 
Children and Young People first
A few years ago, in identifying some priorities for the church, the Brookside Leadership Team took the decision to prioritise the needs of children and young people in everything we do. It is a well known fact (at least amongst people I hang out with) that children and young people usually lead the way in times of change and breakthrough. Often this change doesn’t always look like the rest of us thought it would. It might be more disorganised, messier and probably louder! Whilst we’re on the subject of disorganised, messy and loud, we’re all about to head off to Church Camp….
There is something that really shouldn’t work about Church Camp, but somehow it does. Last year, we had loads of young people enthusiastically giving of themselves running after younger kids – in their summer holidays! When the kids had gone home we spent time thanking God and thanking them for everything they had given out during the day. There was a programme of activities and sessions put on for the young people themselves, but to be honest the thing that had the biggest impact on the young people was the giving and the serving they did in helping introduce these younger kids to Jesus. As team of young people and adults, we committed ourselves to God and to each other; spending time in worship and prayer and being community together, but with our main purpose being outward looking; to love and give and serve those younger children..
Perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised that this ‘worked’. After all, isn’t this exactly what Jesus had in mind for His church? As we move towards a mission communities model of church, where our being community together, and worship and prayer and everything else flow into us being ‘missionally minded’, we can be confident that our children and young people are already forging ahead in this, some without even realising it, and some without even having had previous understanding and experience of the God they’re serving.
We’re confident that an environment like Church Camp, and subsequent groups and courses that follow, help to provide a context where young people can discover our awesome, loving, missional God. Where they can grow through serving and community and learning; through tears and tiredness and joy and laughter. And how wonderful that these young people will grow up understanding that the God we love and serve has a heart not just for them but for their friends and families and communities. |
