Courtney McGrail
Derry’s Bishop Donal McKeown with children Charlotte Gormley shares her experience of living and working with the Derry Youth Community
The Derry Youth Community (DYC) is an exciting international gap year experience for young people between the ages of 18-25. The young people commit 10 months of their lives in order to live in community with each other in central Derry, ministering to young people in the Diocese of Derry. Members of the DYC do this primarily through peer-to-peer ministry, including school retreats and through parish life and service.
We pray together daily as part of both an in-house and wider community. Our mission is to bring the Gospel message alive in today’s world. We want young people of this diocese to know that a relationship with Jesus enhances and enriches their lives.
We are here to help young people, by sharing our faith with them, so that they may embrace a real and life-giving relationship with Jesus.
I am one of five young people living in community this year. I am 21 years old and from Newcastle in England. My experience of the Derry Youth Community has been very positive. After leaving school I joined the Youth Ministry Team (YMT) in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle where I spent two years ministering to young people in primary and secondary schools.
Opportunity
Near the end of my second year, Fr Paul Farren, the administrator of St Eugene’s Cathedral, came over to promote a new youth community initiative based in the Diocese of Derry, starting in September 2014. After spending two years as part of a long established youth community in the North East of England, I was attracted to the Derry Youth Community as it was a new and exciting opportunity to minister to young people in a different culture and a different country.
Another important reason I decided to join the Derry Youth Community was because I realised this was a clear opportunity for me to strengthen and deepen my own faith, through daily prayer and especially going to daily Mass as a member of the youth community.
We are gratified at the positive way the wider community of Derry has responded to us sharing our faith passionately with other young people.
We minister to young people of all ages in a number of different ways. We offer faith-filled school retreats to secondary schools, where we share our own experiences of faith and offer opportunities for the young people to deepen an existing relationship or to start an entirely new relationship with Jesus.
We also manage to have lots of fun in the process! We go into schools and parishes to lead and facilitate the Youth Alpha series or similar resources; which those young people involved have found to be an extremely enjoyable opportunity to explore their faith. We work with the young people who are about to make their First Holy Communion and Confirmation by leading activities and workshops which prepare them to receive the sacraments.
We help organise youth pilgrimages and parish retreats. We run a Lenten programme, “Debate Nights with the Bishop”, where young people aged 16-21 are invited to explore topics which are relevant to them in today’s society.
This is a series of evening sessions where the young people are presented with a statement, which they discuss in small groups before voicing the opinions of the group and putting questions to Bishop Donal McKeown.
Ministry
Each member of the DYC has a strong passion for youth ministry and handing on the Faith to other young people. Another team member, Chris from London, says that “being a part of such a vibrant and enthusiastic community of young people has been a brilliant experience!
“I have had some absolutely great times and feel that I have really deepened my passion for my faith, especially with prayer, by being part of the DYC!”
Diocesan Youth Ministry Coordinator, Maura Garrihy, explains that an opportunity such as DYC can be truly transformative. “Living in community with other young people and living a life of prayer, service and discipleship is completely radical. I look back on my own years in a community and see how much I learned about my faith, and about myself. I love receiving formation and training.
“The opportunity to journey with young people and see God move truly changed me, and it was worth every challenge,” she says.
The team all agree that we have received massively from this experience, growing both as individuals and as a community. We feel we have grown in character and faith, as well as seeing the fruits of our service in the parishes and schools to which we have ministered.
We think this 10-month gap year is a very worthwhile experience for anyone who would like to give a year of their life to grow in their faith and serve the people of the Diocese of Derry. We challenge you to consider it and dream big!
For more information about the Derry Youth Community or to request an application form to join the team in the coming year please email dyc@derrydiocese.org or check out http://www.derryyouthcommunity.com/