Mission Statement for Youth Ministry

Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and New Zealand

Living the Orthodox Faith in Christ through Worship, Witness, Service and Fellowship

Statement of Purpose

We believe that the goal of Orthodox Christian Youth Ministry is the integration of each young person fully into the total life of the Church. We believe that Orthodox Christians must commit themselves to living the Orthodox Faith daily. Worship, Witness, Service and Fellowship are the natural expressions of that commitment. We define them as follows:

WORSHIP – For Orthodox Christians, participating in the Holy Tradition through worshipping together is the sacramental expression of our faith. We must also cultivate a daily personal prayer life and reading of Holy Scripture.

WITNESS – Christ call us to be His witness in the world. We must educate our youth and equip them to expressing their faith through their words and deeds to others in order to be true witnesses to Christ and Orthodox Faith.

SERVICE – Christ came not to be served but to serve. We need to encourage our youth to do the same. We honour and glorify God by loving and serving others in the name of Jesus Christ, using our God-given gifts and talents.

FELLOWSHIP – The Holy Trinity is the perfect model of fellowship; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share perfect communion and exist in perfect love as community. By gathering together in fellowship, and by showing love for o­ne another in Christ, we emulate the life of the Holy Trinity in our daily life.

Our ultimate goal must be to see that our youth grow to love Christ and His Church and to pursue a righteous way of life.