New Youth Minister

We are very pleased to welcome our new Parish Youth Minister, Juliette Pierre to the College. Juliette is from Bundoora, Victoria where she was a member and leader of the Immaculate Youth Group. Juliette enjoys travelling and seeking opportunities to see and do new things. In her free time Juliette writes, volunteers and plays soccer. As part of the New Evagelization, Juliette will work towards generating new and creative ideas to share the Word of God and assist the youth in ways to develop a deeper connection with God. Juliette is excited about her role here and in the Parishes of St Bernard’s and Sacred Heart. She is already beginning to meet our students and will be working with the Year 10 CSYMA class to prepare and present the Easter Service on Friday 12 April.

Easter Service - written by Damia O’Loughlin, Year 10.

On the 12th of April, at 10:00 am our Year 10 CSYMA (Catholic Schools Youth Ministry Australia) class will be performing the College’s annual Easter service. This is an incredibly important event for us as a College not only for the students, but for our Catholic community as a whole.

Each year our CSYMA produces a breathtaking service, focusing on different issues impacting the youth such as bullying, self-esteem and social media. These themes are then tied together beautifully with the annual topic of Easter. You can always tell by the absolute silence echoing throughout the hall at the conclusion of the service that the whole community feels more connected with each other and connected with God.  This years service is shaping up to be even more spectacular and is definitely an event not to be missed!

Youth ministry is a program designed to help teens mature and grow as humans, while assisting them to develop their own ideas, values and faith. These programs are beneficial for the students to develop their spiritual wellbeing whether it be through Catholicism or not. The youth ministry program acts as a direct response to the real interests and needs of the youth. This allows our generation to be equipped with all the tools we need to handle ourselves as adults and be confident in our spiritual selves.

This event is important not only for our students, but is also invaluable for the parents of our community. Youth ministry is most effective when we join together as a community to support kids as we become more mature and develop the skills we need for life. Through these programs, parents can demonstrate the importance of spirituality as the primary role models of their children. For youth ministry to be effective in helping our students, parents must be involved to in order to build a stronger community within our faith. This is why we strongly encourage parents to come to the Easter service to be a part of our community.

Being a Catholic school, these events are very important to our community. It’s important that the youth get involved in these services as they understand, better than anyone, what it’s like to be a teenager in this day and age. There are many issues that affect teenagers these days that adults may not fully understand. Youth Ministry is important for helping teenagers to find faith and allowing them to find guidance when they need to reach out for assistance. Young people can more easily connect and relate with each other and can help each other to develop their faith. Through this process, they can develop stronger bonds with each other and create lifelong friendships.

Our Easter liturgy is very important to our students. The liturgy promises to be an engaging and thought-provoking show that takes on real problems affecting our youth. Come down to Carroll College on the 12th of April, 10:00 am, to show your support of the hard work our youth ministry class has put into making this an unforgettable experience for our community.

Erica Drewsen

RE Coordinator