St Mary's Youth Sunday

St Marys Church celebrated Youth Sunday last week by getting young people involved in every stage of the mass. The 'Little Church' banner was carried down at the start of the mass along with colourful flags representing the children of all nations. Joel from St Bega sang the Psalm with Bernadette and the readings and bidding prayers were read by a few brilliant girls also from St Bega! The crown that was carried down at the start of the mass was filled with hearts with the names of all of our young people written on them and proudly displayed at the front of the church for the Feast of Christ the King. This was also the last mass for Father Jim and we wish him well as he moves on to his new Parish in Stockton.

Youthi3 celebrate Youth Sunday

To celebrate Youth Sunday, Youthi3, the junior youth group for the parishes of Sts. Mary, Thomas More and John Vianney, put on their specially printed T-Shirts and took over their morning Mass. Picking up on the theme of the Papal Visit, Heart Speaks unto Heart, every adult in the church was given a paper heart and asked to write a prayer for young people on it. These were collected, brought up with the offertory procession and read by the youngsters, who also did all the readings. 'It was so good to see the young people involved,' commented one parishioner.

The Event - Thank You!

What a great event we all enjoyed at St Cuthbert's Church Hall during Youth Sunday. Team challenges, singing, prayer and pizza (plus a few cakes!) was always going to be a recipe for success and sure enough both the young people and the adults who came along to The Event certainly enjoyed themselves.

A massive thank you to everyone who took part and we will have details of further youth events to bring you soon too. Keep your eyes peeled for even more things you can get involved in around the town. Also, if you'd like to share your thoughts on the day with us then please leave a comment!

The Event - Crazy Games

Each team took part in a series of games to win points during The Event. Some of the games were physical, some were mental while others were a little artistic. So many people from each group took part in these challenges and this is just a small selection of pictures showing some of the young people enjoying themselves:

The Event - Heart Posters

One of the tasks the groups were asked to complete was to create a huge image of what they thought 'Heart Speaks Unto Heart' means to each of their group. These are the five wonderful entires that were created (click to view full size):

The Event - Young People

So many young people and adults alike turned up to enjoy our Youth Sunday celebrations at St Cuthbert's Church Hall. It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying themselves during this celebration. Here are just a small selection of photographs of some of the people taking part in the event:

The Event - Youth Sunday

On Sunday 21st of November there will be a town wide event for young people taking place at St Cuthbert's Church Hall between 3:45 and 6:30pm. We are looking for young people from every parish across Hartlepool to take part in this event so please get in touch with Anne-Marie or Jeremy if you are interested.

Calling all former St Begas Students!

Youth Sunday is coming up in just over a weeks time and we have got something that we'd like all the former students of St Begas to help us out with. Please nip into the chapel for five minutes during lunch (5 or 6) on Friday 12th of November and speak to Anne-Marie to complete your task!

Confirmation Follow-Up

A group of young people, all confirmed within the last 12 months, went for an overnight retreat to the Youth Village last Sunday, to explore what hope means to be followers of Jesus. Drawing inspiration from the story of the Chilean miners, they discovered that by working together and including God in all they do then even the most amazing hopes can be realised.

Youthi3 Update

Youthi3, the junior youth group for the 3 parishes of St. Mary, St. Thomas More and St. John Vianney, recently showed their musical talent by writing and performing some songs on the theme of the gospel in Luke 18:1-8. The story’s about how we should trust God to hear our prayers and help us when we’re struggling. This idea was brilliantly captured by the young people, as the example below shows!

Keep strong for family and friends,
hope that our faith never ends.
Keep your heart true,
have faith in all that you do.
God is our life always,
be forgiving in all of our days.

By Rhys, Ieuan and Matthew