10 November 2008
Breaking new ground for youth in the Methodist Church
Young people are on the verge of becoming empowered by
ground-breaking changes that will be the talk of this year's
Methodist Youth Conference.
Around 150 16 to 23-year-olds will celebrate the launch of the £4
million Youth Participation Strategy (YPS) at Kings Park Conference
Centre in Northampton from November 21 to 23.
YPS was conceived by Youth Conference and will enable young people
to become involved in making decisions about the direction of the
church on a level never seen before.
The strategy will see 32 young people employed in new, part-time
salaried posts as District Youth Enablers across the Methodist
Church in Britain and one young person employed in a full-time
salaried post as Youth President.
This is the first time salaried positions have been specifically
targeted at the 16 to 23-year-olds in order that young people help
guide the direction of the church.
The Youth Conference, which came into being in 1995, will elect
the Youth President who will be tasked with being a representative
and spokesperson for young people in the church.
Chair of the Youth Conference, Sarah Malik, 20, said: 'This is the
first stepping stone of the YPS with young people actually
participating in the Methodist Church. "With the new system, there
will be lots of support in place to help young people who want to
make a difference.'
President Brian Caveney, 23, said: 'Within this next year there
will be changes to the whole Connexion as to how young people can
get involved on every level. That is all down to YPS and it is
exciting. I think when it gets going fully in September 2009 it
will be very empowering for young people.'
Youth violence will also be a returning item on the Youth
Conference's agenda. At The Methodist Church Conference in
Scarborough in July 2008, members accepted the Youth Conference
Resolution to investigate how local churches could address the
issues that lead to violence among young people, including knife
crime. In response to this, members from the existing Youth
Executive, the Association of Black Methodist Youth and three young
people elected by Youth Conference will form part of a group who
will take this resolution forward.
There are still a few places left for young people wanting to
attend Methodist Youth Conference. To book, check out
www.youthconference.co.uk