THE Movers and Shakers Christian Youth Leadership Training Program drew 76 young people aged 16-25 to the April 10-15 gathering on the Sunshine Coast.
Participants from parishes, schools and youth organisations in Brisbane, Townsville, Toowoomba and Rockhampton were able to develop their leadership skills in what was described as “a safe community atmosphere”.
Ministry development officer for Brisbane’s Youth and Children’s Ministry Team, Malcolm Hart, deemed the program a success with “another group of fantastic young leaders”.
“The program … challenges them to lead in ways that aren’t in their normal habits and behaviours,” he said.
Twenty-one year-old Victoria Laurenzi, the youth co-ordinator from Logan Deanery, first experienced Movers and Shakers last year and said she came away feeling “fully charged”.
“We went back to the deanery and set up a youth committee and have been able to network between parishes,” she said.
This year’s Movers and Shakers gave Victoria and the other participants something else to think about.
“We were encouraged not to listen to negativity … but to set goals and go for them no matter what we are trying to achieve.”
Victoria has been involved in setting up a Buddies program where students aged eight to 12 are paired with a youth group member and taken on a social outing.
She and a group of young people are planning the next youth Mass for Logan Deanery on June 10 at 9.30am at St Matthew’s Church, Loganholme.
Movers and Shakers, an initiative of the Queensland Catholic Diocesan Youth Co-ordinators and the Queensland bishops, was first offered in 1990.
