Who are DDYC?
DDYC.co.uk is a ministry of Down and Dromore Youth Council (DDYC) in the Church of Ireland (http://www.ireland.anglican.org/) which was set up by the Diocese to support youth ministry and provide opportunities for young people. We do this in addition to the 50 or so parishes that run youth groups and the 22 full and part time youth workers and hundreds of volunteers.
Our vision is to: "Enable churches to share the message of Jesus Christ with young people; to inspire them to offer their lives to God, discover their true worth and potential within His family, and to grow in their faith and service."
We aim to do this through providing support and advice to groups, free equipment hire and resources, training and events.
We are part of the United Diocese of Down and Dromore in the Church or Ireland basically 2 old Dioceses joined together with Cathedrals in Downpatrick and Dromore. There are 12 Diocese in the Church of Ireland and ours covers all of County Down and East Belfast.
There are around 80 parishes in this area (of which yours is probably one) from the Ards peninsula in the east, Lurgan and Portadown in the west, Belfast to the north and Newry to the south.
Our Bishop is Harold Miller (left) and he's been Bishop here since 1997.
We are the Youth Council of Down and Dromore Diocese (www.downanddromore.org)
Meet the Youth Council:
Andrew Brannigan - Diocesan Youth Officer Brandy has been the Diocesan Youth Worker for about 10 years now, which goes to show you can be old and still do youth work. Though he spends most of his day working out how to use facebook, in his spare time he runs confirmation weekends, sub camps in Summer Madness, writes the odd games book and arranges OCN training courses for youth workers in the Diocese.Before Brandy became DYO he worked with YFC in Ballysillan, and then as the Y-One year out co-ordinator, so he has lots of experience in telling other people what to do. Coincidently his favourite hobby is telling other people what to do, and he constantly reminds us all how good he is at it...
Brandy is married to Saint Lynne, and has 3 beautiful daughters which reminds us all of the miraculous God we believe in. It may also interest you to know Brandy reads the Daily Mail.
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Adrian Dorrian - Chairperson DDYC Adrian Dorrian is real life minister however he achieved his lifelong goal of becoming DDYC chairperson after a stressful and demanding election campaign which literally lasted tens of seconds of procrastination in a DDYC meeting one month. Before his life reached it's peak he was a Christian Youth Drama Worker with Youth Initiatives in Poleglass West Belfast.
Adrian is a fine product of the Theological College in Dublin, he became a minister a few years back and served as a curate in St Marks Newtownards, but now he is a Rector in St Peter and St James in South Belfast.
On a seperate note if you ever want to complain about the selection process for clergy - email the theological college!
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Peter Hilton - Treasurer Peter works for the Leprosy Mission in Belfast after working for Brandy as Youth Assistant/slave. He job shares this post with part-time work as the youth worker in St. Finnian's Parish in East Belfast. He works hard, is very patient and never gets bored - perfect qualities for working with young people! He is also married to the lovely Gemma and they have one daughter called Lydia. He studied English and Theology which (impressively) means he's got a qualification in reading the Bible - although he how he got an English degree without being able to spell continues to mystify. |
Katy Purvis - Secretary Katy is a member of the DDYC 'Old School' which means that she has been going to DDYC initiatives since way back in the 2000-2001 season. Despite the fact that she has been around for so long she still does youth stuff like watch High School musical and so is the resident expert for us in youth culture. Katy is also one of the original Holywood girls and was a leader there for several years, a youthworker at Ballyholme and now works full time for Holywood Youth Trust while still leading at HYP. Katy is secretary to the DDYC and likes to swan off to America to go shopping in her spare time. |
Ciara Dickson Ciara is currently a nurse in Belfast. She used to be one of the unofficial 'Social Secretaries' of DDYC but now does night shifts so we never see her. Ciara hails from Banbridge, but had to leave for a while due to an unfortunate incident when a mime performance went wrong.Ciara never misses a DDYC event and thinks about DDYC stuff too much in her spare time. Her hobbies include staying in, working, sleeping and then staying in until she works again. |
Simon Henry
Simon was invited onto DDYC to bring a new perspective / another way to look at things, and though it's early days, he has achieved his challenge already by suggesting we all go skinny dipping in Craigavon lakes... In the event of a vacancy arising in DDYC - contact Brandy with your CV... |
Rachel Simpson Rachel is originally from Bangor, and has worked with such luminaries as Wally, Craig Lutton and someone else. She is a very nice girl who likes to stalk people on facebook but this has got her in trouble so we can't talk about it.Rachel joined DDYC this year as she wanted something to improve her CV, however her infinite knowledge, brilliant ideas and witty banter have all gone unnoticed as Brandy dominates every meeting talking about when he was young...
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Martin Montgomery Martin is as old school as Katy, having been part of the original Mobilisation Committee which met way back in 2000! He only made it on to DDYC proper in 2007 after loads of other people left and they got desperate for new Council members... Martin lived in Ipswich in England where he studied youth work and met lots of famous Christians like the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and Jonny Baker! He was there for 5 years before he decided to come home to work for Seapatrick Parish as their youth pastor and reunite his love affair with DDYC! He has the best car in DDYC. No arguments please...
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Andrew Briggs Andrew is a Marketing Graduate, ex-band member, CoD4 expert, Ski addict and part time Estate Agent. He also has a rare claim to fame, having been to over 100 weddings as someones best man. When we asked him to describe himself in two words he said - "youth work's beneath me" - but we figured we needed a poster boy in DDYC, so let him come to meetings anyway. We only put up with him on the condition he doesn't speak though! He is getting married in October to beautiful Rachel - they are a perfect match, cos between them they have won about 17 different wedding magazine competitions for various things like how he proposed to her and how good looking they both are. We at DDYC hate love beautiful people... |
Natalie Patterson Natalie has been about for ages and is a true testament to the power of persistence. Regardless of how many times we ignored her, told her to clear off or hid from her, she just kept coming back. Now she has managed to get on to DDYC - what a girl! Natalie is training to become a doctor, but not a real one - just one of them fake ones who work in hospitals and take blood pressure all day long. She's a nice girl who serves the Lord with passion. At least that what she tells people - even though they don't ask! |
Rev Robert Ferris
Robert has been all over the world, including Africa, but he has only recently learned to drive, so can now visit his local Tesco for the first time. He's a lovely lad, but don't get him started on the topic of liturgical dance as this is his biggest passion... |
Dave Cavan |
Robert is a minister in a real church but remains quite normal despite this picture of him. He is originally from Seapatrick Parish in Banbridge, where he rose through the ranks to be their best ever export. (Sorry Ciara, but this guy got ordained - you just became a nurse).
