The Side Door Youth Drop-In at St. Columba’s will provide a safe place for youth ages 11+ to hang out. Over games, art and conversations, we hope to build relationships with the youth living in the neighbourhood. We will explore important issues including identity, leadership development, social justice and spirituality.
Canadian youth ministry expert Marv Penner claims that the Church needs to invest in junior high students because they are both impressionable and eager. Through the drop-in, we have the opportunity to come alongside the youth and to serve as mentors, speaking into their lives as opportunity arises.
The area around St. Columba’s has remarkably few areas in which people congregate. There are over 3500 youth in the area with very little for them to do but gather in the parks. In conversations with long time residents, there seems to be great interest in having a place that the youth can call their home away from home.
We intend to model radical hospitality and sharing life together. It is our hope that we will all increase our understanding and desire to follow God with our whole hearts, souls, mind and strength.
Click here for more information about the Side Door.