Gospel Journey

When we were on retreat at Ampleforth during March, each of the smaller groups took a different gospel story and presented a short drama to everyone. These included the parable of the unmerciful servant and the story of Adam and Eve along with a reflection led by Anne-Marie on why God became one of us in Jesus. We had a quick look at these in our Day 2 recap video but here is the extended version:

Walk of Witness - Video Review

Our 'Walk of witness' on Good Friday this year was the very first time that we have tried an event such as this in Hartlepool. People came from each parish across town to take part carrying a cross along the way then joining together while the Passion was read at the War Memorial. Here is a short video of the event:

Walk of Witness

Today a group of people, both young and not so young, from each parish across Hartlepool walked to the War Memorial carrying a cross with them. This was our first Walk of Witness that we have carried out in town and it was wonderful to see so many people attend what will hopefully be the first of many more of these to come in the future. Here is just a small selection of photographs from the event:

Ampleforth 2011 - Stations of the Cross

When we were at Ampleforth in March we carried out our own version of the Stations of the Cross. This year, rather than follow our traditional route into the valley we started in the garden near Alban Roe House and stopped at three other places on our way to the Crypt in the Monastery. Here are just a few short highlights from our Stations of the Cross:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” John 11:25-26

Cross Walk

A little reminder for anyone taking part in the Good Friday cross walk. Here are the times that each parish will be starting their own individual walks with the intention of meeting at the War Memorial in town for 10am:

• St. Mary: 9 a.m.
• St. John Vianney: 9 a.m.
• St. Thomas More: 9.30 a.m.
• St. Joseph: 9.45 a.m.
• St. Cuthbert: 9.30 a.m.
• St. Patrick and Teresa: 9.00 a.m. (From St. Teresa)

Handmade Stations of the Cross

On the 1st Sunday of Lent, a group of children from St. Joseph's Parish gathered to create their own Stations of the Cross. Having spent the afternoon painting, cutting, sticking and eating ice-cream they invited the whole parish to join them to celebrate their efforts and to meditate on Christ's journey to the cross.

Presenting Cody Kettner!

During the World Youth Day retreat at the Youth Village we all enjoyed the opportunity to talk to the rest of the group in a nice chilled atmosphere. This little clip was from our social evening where we enjoyed Cody performing one of his songs for us all:

World Youth Day Retreat

Last weekend the representatives from the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese met up at the Youth Village as part of their pilgrim preparation for World Youth Day. Anne-Marie Lavelle, Bernadette Malcolmson, James Race and Andrew Trueman from Hartlepool are all taking part in this event and really enjoyed meeting the rest of the group for the first time.

Part of our weekend involved taking part in the Derwent Walk, we weren't sure how many miles it was and are still not sure even though we completed it but all we can say is that it was a LOT of miles and that the aches are blisters are still there now! A great weekend though and one which has helped us in our journey towards Madrid in August 2011.

Bible Journey

During a busy night, the young readers from the parish also took part in ‘The Bible Journey’, a event organised by the Diocese of Durham to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. Five of our young people bravely took on the challenge of reading 7 chapters of St. Luke’s gospel in 17th century English- not an easy task, but one which they achieved with great success. Well done and thank you to all involved!

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke, chapter 17, verse 20)

Samba Style!

St. Cuthbert’s Youth Group have gone all Samba and started to learn how to play drums Brazilian style! The hope is that, with practice, we will be good enough to perform at Stockton Riverside Festival in the summer. But the emphasis is on having fun and learning a new skill. Our first workshop was last Wednesday and we surprised ourselves at how quickly we actually started to sound good! Our next practice is on Wednesday 4th May, 5.30 p.m. in the parish hall and all young people from the parish are invited to come and join in so please feel free to come along. Go Cuthies!

The Flood

Our Year 10 students were on retreat last weekend to Ampleforth and took part in sessions led by Just Youth. We will have some photos and a little review of the weekend to follow in the coming week but for now take a look at this little clip showing just a small part of the fun that they had!

New Name!

Well if you are reading this then the good news is that you've made it! The old address has now been removed and all blog posts can now be found at hartlepoolyouthministry.blogspot.com with a great video from the Year 10 Retreat coming up later this evening. Please pass on our new URL to anyone who will be interested and slowly but surely Google will start to find all our old posts through the new address. Most of all, keep enjoying the blog and don't be afraid to add your own comments too!

Important Announcement!

When we started this blog in 2008 it was with the intention of using it as a place to document all of the events in the build up to and during the Mission held in EMS in February 2009. We wanted a place to store all of the wonderful moments we shared during mission week but didn't really know what direction to take the blog in after that.

We realised very quickly that our ongoing mission was to continue developing youth ministry not only within EMS and our feeder schools but also across the rest of Hartlepool too. We have held so many workshops, retreatss and many other opportunities for young people across our town since then and continue to do so.

Therefore, we thought that it would be fitting to chance our blog name from to hartlepoolyouthministry.blogspot.com to reflect our work right across the town as we continue to strive forward with our work. This change will take place on Monday 11th April so please make sure that you update your bookmarks as we'd hate to lose our follows in the change over!

Mothers Day @ St Marys

The children of St. Bega’s School celebrated Mother’s Day at St. Mary’s church in style. Not only did they grow their own daffodils to hand out to Mothers after Mass, a group of them also dramatised the gospel with great success. Their efforts brought the story of the man born blind to life and helped the whole congregation to reflect on what it might mean for us today. Well done everyone!

Crossing Cultures

Last Tuesday, our ‘Trainspotter’ group enjoyed an evening of fun, activity, discovery, food and prayer with other young Catholics from all over the world.

It was a chance to share ideas about our faith with people who might see it just a little bit differently and to sample food from around the world. We may not have been able to pronounce what we were eating but it was certainly delicious!

3Ps YAG Celebrate St John Vianney Golden Jubilee

As part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations at St. John Vianney, the 3 Parishes Youth Action Group held a prayer service in the church last Wednesday evening.

Taking as their theme ‘Service and Vocation’ and using song, dance, music and prayer, they reflected on the faith that has inspired them to raise £4500 for the charity Mary’s Meals. Well done everyone!