Hi everyone, My name is Ben Mead, and I’m a youth minister at Marist College Ashgrove, alongside Lachie Vink. So, a little bit about me: I went to Marist College Ashgrove (MCC) as a student and graduated in 2025, so it’s safe to say, I must have missed the place because no more than two months later, I was back!

Today, I’m going to be sharing my story for Christlife readers, specifically talking about my journey toward youth ministry and what the role has been like.

Growing up Catholic and going to MCC since Grade 5, I realised that there was a very large amount of outreach needed, a pretty large amount of outreach going on, and, sadly, not a large enough group of people volunteering their time to cover all the needs of the community. I firstly saw this through our MATES program at Ashgrove, which stands for MARISTS are Taking Everyone Seriously. It is our outreach slogan, and is the reason why we do so much of what we do; everyone deserves dignity and to be taken seriously - it’s straight from our Catholic social teachings.

I was especially drawn to the faith side of this - the call as Christians to serve our community, not just because it’s a good thing to do, but because it is the literal fruit that keeps our faith alive, as seen in James Ch 2. Whilst you don’t have to be a Christian to do good things, I think we can all agree that if the whole school was deepened in faith and belief, then the community could be a very different place. This led me to where I am now in my position as a youth minister. I truly believe that the faith life of the students is the most important thing they can learn from coming to Ashgrove, and that isn’t something I took lightly. I came into the year determined to almost ‘re-evangelise’ the school.

This, and photos below: Grade 11 students at Marist College Ashgrove in discussion at a recent Game Changers event.

At the forefront of this plan: the Game Changers program. The mission of Game Changers is to take students on a two year faith journey called a ‘track’, with a 7-8 track, 9-10 track, and 11-12 track. I was so keen to get started with Game Changers, but struggled with so many different perspectives, with part of me wanting to go deeper into faith in these sessions, and another part of me that could tell that, if I crossed a line, it would push some people away. A lot of students in the program aren’t strong believers or believers at all, and what a blessing that is to have them, but it can bring a level of perplexity as to how to bring God into a situation where some have a shallow faith, and some no faith, without just seeming crazy?

“I realised that it takes time, and I can’t expect everyone to be fully for God in an instant”

Thursday Theology Group

I realised that it takes time, and I can’t expect everyone to be fully for God in an instant. But that didn’t change the fact that there were still some boys wanting to discuss and go deeper, but couldn’t do this in Game Changers, so this brought about the start of the Thursday Theology group. About five boys and myself now meet every week to discuss anything from denominational debates to the presence of the Eucharist, the assumption of Mary, and even the morality of a loving God who gives us free will.

So now, as well as all our social justice and outreach groups, there is Game Changers, and there is the Theology Group, and my goal is to bridge the gap - not fully, but enough that it doesn’t feel like you’re choosing one or the other when it comes to your faith.

A retreat-style approach

This is still a work in progress, but one plan that’s being put in action is for an ‘All in Arvo,’ where boys from all ages and all groups, as well as anyone in the school, can meet for an hour and a bit after school, for a retreat style afternoon. The goal is to make this a monthly event, and it aims to bring everyone together, and reach a deep enough level in faith that the boys in the theology group can get something out of it, whilst having teachings and lessons that won’t scare away others.

That’s my story of how I came to be one of the two new Youth Ministers at Marist Ashgrove. It means a lot to have a huge community behind me, and backing me and the mission. Thanks for tuning in, God bless.

Ben Mead
Youth Minister
Marist College Ashgrove