Fifty youth ministry leaders from across the Archdiocese gathered on Sunday 27 September for the Archdiocesan Office for Youth’s Blueprint workshop day, featuring international presenters from Life Teen. 

Life Teen is a parish-based youth ministry which was launched in 1985 out of one parish in Arizona, USA and has since grown to be implemented in some 1600 parishes in 31 countries across the world. Life Teen is focused on bringing young people to Christ in the Eucharist and gathering them to be formed in the Roman Catholic Faith.

Life Teen presenters Steve Allgeyer and Stephen Lenahan led opening addresses exploring how to understand the young people of “Generation Z”, and how to reach the hard to reach. Their presentations gave youth ministers an understanding of a relational model for youth ministry, which emphasises the role of a youth minister accompanying a young person from first contact through to the young person becoming a co-worker in ministry.

In addition to the two keynotes addresses, participants attended workshops on topics including social media in the church, running retreats, and developing a sustainable leadership team.

For more information on Life Teen visit http://lifeteen.com

To see part of the Understanding Gen Z  keynote http://www.cam.org.au/youth/Resources/Formation