Antioch is a youth group for young people from Year 10 upwards to 23 years old. The group meets every Sunday from 6-8pm at St Gerard's Parish Meeting Room, with monthly game/social nights. Epping and Carlingford Antioch have been running since 1983 and is in their 39th consecutive year. Antioch aims to give young Catholics a supportive community, and a chance to develop their faith with friends. T
he normal introduction is through one of the two-weekend experiences held each year, but anyone is welcome to join in on one of the regular meetings. Our usual meetings consist of a range of activities including music, talks, share groups, prayer, games and food. Antioch takes its name from the place of one of the first known Christian communities:
"It was at Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians" (Acts 11:26). Background:
The Antioch program was developed at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, USA in the 1960s, for use on university campuses. Since 1973, it has been adapted for those of high school age and based in parishes. In this form, it was brought to Australia by three teenagers, Byron, Teresa and Claire Pirola, and launched in Maroubra Bay parish, Sydney in September, 1981. Since then, it has spread to all states, and further afield to New Zealand, Fiji, the Philippines, New Guinea, Indonesia and Hungary.
