Five East Lake Macquarie parishes are set to put aside denomination differences to found 'Ignite' youth group

Made up of two Anglican parishes, two Baptist parishes and a Uniting Church parish, the new Ignite youth group will be helmed by Reverend Greg Colby, from the Belmont North Redhead Anglican church, and he’s sure it’s going to have a “great start” on August 5.

“We all came together and were talking, and it felt like each of the parishes could only do something small by ourselves,” Colby said.

“Coming together and pooling our resources creates a really decent youth group where we could have a proper curriculum, afford to have great supervision and attention, and we’d be able to have kids come along that need more support and engagement to get that.”

“We think it’s going to have a great start, especially with all the volunteers and workers that we already have on-board, and I think a step forward for these denominations coming together is really good as well.

“Everyone involved in all the parishes just want to give youth a chance to form life-long friendships, and we want to create a platform that can guide young adults into the future. Working with children has shown us there’s a lot of guidance needed, and that a lot of youth are looking for something to help them move forward. We want to give them that, in a fun way.”

Reverend Colby explained Ignite’s main focus would be to “explore life and faith in a supportive environment”, while also “including lots of fun and games, sports, art and music”.

“The Ignite program will begin by looking at the subject of friendships, and how we make them, keep them and how we can be good friends to others,” he explained. “Ignite will help young people learn to find the answers to life’s questions. It will also help them to seek out and ask the tough questions.”

The new youth group will meet every Sunday evening from 5pm, with a meal served at 6pm for all attendants, and parents. There will also be a prayer service to conclude the evening.

Ignite is aimed at younger children involved in all five parishes, with youth up to year seven aged students all welcome.

For those interested, an information evening will be held on Sunday, July 29 – a week before the youth group begins – and will be hosted at the Anglican Church in Belmont North from 5pm.

For further information, especially if you can’t attend the info evening on July 29, contact Reverend Colby on 0401996961.