The tales and adventures of the MSC Youth Team 2017-2018

The MSC Youth Team 2017-2018 have hit the ground running and have been doing some fantastic work around the community. They’ve been super busy but have even managed to venture across the water to the UK to share some joy and the message of the Sacred Heart over there. The team this year is made up of six bubbly and enthusiastic young adults who, between them, come from four different countries.

 

 

Introducing this year’s MSC Youth Team (Cork NET), we have:

• Garrett Moore, 19, from Minnesota, USA
• Michael Mone, 18, Texas, USA
• Keith Erchinger, 18, Texas, USA
• Lucy Crispin, 19, Leeds, England.
• Felicia Joosten, 18, Alberta, Canada
• Tammie Richardson, 18, from Co. Meath

 

 

Lucy took some time out of her hectic schedule to write the following piece for us so as we can keep you up to speed with some of the great work they’ve done to date!

“Hello everybody!

It’s the MSC Youth Team here!

We are a team of six young people working in the Sacred Heart Parish in Cork City. As members of the MSC Youth Team (Cork NET) we help in the running of a young adults youth group, consisting mainly of students, who come together every week to talk, learn and grow deeper in their faith. We run a Parents and Toddlers group where parents can come and relax while their children run wild and have fun. Along with both of those we also hold a Children’s Mass every Sunday wherein the younger children can learn about the gospel in a fun and interactive way through arts and crafts, singing songs and even by playing games. They have so much fun learning about mass in this way and the smiles on their faces speak volumes!

As well as all of this, the team this year has been working very hard in a number of secondary schools holding day retreats wherein the youth can learn about their faith. We do this through activities, talks, dramas, songs, and, as members of the MSC Youth Team, we are happy to share our own life stories with the groups.

We have also had the amazing opportunity to fly to England and work in the Parishes there! It was a lovely opportunity and we seized the chance to host interactive one hour sessions with over 300 students in Coventry and in St Alban’s. Overall, it has been an incredible start to our year and we are really looking forward to setting up two more youth groups to cater for both the older and younger years of secondary school students. We also have the pleasure of planning off site retreats such as surf, sand and sun retreats for all youth groups to come to and have fun while at the same time getting to know their faith!

We are excited to see what the rest of this year has in store for us!”

 

 

 

The globetrotter of the group, Tammie, recently travelled to Cologne to attend the International Nightfever Weekend which took place from the 20^th-22^nd October 2017.  Nightfever 2017 brought over 130 young people from many different countries together to celebrate this very special event.  Nightfever is an international initiative by young Christians intended to provide an experience of God’s love and mercy. During the Nightfever Evening events, young people approach passersby in the streets and public squares, offering them a candle and welcoming them to come into church for a while. In the church, multiple activities offer the opportunity to encounter God: lighting candles, picking a Bible verse, writing down prayer intentions, listening to the music, talking to a priest, receiving a blessing or the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In addition to the Nightfever Evening events, the initiative also includes Nightfever Weekends, faith courses / evangelistic courses, academies, etc. Nightfever was founded as an initiative by young Christians after the World Youth Day in Cologne and has meanwhile been established in 27 countries.

 

 

 

 

 

We look forward to hearing the stories and tales of adventure from the MSC Youth Cork NET team over the course of the next year.

You can keep an eye on the MSC Youth Team’s adventures via their Facebook page, just click here!

 

Fortify Youth Conference – Forget Common Sense!

When you’re organising a Catholic youth even for the first time common sense would tell you to start small, organise a few speakers, and tap some local talent for the music ministry. What you should never do is to book Matt Maher, the biggest name in worship music in the world, and see what happens. However, that’s exactly what the team at NET Ministries did for the Fortify Youth Conference. It was more than a shot in the dark. It was a leap of faith and it paid off!

 

 

The Fortify Youth Conference was designed to showcase youth ministry options available to parishes in Ireland. Over 200 people from across Ireland attended who were involved in or concerned about ministry to young people. As you can imagine there’s about two degrees of separation, so if you didn’t know someone the chances were you knew someone who did. The atmosphere was joyful and welcoming.

 

 

 

The day began with a series of inputs from different speakers in the field of youth ministry, discussing the difference young people make in our Church. Our ministry can simply be about getting young people to go to Mass. We have to be clear what we’re hoping to achieve. We looked at what needed to change and what different groups were doing successfully. Then we asked the big question: What’s stopping you from getting stuck in and making a difference yourself? We finished the day with a sense of hope and enthusiasm for the future. The Fortify Youth Conference wasn’t a once off event. It’s a beginning. Now lets get moving!

 

 

 

After the conference we had an evening concert with Matt Maher. Matt is an eight time-GRAMMY nominee, he has garnered multiple radio successes writing and recording songs like “Lord, I Need You,” “Hold Us Together,” “Christ Is Risen,” “Because He Lives (Amen)” and “Your Grace Is Enough.” Maher has penned songs recorded by Chris Tomlin, Crowder, Third Day, Matt Redman, Hillsong, Casting Crowns, Jesus Culture and Bethel among others. Matt has written or co-written five No. 1 radio singles. In 2013, Maher had a career highlight performing in Rio in front of Pope Francis and a crowd of 3 million people, as well as performing in 2015 in downtown Philadelphia as part of the World Meeting of Families with The Fray, Aretha Franklin, Juanes, Jim Gaffigan, among others. In 2015, Maher was awarded his first RIAA Gold certification for his popular single “Lord, I Need You.” Most importantly having met him previously at the Brightlights Catholic Youth Festival and the Alpha Leadership Conference I can tell you he’s a really sound guy.