Zack Ingles reflects on impact of The Children and Youth Ministry Challenge

In the Fall of 2016, the Diocese of Montreal began a new project focusing on children and youth planning and leading worship in their respective parishes. The project was posed as a challenge to the entire diocese, in which each participating church would support their children’s ministry and/or youth ministry in planning and leading a minimum of 30% of the liturgy during a service. The project was not intended to be a performance for the congregation, but rather an opportunity to allow the young people of each community to sit in the driver’s seat of leading worship in their community. The MTL Youth Team would devote significant time and resources to supporting all parishes participating in the challenge.

We are very pleased to say that eleven churches formally participated in the challenge, along with seven parishes who unofficially participated. The diversity of churches participating was also quite remarkable. Many had formal children’s ministry or youth ministry programs hosting anywhere from two to twenty children/youth regularly. But, for several communities this was the first time in recent history where they sought to offer any kind of children’s or youth programming in their parishes. It is the latter group, that the Children & Youth Ministry Challenge was intended to reach.

The MTL Youth Team dedicated significant time to visiting churches on Sundays, meeting with leaders, youth groups and clergy, and helping each community develop and execute their services in a way that was authentic to each church’s unique context. In addition to this individual support, the team also provided two diocesan-wide training opportunities for those working with children and youth.

In November a collaborative event with the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa called The Children & Youth Ministry Forum was hosted with close to fifty participants. Those who attended were immersed in creative and expressive ways of involving children and youth in worship. Many remarked that the event was one of the best training events they had ever attended and insisted that another one happen soon.

In January, the second annual Children’s & Youth Ministry Symposium was held in Montreal as a celebration of those participating in the challenge and as a training day to inspire next steps for parishes. During the event many parishes shared how their stories of participating in the challenge. There were many triumphs as well as some difficulties shared. All of which aided in facilitating a meaningful community learning opportunity. There were several excellently facilitated break-out sessions, discussions, communal worship, and a light lunch. The symposium has proven to be a vital training and networking opportunity for all those involved in children’s and youth ministry in the diocese.

Now that the Children’s & Youth Ministry Challenge has concluded, the questions that remain are:

How has this challenge inspired and invigorated children’s and youth ministry in the Diocese of Montreal? And, how will the inspiration and energy continue manifest itself in parishes moving forward?

Though it is still very early to tell, we believe that God has profoundly impacted clergy, lay leaders, children and youth in this challenge. For many, this was the first time in a long time that young people were allowed to have a say in how worship happened in their parish. We believe that the challenge has reignited an excitement around what is possible in our parishes when we think outside the box and explore new expressions of worship. It has also instilled a new sense of investment from young people in their parishes; where they are now a valuable voice in contributing to how worship happens. This has been an exciting journey, full of many victories and plenty of challenges. But, it is only the beginning of what is possible with children’s and youth ministry in the Diocese of Montreal.

In the Fall of 2017 the Diocese of Montreal began a new project focussing on children and youth planning and leading worship in their respective parishes. The project was posed as a challenge to the entire diocese, in which each participating church would support their children’s ministry and/or youth ministry in planning and leading a minimum of 30% of the liturgy during a service. The project was not intended to be a performance for the congregation, but rather an opportunity to allow the young people of each community to sit in the driver’s seat of leading worship in their community. The Montreal Youth Team would devote significant time and resources to supporting all parishes participating in the challenge.

We are very pleased to say that eleven churches formally participated in the challenge, along with seven parishes who unofficially participated. The diversity of churches participating was also quite remarkable. Many had formal children’s ministry or youth ministry programs hosting anywhere from two to twenty children/youth regularly. But, for several communities this was the first time in recent history where they sought to offer any kind of children’s or youth programming in their parishes. It is the latter group, that the Children & Youth Ministry Challenge was intended to reach.

The Montreal Youth Team dedicated significant time visiting churches on Sundays, meeting with leaders, youth groups and clergy, and helping each community develop and execute their services in a way that was authentic to each church’s unique context. In addition to this individual support, the team also provided two diocesan-wide training opportunities for those working with children and youth.

In November a collaborative event with the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa called The Children & Youth Ministry Forum was hosted with close to fifty participants. Those who attended were immersed in creative and expressive ways of involving children and youth in worship. Many remarked that the event was one of the best training events they had ever attended and insisted that another one happen soon.

In January, the second annual Children’s & Youth Ministry Symposium was held in Montreal as a celebration of those participating in the challenge and as a training day to inspire next steps for parishes. During the event many parishes shared how their stories of participating in the challenge. There were many triumphs as well as some difficulties shared. All of which aided in facilitating a meaningful community learning opportunity. There was also several excellently facilitated break-out sessions, discussions, communal worship, and a light lunch. The symposium has proven to be a vital training and networking opportunity for all those involved in children’s and youth ministry in the diocese.

Now that the Children’s & Youth Ministry Challenge has concluded, the questions that remain are: How has this challenge inspired and invigorated children’s and youth ministry in the Diocese of Montreal? And, how will the inspiration and energy continue manifest itself in parishes moving forward? Though it is still very early to tell, we believe that God has profoundly impacted clergy, lay leaders, children and youth in this challenge. For many, this was the first time in a long time that young people were allowed to have a say in how worship happened in their parish. We believe that the challenge has reignited an excitement around what is possible in our parishes when we think outside the box and explore new expressions of worship. It has also instilled a new sense of investment from young people in their parishes; where they are now a valuable voice in contributing to how worship happens. This has been an exciting journey, full of many victories and plenty of challenges. But, it is only the beginning of what is possible with children’s and youth ministry in the Diocese of Montreal.

Zack Ingles

Worship Animator

Children’s & Youth Ministry Challenge

Anglican Diocese of Montreal

Zack Ingles

Worship Animator (Children’s & Youth Ministry Challenge)

Anglican Diocese of Montreal