Leadership Year
02 September 2025
The ‘Leadership Year’ brings together a small group of young adults aged 18-30. The group comes together three times a year for residential weekends at Cliff College. During these weekend there is time to worship and be in fellowship together, as well as to engage with the creative sessions that explore characteristics needed for effective leadership as a Christian.
We’ve had some great discussions this year about vulnerability, courage and integrity as well as learning about our personality types and how we work within a team. There has been opportunities to meet together in small groups for mutual support and prayer. Also this year, each participant was assigned a mentor who they met with for further conversations between the learning weekends.
Below are comments from some of this year’s participants:
Reuben
"The Leadership Year was a unique learning experience. I learnt a lot about myself and what leadership looks like in the Church.
I also had the opportunity to meet and learn from a lovely group of young people like me, all with different experiences to bring to the table.
It was great fun throughout and situated in such beautiful surroundings!"
Owen
"This year I had the pleasure of partaking in the Methodist leadership year. The welcome I received set me up for an amazing year of growing my leadership skills as well as my faith.
The three residential weekends where intense and filled with lots of varied sessions exploring different aspects of leadership but, the care and encouragement of the leaders made these so informative and enjoyable.
The friendships and memories forged between my fellow participants are some that will stay with me forever."
Carla
"The Methodist Leadership Year came at time in my life where I felt far from God. I signed up anyway in hopes that it would help me feel more aligned with Him and the kind of leader I hoped to be. I didn't see myself as a leader and I had this idea that leaders were bold, confident and knew exactly what they were doing.
What I've learned is that leadership can look completely different. It can be about showing up, being honest, and choosing kindness when you could just as easily disengage. It's made me think more seriously about things like integrity and vulnerability not just as concepts but as actual ways of leading.
The people I've met this year have honestly been such a gift. They've shown me what it looks like to follow Jesus in small consistent ways and it's really changed how I see things, not only in church but in my corporate job too. The biggest shift is that I've stopped waiting to become a perfect version of a leader and started shaping myself into the one I want to be, which isn't based on what other people think I should be doing but based on who God has made me to be."
Chris
"The Leadership Year has been a fantastic opportunity to grow my faith in ways I had never previously thought of.
As well as growing in discipleship with a close-knit group, the course is structured in such a way that you will learn how to be a good Christian leader in whatever line of work you are in.
The course also pushed my boundaries with wide ranging sessions such as crafts, seminars and worship leading.
Whatever your background or line of work is, you will come out of the Leadership Year as a much stronger Christian than you went into it."
If you are interested in taking part in the Leadership Year 2025-26 then applications are open until 21st Sept see www.methodist.org.uk/leadershipyear for more details.