Youth group lures peers to church with Pokemon Go

By Kelcy Dolan
Posted 8/23/16

Since its release earlier this summer, Pok mon Go has been a topic of debate and contention, many people focusing on the negative aspects of the game. Students at Sts. Rose and Clement Youth Group have decided to hone in on positive

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Youth group lures peers to church with Pokemon Go

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Since its release earlier this summer, Pokémon Go has been a topic of debate and contention, many people focusing on the negative aspects of the game. Students at Sts. Rose and Clement Youth Group have decided to hone in on positive aspects and welcome players with open arms.

On Sunday, August 21, members of the Youth Group – Faith Alves, 15, Fatima Diallo, 15, Jenna Carmichael, 15, and Noah Pike, 16 – organized and hosted a Pokémon Go event at the church. The four friends have attended Youth Group, run by Deacon Ken Andrade, since elementary school. The group meets every other Sunday throughout the school year and attends a conference during the summer. At this summer’s conference the four noticed how many people were playing Pokémon Go, staring down at their cell phone screens.

“What happened is the deacon interrupted me while I was eating a donut and told me about the idea,” Carmichael, who attends Toll Gate, joked. “We have so many people coming around anyway we all thought it would be a great way to introduce people to the Youth Group.”

In the game, the majority of churches are “Pokéstops,” where players can gather different items needed for the game such as “pokéballs.” Sts. Rose and Clement Parish already has two stops on the property, one near the front entrance and another near the community garden. With so many players spending time in and around the church, the students thought of setting a “lure,” which draws in more Pokémon and subsequently more players to any one area during their Youth Group signups. In the area of the lure, the group set up water and light snacks under a tent along with brochures and key chains promoting the organization as well as the community garden.

Deacon Andrade explained that this is not a “unique idea” and that churches across the country are capitalizing on Pokémon Go’s popularity to bring in new parishioners. However, he believed Sts. Rose and Clement is the first parish in the diocese to host a similar event.

He said, “I think players will feel welcomed. So many other places are throwing these players out or chasing them away. We are inviting them in. We want to get people back to the church, or even here for the first time.”

For youth, it is important to have someone their own age to talk to about religion and faith, to share experiences and interests, to meet on common ground. Carmichael explained the time spent together is an opportunity to hang out and make friends but also to talk about their faith and how that affects them as teenagers versus the adults in their lives. The youth have a common bond: their faith.

Alves said people gravitate to Pokémon Go because they are making connections with people, either over game play, or the nostalgia for Pokémon games they played as young children.

“People are playing this game to meet others, they are bonding over it, coming together, which is what we do in Youth Group. This is one more thing to bond over, your faith. It makes sense to pair the two,” she said.

Alves, who attends St. Raphael Academy, said it is about more than just growing the Youth Group but also the church and the members’ faith.

Diallo, who attends West Warwick High School, said she was encouraged to join Youth Group by a friend and never knew how many great people were involved. It wasn’t until someone her own age prompted her that she gave the organization a try and fell in love with it.

Although none of the Youth Group members play Pokémon Go, Pike said he knew the event would be a success because of previous experiences. The Pilgrim High School student currently works at a movie theatre, one of their theatres has a Pokéstop inside and “not a day goes by” where players aren’t ushered out for trying to reach it.

Although the students have received help in terms of how Pokémon Go works from family and friends, Deacon Andrade said it was “even more special” that this group of adolescents wanted to put on an event like this.

“They have all put so much hard work into this,” Andrade said. “They don’t play, they are just doing this out of the devotion to their faith and dedication to the Youth Group.”

The group put the event together in just a few weeks, but Diallo said even if no one eventually comes to the Youth Group, this was at least an experience and opportunity for the four to hang out more regularly during the summer months.

“There is always going to be a new and trending app. I think we will do this again next year, it will just be whatever app is popular then,” she said.

Carmichael said, “As Catholics, we are supposed to be open and loving. This is us reaching out acknowledging others through a platform they enjoy to start a conversation about something we care about, our faith and our church.”

For more information on the St. Rose and Clements Parish’s Youth Group contact Deacon Ken Andrade at deaconkenandrade@gmail.com or 529-4098.

For more information on the Parish’s Community Garden, which is available for all sorts of community service for parish members as well as the community at large regardless of religious affiliation contact Master Gardener Barbara Melon at 738-8474.

For both the Youth Group and the Community Garden check out St. Rose and Clement’s Facebook page.

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