3GY Youth Group
Working in all three Perth parishes – under the leadership of Justyna Jablonska – a volunteer group of young Catholics help to organise the regular Wednesday evening activities and reflections in St John’s Church Hall – Melville Street – from 6-8.30pm.
Following a tasty evening meal prepared by themselves, there are a variety of activies to choose from including sports, warhammer, art & crafts, music and creating the newspaper and website. Finally the youngsters have a group discussion of faith or undertake some project work for others based on the theme which is focused for the term.
Youth coordinator Justyna Jablonska reports, “In the last 12 months we have organised 4 Holiday Clubs for all children from P3-P7. The numbers of children attending our holiday clubs are varying from 17 to about 30. Each time during our Holiday Club we had at least 3 volunteers helping during the day. Holiday Club are a great way for children to find out more about God and the life of Jesus through singing, games, crafts, stories and so on. Holiday Clubs offer fun, friendship and serious Christian teaching, which support the teaching that children are receiving at home and at the church. By taking care of faith of young children now we are helping to shape their future, by teaching them the most important life values such as respect, honesty, compassion and so on.”
“Our Youth Group meets in St John’s Church Hall every Wednesday. Our Wednesdays meetings start with a tasty evening meal, after which there are a variety of activities to choose from including sports, art & crafts and baking. Finally the young people have a group discussion about their faith or they may undertake some project work for others based on the theme, which is focused for the term. Youth group is open for all Young people age 11-18 years old. Over the last 12 months we have noticed that the number of people attending our Wednesday meeting have dropped from 20 to about 8 young people. At the moment we have about 5 Youth Group leaders that are willing to contribute their time and skills to our Youth Project.”
“We have successfully organized many different events such as our Craft and Bake Christmas Sale that helped us to raise over £90 for Youth Group Funds. We have attended Diocesan Youth Gatherings in Dundee and sleepover event in Kilgraston. We have successfully organized many different trips, and we are planning to organise many more in the near future. Since our numbers are dropping we are planning to re-start and re-launch Youth Group in our Parish and in our local Catholic schools. We are considering starting a brand new Youth Group for all aged 11-13 in May. We are also working on a brand new identity and name for our youth group. We are planning to organise a survey in our Parish to learn how our parishioners see our Youth Project and what are the needs of Young People and their parents in our parish.”
“Finally, recently our Youth Project have worked with local fishermen, Chris Connolly and John Cook, with the help of whom a group of eight youngsters were given short courses in safety, water craft, knot tying and casting in preparation for a session of fly fishing at Perth’s Willowgate Fishery at Kinfauns. Our plan is to repeat these introductory courses for new groups over the summer and to look at ways in which they might take their interest to a new level.”
LEADERSHIP TRAINING
“During the past year we have been helping our leaders and potential leaders develop new skills too. Courses have been provided by Dunkeld Diocese at the St Ninian Institute, Dundee. The course covered topics like Safeguarding Training, (Child Protection); Ministry to Parents; Emotional and Mental Health; Crisis Management; Sharing the vision; Servant Leadership; Creative Catechesis – The New Evangelisation and finally – helping our young people to take the next step, a commitment to Youth Ministry.”
“The training ended with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Stephen and Service of Commissioning.”
“If you are a Catholic, if you believe that the future of the Church is worth investing some of your time in, and if you are interested in working with young people, then youth ministry is definitely for you!”
“These are the only credentials that you need to be a potentially outstanding youth minister in your parish. With a little training and support, you could be doing ‘valuable work’ for our young people and for the Church. Youth ministry is rewarding, inspiring, challenging, and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, absolutely life giving! Dunkeld Youth Service believe in local, parish based, youth ministry so much that we are offering a number of training and formation opportunities to active or potential youth ministers in the diocese.”
“Speak to your parish priest about the course. If you are already working with young people, or would like to start, there may be some financial support available, for enrolment and transport, to help fund your attendance.”
Visit the Perth Catholic Youth Project website for more information:
www.3gy.org.uk