Meet our new Youth Officer, Tim Burns
Hi, I’m Tim Burns, the new Youth Development Officer for the Diocese. I am married to the wonderful Leah Burns and we have a 7 month old son called Seth (wearing the smaller cap), who in those 7 short months has managed to turn our world entirely upside down in the best possible way.
I grew up on a farm near Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, and went to Portora Royal School, followed by studying business and Finance at South West College in Enniskillen.
Realising that I really did not want to pursue that career path I volunteered with Youth for Christ for a year. Based in Monkstown, north Belfast, I had an entirely life changing year, which has shaped the direction if my life since.
I then studied theology at Belfast Bible College and also worked with adults with learning disabilities part time, an area of work I am still passionate about and involved in. After college I took up a job as Youth Pastor with Swords Baptist Church, which is in north Dublin. I have been there for the last 8 years working to develop their youth projects, and more recently community projects.
My time in Swords has taken me on an incredible journey of discovering more about God and the hope that we have in Him. It has taught me a lot about working with young people, challenging me to think dynamically and differently about how we best serve young people within the church, and also those young people that live locally and need someone to be interested in them and provide a place for them to discover who they are and who God is.
I am excited by the prospect of working with the Youth and Children’s department (I have heard only good things), getting to know the parishes within the diocese, and learning from and offering support to youth leaders within the churches. I must admit to some nerves as this is entirely new territory for me, but they are met and overcome with my enthusiasm for this next part of the adventure.
Tim
You can email Tim at tim@downanddromore.org