Vision:

Young people should enjoy happy and healthy lives, with the support, love and encouragement needed for each one of them to grow into faithful adults in love with God and committed to the building of the Kingdom of God.

Mission:

As a parish we cherish young people for who they are now, for all the energy, gifts, joys and challenges that they bring to our community, and for who they are to become. They have a unique role to play and a unique voice to be heard.

The Catholic community of Our Lady & St Vincent will provide nourishment for young people so that they may encounter and come to know God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The parish strives to be a place where young people are welcomed, valued and supported to participate fully. We recognize that young people need to encounter genuine and tangible faith that makes a difference in the lives of believers around them. They need to be able to preserve their enormous capacity for hope and know that God is a God of love who will not let them down when all else falls apart. It is these gifts of fidelity, genuine hope and abounding love that we offer within a welcoming and authentic community.

Goals:

• Goal A: Youth ministry fosters the complete personal and spiritual growth of each young person, acknowledging the specific needs of young people in our local community.
• Goal B: Youth ministry calls young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in our world today, rooted in the living Tradition of our Church.
• Goal C: Youth ministry enables young people to participate fully in the life of the Catholic community, recognising the intrinsic value of youth and all that it has to offer to the Church.
• Goal D: Youth ministry sends young people out as prophetic witnesses of Christ, calling the world and the Church to a renewal of faith, hope and love.[1]

We aspire to achieve our goal with the following specific objectives:

1. Develop a ‘seamless tapestry’ of relational youth ministry with provision of opportunities to engage young people aged 11-18.  From catechesis for Reconciliation and Eucharist, children and young people should have regular opportunities to meet every year so that they develop and sustain relationships throughout their lives of faith.  This will mean that, once they reach the age for Confirmation, they will know each other well and will also be able to welcome peers who have moved into the parish or come back to a more regular practice of their faith.

2. Recruit, train and sustain adult members of the parish community who will become committed and confident in accompanying young people through their life into an ever-deeper experience of and relationship with God.

3. Work in partnership with the young people listening to their needs, hopes and passions, recognising that their individual lives of faith, and all their unique gifts, are vital to our parish.  This means reaching out and welcoming all young people within and beyond the visible Church community.

4. Support and enhance the provision of an ongoing faith formation for young people through explicit catechesis, informal education, prayer, Liturgy, and lived Christian action. Ensure the provision of a welcoming, engaging and enriching preparation for the Sacraments (First Communion, Reconciliation and Confirmation).

5. Inspire and equip young people, who are growing in their faith, to become leaders in their lives and the lives of their peers so as to become prophetic witnesses, including taking responsibility within the parish’s youth ministry.

6. Work towards a long-term strategy for ensuring the parish supports parents/guardians in their role as first teachers of the faith to their children.

These objectives are ambitious and demanding, but essential. The objectives we have set are a sign of our commitment to young people. We recognise that this is a whole parish endeavor. The successful involvement of those who will hold specific responsibility is dependent on the active support of all parishioners.

October 2022

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[1] Vision, Mission and Goals are abridged from Called to a Noble Adventure, #1-5, 14, The Department for Evangelisation and Catechesis. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, 2012.