by Keiran Bray

In the modern world, youth face many challenges in their faith. The fact is, as a young person, being a Christian at school and work can be challenging. Having a community of faith that you can relate to is crucial to facing the challenges set before you day after day. 

This is where The Rise Youth Ministry comes in. If you were to join the team at The Rise, you would meet people like yourself as you help guide kids from grades six to twelve closer to Jesus. Dan Perera is our parish’s Youth Ministry Coordinator, coordinating with leaders to run The Rise each week, and I had the chance to speak with him about those nights and how a leader helps. I also had the opportunity to meet with many of the current team members at The Rise to hear what they had to say about leading groups of young people.

Typically, a night at The Rise begins with fellowship, with everyone eating snacks, playing games (like ping pong), and whatever they feel like doing to relax and have a nice time with their peers. The night then shifts into small groups for the remaining 90 minutes or so, where teens gather in groups to talk about whatever may be on their hearts. This happens every Thursday evening from 7-9pm in the auditorium downstairs at Saint Benedict Parish.

Dan told me the mission of The Rise is to help youth at Saint Benedict Parish come to know Jesus and learn about Catholicism in small groups, which he said is “the bread and butter of our ministry.” The goal is to strengthen everyone’s relationship with Jesus, not just the youth.

“As much as we are there to serve on team and be a role model and mentor the youth, there’s so much that a leader can learn themselves, and God can use the people around them to really impact their faith,” Dan said. Becoming a leader at The Rise and serving God in that way forces you to develop yourself. As Dan told me, “You cannot give what you don’t have.”

Marc Deveaux described a leader's experience at The Rise in two parts: the first is the opportunity to have other leaders help guide you and learn from each other, which benefits everyone. The second is small groups with people to share knowledge and ask questions. The Rise revolves around fellowship between disciples.

“Whatever is said in the small groups absolutely stays there, otherwise there would be no formation within small groups,” Marc said. “We wouldn’t be able to share what we’re struggling with unless we knew that everything said in those small groups is said in confidence.”

There is really no harm in giving this ministry a shot. I know I did, and so far, it’s been a learning experience. I have learned so much through the other leaders and the youth in my years as a student at The Rise and now in my few months as a new leader. In my life, ‘you can’t give what you don’t have’ has been very true.