On the first Sunday evening of Term 4, the Secondary School aged young people of St John the Baptist Parish, Beaufort gathered together.   The evening began in the church where most had received their sacraments.  Here they were welcomed by parish council member Maurice Barwick.  Special guests Amanda Smith and Ben Van Styn from the Youth Ministry Office, Diocese of Ballarat and Fr James Kerr had the opportunity of introducing themselves.

A delicious meal was served in the Parish Centre, after which the tables were cleared away and a circle was formed.  Fr James and Ben spoke of their own faith journey to an attentive audience.  The young people then received information on the Adelaide Youth Festival and had the opportunity of watching a video clip of World Youth Day in Sydney.  Fr Rob Galea’s  hymn To the Ends of the Earth led us into Evening Prayer, which concluded the evening.

It had been one of the goals of our parish to reach out to our young people and reinforce a sense of belonging to our community.  The positive phone calls and emails received the next day confirmed that the evening had been a great success.