Over 60 youth leaders gathered at the Thomas Carr Centre on Saturday 21 July for an opportunity to grow and develop their leadership skills at the Archdiocesan Office for Youth’s annual training day. LEAD kicked off with a keynote on leadership by author, youth ministry passionist and school principal Fr Christian Fini OMI. It certainly set to tone for a great day with one participant commenting, “It really helped me to understand the importance of each member of a team utilizing their strengths and also how you can be a leader in your everyday life.”

LEAD offers networking opportunities and workshops on topics like youth ministry structures, child safety, event planning, using the Alpha program, avoiding burnout as a leader and tips on navigating social media. With a wide range of presenters from CatholicCare to the Professional Standards Office, participants were able to learn and build their ministry. “The burn out, project management and child safety talks were very informative and filled many gaps in my knowledge.”