YOUNG people like Mia, 16, say Ignite Conference has changed their lives forever.
“It was honestly just an eye opening experience to ways I can express and grow my faith, and being with people who feel the same as me,” she said.
“I feel like a different person from when I walked through the doors and when I left them 4 days after.
“I wasn’t expecting much but that definitely changed as soon as I arrived, I feel like this experience has changed my life forever which I will never push aside and forget.”
Ignite Conference saw hundreds of Brisbane’s youngest Catholics spend four days learning more about their faith and encountering Jesus at St Laurence’s College from September 19 to 22.
The conference had keynotes from leaders in the Church as well as experts in theology and ministry.
It was also packed with “mountain-top experiences” like worship rallies, Masses and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
“After being lost for so long trying to find my next steps after high school, I felt a calling to continue my journey as a youth minister,” Koko, 17, said.
Caitlin, 15, said before she went to Ignite, she had a “very basic understanding of my religion and Jesus”.
“But after the conference, and how I felt during Adoration and prayer teams, I now feel so much more confident in my faith and I know that God is real and He has a plan for me,” she said.
The conference has content streams for all ages.
These include Ignite Adults, which includes selected sessions for young adults as well as deeper sessions for those aged 25+, Ignite High for high school students, and Ignite Kids for primary aged children.
Mass was celebrated by Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge at the conference and there were chances for the Sacrament of Penance too.
In his homily, Archbishop Coleridge said Christianity was not a conventional religion – “it’s an experience”.
“Many have come to Ignite for an experience – good – because that’s what Christianity is,” he said.
He said it was an experience of encounter with the Risen Christ, who rises up in every time and place, including Brisbane at Ignite.
The Ignite Conference is run by Ignite Youth, the national youth ministry that springs out of the Emmanuel Community, Brisbane.
The conference is held in both in Brisbane and Sydney each year.
