As a diocese, we are committed to:
- Growing younger and more diverse
- Hearing the voices of children and young people and
- “Putting children, young people and families instinctively at the heart of all the mission and ministry of the Church by changing the culture of the Church of England.” – Growing Faith Foundation
In order to achieve this, we have formed a Young Leaders’ Community! A place where 10-18 year olds can grow in leadership experience both in their local churches and across the diocese. Here’s Mike North (Children and Young People’s Adviser) to explain more…
Here’s Bishop Sophie and Bishop Pete, inviting young people and church leaders to embrace the Young Leaders’ Community…
Already, some of our young people are helping to run our annual youth event, Breathe Deep, some have spoken at our Development Day, and others are invited to speak at the annual Joined Up Conference in March. Our Bishops are keen to hear their voices and allow them to influence and shape the strategy and future direction of our diocese.
Why are young people’s voices important?
2 Timothy 4: 12 says “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.” Jesus highlighted the importance of children throughout the gospels (Matt 11:25, Matt 19:13-15, Mark 10:13-16) and Proverbs 22: 6 reminds us of our duty to raise children in the way they should go. Children are part of the church now, and will be leading the church in the future. Can we invite them into the process of shaping church today? Without them, we are missing out on so much of what God wants to do with us!
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” (Matthew 11: 25) Let’s pray that we hear God speaking through our children!
Who is invited to belong?
Christian young people aged between 10-18 years old, who are supported by their local adult leaders, from all backgrounds. We are keen that young people from minority groups feel particularly welcome, including GMH1/ UKME2, LGBTQ+3, disabled and neurodiverse young people. We encourage young people that show leadership qualities, courage, people skills, enthusiasm, a commitment to spiritual growth and a willingness to serve to join the community.
What will they do?
Diocesan opportunities to include: planning and running Breathe Deep; speaking at Joined Up, Network Gatherings, Aurora training and Development Day; contributing towards diocesan communications through podcasts, magazine articles and social media; taking leadership within our Church in Schools and Centenary Project ministries; creating new mission and ministry opportunities; hosting their own worship events; running other churches’ children’s ministry for their parish weekend aways; inputting into diocesan staff activity; influencing senior leadership in strategy setting and bid writing and pioneering equality issues across the diocese.
Local leadership opportunities: leading and preaching with support; leading prayers and worship; influencing local decision-making; shaping local priorities; pioneering new mission and ministry activity; enhancing the ‘welcome’ of the church; assisting with communications and social media activity; shadowing local leaders and making new connections in the community.
Training and equipping
We often learn best by doing, so it is expected that much of the training will take place ‘on the job’! However, we hope to provide young leaders with helpful training in speaking, planning, confidence building and some discipleship formation with the support of local youth leaders. It is important that each young leader has the support of a youth leader who will encourage them, nurture and mentor them as they grow in this journey. There will be times to gather our young leaders together where they can share experiences and learn from each other.
How do young people join?
Firstly, get in touch! From October 2024, we will be using an app (Spond) that the young people, alongside their youth leaders (and parents/carers for under 13s) can join to communicate across the diocese. Through this app, we can invite young leaders to take on new opportunities, ask questions of them, encourage them in their discipleship journey, and connect them with all the other young leaders through safe chat groups.
The app is specially designed to allow under 13s to take part (with parent/carer consent and involvement) and doesn’t allow private or direct messages to be sent or received by any under 18s. This is in order to follow diocesan safeguarding guidelines and protect our young people from unwanted harassment. Only young people known to us, with local church support will be admitted to the app, and they will be encouraged to connect with other young leaders across the diocese. Adult youth leaders alongside some of our central diocesan staff will ensure the app remains a safe and secure environment for our young people to grow in leadership together.
- GMH – Global Majority Heritage ↩︎
- UKME – United Kingdom Minority Ethnic ↩︎
- LGBTQ+ – Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning. The plus holds space for the expanding and new understanding of different parts of the very diverse gender and sexual identities. ↩︎
Documents for download
Please complete and return the Registration and Consent form to Mike North (mike.north@sheffield.anglican.org), or print it and post it to Young Leaders’ Community, Church House, 95-99 Effingham Street, Rotherham. S65 1BL. Many thanks.