Director
Mrs. Julie Ritchie-Bingham
Tel: 322-8919
Email: [email protected]
To provide the means for youth and young adults to develop a personal devotion to Jesus Church and a commitment to His Church.
To provide support to parishes in their youth ministry through workshops, networking, and formation of youth leaders.
We collaborate with the Offices of Family Life and Religious Education in youth and young adult initiatives such as retreat programs and training sessions.
The Archdiocesan Trivia Competition started in September 2013 as a fun way for Catholic teens to learn more about their faith and Church in friendly competition. Teens from Nassau parishes match wits in the areas of: Catholic Church, General Science Mathematics, English Language & Literature, Social Studies and Fine Arts.
The Trivia Competition is held every 2 years and is open to Catholic youth ages 10 – 19.
GOTB is a faith-based, fun-filled event organized by the Youth Office and is held 5 times a year. The purpose of GOTB is to share our Catholic faith with our teens in a fun and exciting way. This event also offers teens the opportunity to meet and interact with other Catholic teens from the other parishes. GOTB is open to ALL our youth ages 10 – 17.
The BASIC (Brothers and Sisters in Christ) Retreat provides an opportunity for young teens to experience spiritual growth appropriate to their stage of development, in a community atmosphere that is modeled after the family and the Church.
Through a combination of prayer, scripture, talks and activities, an environment is created for participants to embrace Jesus and develop a closer relationship with Him and their faith. The retreat also creates a sense of family so participants can appreciate their own families and the value of family life to the Church and community. Within this safe space, we also encourage participants to discuss topics of concern with caring adults as well as to assist them to form their conscience about sin in human life and about freedom from sin through Christ. BASIC is held twice a year for Catholic youth ages 13 – 15.
The Archdiocesan Youth Pilgrimage (AYP) was created in mind for confirmed young Catholics to continue to have an avenue to explore their faith. On this annual pilgrimage, led by Archbishop Patrick C. Pinder, they explore sacred spaces throughout our Archdiocese. AYP is held once a year and is open to confirmed young Catholics ages 16 – 23.
SEARCH for Christian Maturity is a Roman Catholic retreat program that started in the USA in 1962. Since then, it has been used world-wide. It is a retreat conducted by teens for teens with the guidance of adult facilitators who have already made a SEARCH retreat. SEARCH Retreat is a special opportunity for teens to experience Jesus. It is designed for candidates to seek and know who this Jesus is in their life and how Jesus is manifested in others. It’s about growing a relationship with Jesus and how that relationship with Christ gives insight to them with regard to their relationship with others. It’s about bringing Christ to the community where they live. SEARCH is held once a year and is open to Catholic youth ages 16-19.