Children and teenagers are playing an active role in the life of a Newcastle church – from reading the liturgy and leading prayers, to conducting Bible-themed puppet shows.
It’s part of a thriving youth work ministry at Holy Cross Fenham, which for the past 12 years has given young people a dedicated space to grow in their faith.
The church currently has about a dozen young people attending its youth sessions at least once a month, with half from senior schools and half from primary schools.
The youth work is lay-led by churchwarden and youth leader Julie Bowman, junior church lead Karen Derham, and messy church co-ordinator Liz Tweedy – all supported by interim minister, the Revd Dan McCarthy.
Dan said the key to keeping young people involved is loosely based on the three principles of participation, encounter and belonging.
He explained: “In terms of participation, children and teenagers lead the first Sunday of the month communion service. They read much of the liturgy, lead the prayers, choose the songs and hymns, and are involved in administering the sacraments.
“In other more formal services, some are Acolytes, others are the Crucifer, whilst others help with the offertory. On the fourth Sunday of the month, the youth have a separate session in the church service to grow in their faith.”
Encounter is illustrated well in the church's bi-monthly Pizza and Prayer, now based at the vicar's house. Each Saturday evening session is based around food, the Bible, questions and prayer. They are fun and yet along with the leaders, it is a great chance for everyone to experience a little of God too.
Along with this, the church takes confirmations seriously too. Preparation starts six months before the date with many exciting things to complete. These include watching, listening and writing about faith as well as getting the parents involved too, with visits and parental WhatsApp.
“A sense of belonging is best described by having much fun,” said Dan. “Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter are big highlights in the youth calendar. In addition, visits to Longsands, Holy Island, Newcastle city centre and the Farne Islands have been great. The youth team have also had movie nights, BBQs, Bible-based escape rooms and much fun puppetry, especially with the Bethlehemian Rhapsody.”
Many underlying reasons underpin the flourishing of the youth ministry at Holy Cross. The PCC and church as a whole are committed to this expression of church and are inspired by the youth. Along with the church support, there is also a strong toddler group, Sunday school and Messy Church.