MORE than 80 young people and youth ministry workers gathered to hear what World Youth Day can offer the Australian Church when a Canadian organiser of the international event in 2002 addressed a Vision Youth Leadership Breakfast last Saturday in Brisbane.
The Vision Breakfasts are hosted by Emmanuel Youth Outreach (EYO), a Brisbane based ministry to young people and youth leaders across the archdiocese and nationally.
The keynote speaker, Bishop James Wingle of St Catharine’s Diocese in Canada, was one of the organisers of World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto.
The title of his talk was “How World Youth Day can inspire a new generation of witnesses for Christ”.
Breakfast organiser Luke Plant said he was impressed with Bishop Wingle and with the turnout to the breakfast at Riverglenn Conference Centre in Indooroopilly.
“This was our largest breakfast gathering to date, and it was great to see a mix of youth leaders from parishes and organisations, campus ministers and a good group of teenagers come along, including many who had come to the Ignite conference last month,” Luke said.
“People came from all across the archdiocese, even as far as Maryborough.
“We were honoured to be able to host Bishop James Wingle and hear about his experiences and tips about how World Youth Day has impacted upon Canada in the last four years.
“He (Bishop Wingle) described it as a ‘watershed’ experience for the Church in Canada, and I think it is an important image for us as we work towards our own World Youth Day in Australia in 2008.”
The Vision Breakfast was part of the WYD08 Activ8 national tour, co-ordinated by the National World Youth Day Office to generate awareness and to offer a foretaste of what will happen in Sydney in 2008.
While he was in Brisbane, Bishop Wingle also gave a lecture the night before on “World Youth Day: The Power to Transform”, and met with a number of committees preparing for World Youth Day.
EYO also launched its next FireStarter event at the Vision Breakfast.
Featuring the theme “Discover”, it will be a concert event featuring the emmanuelworship band, multimedia, giveaways, faith sharings and more.
It is being supported by Redland/Bayside Deanery, and is open to all young people in Year 8 and above.
“FireStarters are an ideal event for young people,” Luke said.
“At a time when many teenagers and young adults consider the Church irrelevant and are not interested in going to Mass, these events are about connecting with young people in their own language through contemporary music and sharings.
“They give young people a positive experience of the Gospel message today.”
The FireStarter event will be held on November 25 from 7pm-10pm at Iona College, Lindum.
Entry is $5 at the door.
EYO is also preparing to kick off the New Year with a summer camp for teenagers in high school. It will be held on the Sunshine Coast from January 10-14.
Registrations have opened and spaces are limited.
For more information about EYO or any of these events, phone Luke Plant on (07) 3394 4333 or email luke@eyouth.com.au
You can also visit www.eyouth.com.au
