Emma Allison walked into Search #152, a Diocese of Little Rock youth retreat, filled with anger and sadness. 

“When I was younger, I thought when something bad happened to me, I was being punished by God. In talking with the youth, I feel like it’s a common thing,” the 18-year-old admitted. 

At the time, her brother was convicted for his participation in a shootout and was serving a prison sentence. Her 2-year-old nephew, Bryson, lived with them most days. 

At Search in 2023, the St. Joseph School senior in Conway took steps toward understanding God’s love. It didn’t mean the suffering ended — she soon dealt with the deaths of her great-grandfather and a best friend. But Allison continued forward in Christ, becoming involved in Search leadership, a member of the Youth Advisory Council and Catholic Youth Ministry at St. Joseph.  

“(At Search) I went to reconciliation with Father Jeff Hebert … and it was one of the best I’ve ever had in my life. He knew everything so personally, he could sit there and pray with me and really pinpoint what God was trying to tell me,” she said. “And then, after going to adoration and being in front of Jesus was such a moving and heartwarming moment. It was definitely like I could breathe and at least have a sense of relaxation because I was so tense and always on edge. It almost felt freeing.” 

Her foundation of faith began at home as a daughter to parents Chris and Jalisa Allison. 

“I would say my parents have always been great representatives of the faith,” she said. “My dad converted in 2012, and my mom has been the rock in my faith. She’s always been strong in her faith and seeing her be joyful because of her relationship with the Lord always made me curious about it.” 

Allison, who earned a 4.16 GPA, attended public school until her freshman year at St. Joseph. She was involved in bowling, soccer, Interact Club, vice president of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America and senior class secretary. Allison earned Most Improved Player and Most Valuable Player for bowling at the senior awards ceremony. 

“I put a lot of effort into practicing and trying to correct my form and listening to all the tips my coach gave me,” she said, making time for extra practice each month. 

She said she loves helping friends and others get more involved in their faith.

“A lot of kids nowadays don’t find it fun to talk about their faith. Being an example of living the faith and going to youth ministry is fun and glorifies the Lord,” she said. “… I want to be that person to somebody that my youth ministers were to me.” 

Allison will attend the University of Dallas and double major in Spanish and theology. She hopes to work as a youth minister in Arkansas and eventually as the diocesan youth ministry director.

“Switching from public school to a Catholic private school was tremendously impactful because I got to actually talk about my faith and was never looked down upon for being Catholic,” she said. “I just automatically clicked, and it was a family at St. Joseph.”

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The Diocese of Little Rock’s youth ministry program restarted June 6 with an outdoor youth rally, Glory on the Grounds, at St. John Center in Little Rock. All diocesan statewide youth events, including the state convention and Search retreats, have been canceled since March 2020 because of restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

About 350 teens in seventh to 12th grade attended to hear nationally known musician and speaker Steve Agrisano. Agrisano was originally scheduled to be the keynote speaker for the 2020 state convention and rescheduled for April 2021. Director Liz Tingquist said she was happy he could reschedule a third time as a fun, kick-off event to get teens back into youth ministry. 

Everyone came prepared with chairs, umbrellas and tents to ensure the event wasn’t canceled because of rain. The day included lunch, Mass and a Eucharistic procession for the feast of Corpus Christi. 

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It’s early on a Saturday morning in Little Rock and Youth Advisory Council members are straggling into their first obligation of the day. It’s a rehearsal for a skit they’ll soon perform before 400 or so attendees at the 2019 Diocese of Little Rock’s Catholic Youth Convention, an event held April 5-7 in Little Rock.

The YAC members, denoted by their dark blue T-shirts, are groggy. Last night’s program wrapped late and as conference counselors of sorts, they spent extra time helping ensure attendees dispersed to their rooms in a quiet and orderly manner, then sat for a mandatory debrief. Throw in some clean up and unwind time among roommates and morning dawned very early indeed.

But this is what being on YAC is all about and all agree the extra effort and time are worth it.

“This event is, as far as a Church thing, the event of the season,” said Rachel Ridgeway, 17, a member of Christ the King Church in Little Rock and a senior at Mount St. Mary Academy. “We work really, really hard on this event all throughout the year. Especially for me, being my second year, it’s really close to my heart because it’s my last year.”

As with all statewide events sponsored by the diocesan Catholic Youth Ministry Office, YAC members play an integral role in virtually every element here, but most visibly as living witnesses to their fellow teens on the importance and relevance of Christ in daily life. At the state convention, YAC members are everywhere — singing, acting, praying and serving to inspire their fellow teens to a deeper relationship with their faith.

