A PILOT project to develop a programme of sacramental youth ministry is to be expanded nationally, thanks to £100,000 of funding from the Benefact Trust.

The project Youth Ministry in Communion began during the lockdown as a cross-parish network in three area deaneries in the Kensington Area of the diocese of London; but interest in the project has since grown outside the diocese.

The funding will help to provide an annual residential in the Taizé community in France, at Greenbelt, and at large-scale events for teenagers. Resources will also be developed to support discipleship and evangelism, and to create a support network for clergy and lay people involved in youth work.

The project also hopes to develop a video-based discipleship course “suitable for the sacramental tradition”; it recognised that there was a lack of specific resources for youth ministry in this tradition and across the Catholic spectrum.

Jacob Holme, the project leader, said: “We’re delighted to have received financial support from Benefact Trust. This project started as a small and simple idea within a lockdown online meeting, and we’re now pioneering something with the potential to impact youth ministry on a national scale. However, most importantly, we will have a lasting impact on the lives of young people as they encounter and respond to the love of God in Jesus Christ.”

The grants officer for the Benefact Trust, Andrew Bass, said: “It’s a privilege to support YMIC’s innovative youth-ministry project, which is opening up exciting opportunities for youth work in churches across the UK. Our funding will enable YMIC to develop national youth ministry, events, and residentials, but will also help to support youth ministry on a local parish level and provide high-quality resources and support for clergy and volunteers involved in youth work.”