New youth work audit for Church of Ireland parishes

Tuesday March 12th 2024

The Church of Ireland Youth Department (CIYD) is undertaking a research audit of youth work over the coming months to find updated numbers and information about young people and youth work in parishes and dioceses across Ireland.

Children’s ministry and youth work was deeply impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is only in the past year or so that parishes and dioceses have been able to start the recovery process. The research will enable CIYD to ascertain the current levels of youth work and the involvement of young people in parish activities and compare this with the data from the last audit, which was conducted in 2008.

Every parish will be contacted by email shortly and provided with a link to a Google form to complete before Saturday July 12 2024. CIYD is encouraging every parish to take the time to complete the form.

“The Church worldwide is settling into new patterns and rhythms of youth ministry, its development and growth, and assessing its impact post-pandemic,” says National Youth Officer Simon Henry.

“Like many others in their fields, CIYD wants to assess the youth ministry landscape across the Church of Ireland and what that currently looks like with accurate research, data and statistics.

“This is the first time in a number of years that such information-gathering has been undertaken island-wide. Can I encourage clergy, youth leaders and volunteers to please take a short amount of time to fill in our survey accurately? This research will be extremely valuable for the wider church going forward.”

The information obtained through this will give CIYD a fuller picture of the number of young people involved in activities in parishes within dioceses, and the range of youth work provided within parishes.

CIYD will be able to make use of the information to provide relevant support to youth work happening in parishes around the country and to report more accurately to funders and other organisations with whom it works and serves.