Praise God for a Blessed Conference - 2008

We praise our Lord God for a very successful Provincial Youth Conference - considered to be an unprecidented event in our Province. Over 50 participants from 21 of our 26 Diocese around the Province, attended - the broadest representation ever in the life of PYC.

The Conference focussed heavily on the ministry to the Young People and how we should equip ourselves to be able to meet this clear objective. God's vision emerged for us which will help us to focus our energies.

In a nutshell, here are some of the highlights :

1. There was a strong need for vision that will drive the ministry. Some of the vision components are listed below.

2. One of the highest priorities is for effective Youth Ministry Leadership training and development. Training programmes are already in development and the Diocesan Youth Co-ordinators and Workers and Chaplains will be the first to be trained.

3. There is a need to fully integrate the young people and Youth Ministry into ALL aspects of Church life instead of seeing them as just an add-on optional organisation. The youth is not just another organisation, they are The Church.

4. There is a need to provide a Conversation/Communication platform that will allow ANYBODY (and especially the young people), to participate in stimulating conversation interaction and learning. A more dynamic web site is being planned which will include features like this blog, Facebook, resource libraries, Youth Magazines, picture walls, information sharing bulletin boards, etc. Alongside this we will be developing an SMS and Cell Phone Ministry (what a way to reach the young people - they ALL have cell phones!!).

5. And then there was a melting pot of other initiatives : Full involvement in the Growing the Church initiative, the possibility of 2009 being declared The Year of the Young (to coincide with 2009 being the Year of the Child), the 2009 Youth Convention, Re-Commissioning the Youth Ministry in September, and lots more. Please return to this blog often as we roll out more aspects of this ministry.

Thank you for your prayer support. The Lord has certainly been very gracious to us as we experienced His blessings and guidance throughout the weekend.

Please continue to pray for all the Youth Leaders around the province and especially for the newly elected Council who has been tasked to lead the Youth to new levels of ministry effecacy.

Warm blessings to all.

Tony Lawrence
Provincial Youth Co-ordinator

PS - why not add your prayers and encouragements by clicking on "Comments" below. Thanks :)