MORE than 50 youth leaders and leadership teams attended an inaugural “Vision Youth Leadership Breakfast” on October 29 at Riverglenn Conference Centre, Indooroopilly.
An initiative of Emmanuel Youth Outreach (EYO), the breakfast was aimed at supporting youth leaders and building a strong youth ministry throughout the Brisbane archdiocese and beyond.
Youth ministry leaders and teams attended from Albany Creek, Wynnum, Upper Mt Gravatt, Carina, Indooroopilly and Bray Park parishes, as well as the north east deanery, south deanery, Toowoomba diocese, St Vincent de Paul, Youth and Children’s Ministry, the Indonesian Prayer Group, National Evangelisation Teams (NET Ministries) and EYO.
Vision Breakfast co-ordinator Luke Plant said EYO was pleased with the turn out for the first event.
“I’ve encountered many youth workers over the past few years who feel isolated and unsure about what they’re doing in their respective parishes and ministries,” Mr Plant said.
“Our vision for this breakfast is to help youth leaders and their teams connect with each other, support each other, and explore together the call of youth ministry and issues of youth leadership.
“We enjoyed a great hot breakfast together, heard some reflections from a keynote speaker, and shared about what that means for each of us personally in our own ministries.”
Keynote speaker, Emmanuel Community moderator Shayne Bennett spoke to the theme “A Leader’s Checklist”.
Shayne, who is involved in youth evangelisation in Australia and internationally, including NET Ministries and Youth Arise International, looked at a process of self-evaluation for leaders and the need for a vision for youth ministry.
South deanery children’s and youth co-ordinator Jaye Barros said the leadership team from St Bernard’s Parish, Upper Mt Gravatt all benefited from the breakfast.
“Our team is still buzzing from the breakfast and great things have started to blossom already! We all drove together, so the conversation in the car on the way home was very exciting!” Ms Barros said.
Mr Plant said it was great to hear positive feedback immediately after the event.
“This breakfast was a bit of a trial for us, but the response has been so positive and the number of attendees doubled what we had initially expected.
“We are planning for four of these breakfasts next year, each with a different keynote speaker and will make more effort to let more people know about them.”
He said EYO would also finish the year on a high with two events, FUEL and FireStarter, remaining.
The final FUEL for the year will kick off on November 20, from 7:30-9:30pm at St Patrick’s Church, Fortitude Valley while a FireStarter night, hosted by Albany Creek Parish on November 26, from 7-10pm, will focus on the theme ‘Caution: Highly Explosive’.
Visit www.eyouth.com.au for more information on EYO events or e-mail Luke Plant at eyo@eyouth.com.au or phone (07) 3394 4333.
