A new, online approach to youth work in our Diocese
Many of our chaplaincies cover huge geographical areas, so gathering young people together can be tricky. One innovative approach came from a youth worker, Joy Van Staalduinen who has used online gatherings to build communities of young people across our diocese.
It started during COVID when online was the only way of meeting up. Joy applied for the role of youth worker at Holy Trinity in Maisons Laffitte, France even though she lived in the Netherlands. She ran Youth meetings throughout Advent and beyond. Lockdown ended but the benefits of online meetings was then clear; young people would meet and learn together online and then meet in person for longer retreats and events. These retreats were all the more powerful and engaging for being in person. One girl chose to get baptised at one of the first events.
At first, the focus was on leading the young people through confirmation training, but alongside this, friendships were formed, and communities built.
Rev Charlotte Sullivan, chaplain at Maisons-Laffitte shared;
“We began working with Joy in the summer of 2021. Covid was responsible for shutting down many of our church activities. We like many churches needed to go online, for worship, bible study, Sunday school, and Youth. Being able to trust our youth ministry to Joy at this time was an absolute blessing. Her dedication, creativity, and genuine care for young people have been transformative. Joy's unwavering commitment has kept our youth engaged and connected bringing a renewed sense of energy and purpose to this important ministry.
Other chaplaincies heard about this model of working and got in touch with Joy to ask her to run classes at their chaplaincies. This growth led to four chaplaincies across France growing their youth work together.”
So far, all sessions and classes have been held in English, but Joy is very aware that for many young people this may be their second or third language.
In the Autumn of 2023, Joy got a call from Rev Carolyn Cooke at La Cote in Gingins, Switzerland. Here the focus on young people was to provide something for them specifically to keep them engaged with the church. Joy adapted the confirmation course to hold it on Sunday evenings over 12 weeks, giving the young people more time to get to know each other and process the teaching at their own pace.
Carolyn said;
“We did not have any in-person youth work on the go last term at La Côte Church, but we did have some parents who were keen to help their children/youth explore faith with a view to confirmation. So, we launched the online sessions with Joy and four families in our church. We have a regular group of six youth ranging from 11 – 16. They are getting to know Joy – who is great at icebreakers, is a good communicator and is comfortable online. They are building trust with her and each other.
In addition – we have had some in-person gatherings to discuss what they are doing together online and to build friendships.
I am very encouraged and look forward to some more in-person gatherings and involving the youth in our services – during the summer with a view to confirmation sometime in the autumn. We will also have some time altogether in the autumn with Joy coming over to be with us which will be very special.”
COVID may have been the catalyst to begin this approach, but this way of working with our young people continues to enable us to build on their faith and engage them in ways that suit them more than asking them to travel long distances to their chaplaincy. As we focus on growing youth ministry and vocations across our diocese, innovative ways like this show us that we can overcome barriers of distance and time to keep building our community at all ages.
Hear from 2 of the young people:
“Several years after my baptism, I decided to join in our church’s first confirmation course in a little while. The preparation courses were mostly online, which we were already used to, having weekly zoom youth meetings on Thursday evenings before we started confirmation. These sessions really helped us to build an understanding of what confirmation was actually about, and diving into its deeper meaning. We also were able to go on a retreat at HTCML to learn about confirmation but in person, which was a great opportunity to share experiences and reinforce our learning. During this retreat, we learned about the sacraments and made stoles with references to our own qualities and biblical images.”
Christopher Gibson (Holy Trinity Maisons Laffitte)
“Preparing my confirmation was a great time to review all of the truths I had always been told about God, and to embrace them for myself as the foundations of my faith. As well as this overview of the fundamentals of Christianity, the online preparation classes provided new insight and background that I hadn’t encountered before, with the focus on sacraments particularly meaningful. Having two confirmation classes was very encouraging, as I met many other Christian young people. In this sense, the retreat at HTCML was a good time not only to connect with God but also with other young Christians. The confirmation course really “confirmed” what I believed, as I made mine the truths I had been told from a young age. After confirmation I remember for a long while feeling at peace, and I think it’s this confirmation that has made me care more about looking after and developing my faith.”
Charlotte Medcalf (Holy Trinity Maisons Laffitte)
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