Celebrating our SERVE graduates
Big congratulations to the five young people who have just celebrated their graduation from the SERVE Young Leaders’ Training Course: Ben Hooper and Annabelle Harron from Holywood, Sophia Cromie from St John’s Moira, Adam Stewart from Banbridge and Poppy Moore from Magherally & Annaclone.
Family, friends, youth leaders and supporters gathered for a meal and presentation ceremony in LOGIC Café, Moira on 31 January. In an evening bursting with potential, the SERVE participants, all aged between 15 and 18, shared their course highlights and said how great it was to grow as leaders along with people their own age.
Rosie Woods also interviewed previous graduates who talked about how SERVE had given them confidence and leadership skills both for life and in their faith journey.
Their advice to the Class of ‘22 was to keep nurturing their relationship with God, and to get stuck into serving at the first opportunity: “Stepping up to serve others is counter cultural. Pray that God will use you.”
Simon Kinnen who is currently a Youth Intern in Hillsborough Parish led worship and Bishop David prayed for each graduate before presenting them with their certificate.
The bishop shared very simply from Psalm 23, reminding the young people that, whatever highs and lows they experience in life that the Lord is for them, he will speak to them and that he has good plans for their lives. “Allow him to walk with you through the dark and the grey, and always remember that the mercy of God as well as the goodness of God follows you all the days of your life.”
The group is the fourth to complete SERVE and this year it was hosted by Hillsborough Parish. The diocese’s Youth Development Officer, Josh Thornbury, led the course along with Ava Jordan–Curasi from Holy Trinity Banbridge and Rosie Woods from Moira.
Every one of the graduates would recommend SERVE to other young people in the diocese so watch out for next year’s course!
About SERVE
SERVE came from a vision to develop the young people who were coming through the Kilbroney Adventure Camps and in general to develop young leaders across the diocese. Written by Tim Burns, it’s an eight–session discipleship course with four core elements: dinner together; a spiritual discipline ‘taster’; a chapter review of ‘Storylines’ by Mike Pilavachi and Andy Croft and finally, teaching and discussion guided by the SERVE material. The participants also get some practical experience when they go along to the Kilbroney Blast Weekend as leaders.