“After years of sitting out in the crowd and watching these events, there’s something else to say about being behind the scenes and really seeing what the leadership team is doing that’s touching the hearts of all who come here,” said first-year YAC member Noah Ketter, a high school junior and member of Sacred Heart Church in Charleston.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve learned from the seniors is just to have faith and trust in God and everything will be all right.”

Having such hands-on participation by YAC lends a youthfulness and radiant joy to the state convention, attended by Catholic youth from around the state. Uplifting music weaves through live and multi-media presentations, speakers, private and group prayer opportunities and capped off with Mass on Sunday.

It’s something that leaves an impression even on seasoned youth ministers such as Jesse Manibusan, a San Francisco-based speaker and musician who’s been a keynote speaker for the Arkansas event four times.

“Faith communities are all very different and unique,” he said. “This one here, there’s such evidence of joy and faith. I’ve done other places around the country and around the world where it’s a lot colder, people are more reluctant to step up and to step out and share their faith.”

“I don’t know what it is but there’s something about Little Rock where there’s just unabashed delight for expressing joy and jumping in. Just being here is so refreshing.”

Adult chaperones, guests and casual onlookers also absorb the young people’s energy. When Bishop Anthony B. Taylor took the stage Saturday to exhort the youth to, “to keep the Church young,” he did so to thunderous applause, multiple selfies and more than one high five. Bishop Taylor, obviously delighted by the audience, challenged young people to make a difference in their home parishes to improve the Church and minister to their peers.

The event had a visible reenergizing effect on the youth in attendance, including new YAC member Lucero Chena, a member of St. James Church in Searcy. She said the camaraderie and faith of the YAC members made her want to take a more active role in diocesan events.

“This summer was one of the first events that I had ever been to,” said Chena, 16. “I saw this group when I went in with my youth group and they just all came and greeted me and it was really cool to see friends that were so close, like a family.”

“Our church didn’t have that, we have a very small youth group, and I wanted to be a part of that. They started talking to me and I just got to know them as huge family of disciples that just wanted to get closer to God.”

Recent high school graduates, Katy Divino and Luke Phillips, received the St. Timothy Award at the state’s Catholic Youth Ministry Convention May 9 for acting as positive examples to their peers, exhibiting Catholic morals, illustrating Gospel values in their service to others and demonstrating exemplary leadership in their community.

This award is based on 1 Timothy 4:12 (“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity”) and is given by the diocese each year to two graduating seniors that have been active leaders in their faith.

For both Divino, a member of Christ the King Parish in Little Rock, and Phillips, a member of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Booneville, this verse is shown in their life through their leadership.

Divino, a co-valedictorian at Mount St. Mary Academy, was involved at MSM’s campus ministry. She was also active in her parish through participating in Catholic Youth Ministry and playing the keyboard for Team Jesus, a youth band that plays at parish Masses and various diocesan events.

Divino said 1 Timothy 4:12 “encourages me to set an example for my peers. Though I am young, I can still live out a life that positively influences others, and they, in turn, can live lives that positively influence even more people.”

Both were involved and held leadership roles on the diocesan level. They each served on the diocesan Youth Advisory Council, attended Search, a peer-led retreat for high school juniors and seniors, and were on the Search team.

Phillips, son of Katherine and John Phillips, was homeschooled and said his mother began taking him to retreats when he was around 12 years old. It was then that he knew he wanted to be proactive in his faith, he said.

“It was at my first youth rally when I looked at the Youth Advisory Council and thought, ‘I want to do that when I’m older’,” Phillips said.

For Phillips, serving on the Youth Advisory Council for two years has taught him to be a humble leader.

“With the Youth Advisory Council I had the opportunity to meet a lot of different kinds of people,” Phillips said, “It taught me how to not see their faces but to see into their hearts so to not judge others.”

Being a leader in faith has given Phillips a love for serving, something that he will put to use while studying nursing at St. Gregory University in Oklahoma.

“What I’m doing right now in life doesn’t matter unless I’m doing it for God,” Phillips said, “So if I go into nursing, great. If I make a lot of money, who cares? But if I do it for the people that I’m helping to show God’s love to them then that’s what matters.”

Divino, who served on the Youth Advisory Council for one year, said the leadership experience “showed me that I could actually influence people. I had my own relationship with God but then also I would be able to help others develop their own relationships with God by using my own talents.”

Divino, daughter of Jacqueline and Dr. Caesar Divino, also plans to stay involved in campus ministry when she attends Hendrix College in the fall to study biology on a pre-med track.

“I’ll carry with me in the future the hope that I’ll be able to continue my involvement in ministry and the knowledge that it has been spiritually beneficial to both others and me in the past,” Divino said.