minutes

On Wednesday 15th July, the Million Minutes Agents of Change gathered online for In our Own Words, an event designed and led by young people to share their experiences of faith and invite the Church into a deeper conversation about what it means to listen to young people.

Agents of Change is Million Minutes’ youth leadership programme for young people aged 15-18, equipping them to become leaders for peace and justice through formation, mentoring, Catholic Social Teaching and opportunities for advocacy. The online event was the culmination of their journey together.

The event began with an observation shared by the young people themselves: the faith they experience is not always the faith that the world sees.

In a time when Christianity can sometimes be associated with division or exclusion the Agents of Change wanted to offer a different perspective. Their faith, they explained, is rooted in love, service, justice, solidarity and hope.

Rather than adults speaking about young Christians, this was an opportunity for young Christians to speak for themselves. Patrick, Dylan and Emily shared personal reflections on what being a Christian means to them, where they see their faith misunderstood, and how their faith inspired them to love, serve and act.

Their stories were followed by small group conversations, where young leaders and adult participants explore what they had heard.

Participants were asked:

• What surprised or challenged you?

• Where do you see disconnects between Church perspectives and lived faith?

• What does the Church need to gear more clearly from young people?

The conversations were then brough back together by the young leaders, who reflected on the themes emerging across the different groups.

The response from the attendees was incredibly positive. One participant commented on “the depth of knowledge of the faith” demonstrated by the young leaders and their ability to articulate it, while another highlighted their “commitment to their faith and how they were able to clearly articulate what their faith means to them.” Several people spoke about the hope they took away from the event.

At Million Minutes, we believe listening to young people is about more than giving them a microphone. It means creating spaces where their experiences can genuinely shape the conversation. The event gave adults the opportunity to hear directly from young people about their lived experience of faith, while also creating space for dialogue and reflection.

The young leaders had already tested a shorter version of their workshop at the Archdiocese of Liverpool’s Social Action conference earlier in July. Archbishop John Sherrington, who attended their workshop, reflected that the Church needs to create more spaces for young people to be heard and to engage in conversations with adults. He also highlighted that there is much the Church can learn not only from young people’s voices, but from the way they facilitate conversations. The online event built on that experience, bringing together young leaders and adults from across the Church and Catholic social action networks.

The online event concluded by asking participants to identify one concrete action they could take as a result of what they had heard whether it meant listening differently, creating more opportunities for young participation to changing something within their own community.

The response to the Agents of Change programme had left the young people keen to remain involved. Many of the current cohort want to continue contributing to Million Minutes’ work and to help shape the programme for future participants. This is perhaps one of the most exciting outcomes of the project.

Our hope was that the Agents of Change programme wouldn’t simply be a one-off leadership programme but a programme that would help to build a network of young Catholic leaders who are confident in their faith, passionate about justice and equipped to use their voices to make a difference.

As Million Minutes looks towards the next cohort, we want to continue creating opportunities for young people to lead, to question, to challenge, to dream and to act.

Because young people are not simply the future of the Church, they are the Church NOW!