Northampton: Schools gather at St Paul’s for Faith in Action Day

Students model sunglasses from their delegate packs

Young people from around the region gathered at St Paul's Catholic School for the first Northampton Diocesan Faith in Action Day. Year 9 and 10 students from Thornton College in Thornton, St Thomas Becket in Northampton, St Thomas More in Bedford and Cardinal Newman in Luton joined pupils from St Paul’s Catholic School in Milton Keynes, to explore how, as Christians, we put our faith into action in our daily lives.

The Conference, organised jointly by St Paul’s, Pax Christi, and the Northampton Youth Ministry Office, began with pupils having the opportunity to ask questions of guest of honour, The Rt Revd Peter Doyle, Bishop of Northampton. One pupil asked Bishop Peter: “what makes you really fulfilled?” and his answer was “being open to God.” They then participated in a series of workshops run by Columbans UK, Pax Christi, Young Christian Workers and Northampton Youth Ministry Office.

Jennifer Rowlands, RE Teacher at St Paul’s, said: “We held our first St Paul’s Faith in Action Day last year and thought that this year it would be a great idea to open it up to other schools and build networks between local Catholic high schools in the Diocese.”

Aleksandra Wiencis, from St Paul’s Catholic School, said: “I liked the fact that we could connect with students from other Catholic schools’ while Dominika Mazur, also from St Paul’s, said: "It was really fun. I enjoyed meeting other people from other schools and getting to know how they practice their faith.”

Delegates received conference packs which contained a variety of items including sunglasses, highlighters and chocolate bars. They also took away a conference booklet that was full of practical ideas for putting faith into action.

Matt Jeziorski of Pax Christi added: "We have been delighted with the response to this first Diocesan Faith in Action Day. It has been so well supported by the schools, the enthusiasm of the students generated a wonderful atmosphere, and the hard work of the organising team has really paid off. We are already looking forward to next year."