86% of people become Christians before 25 years of age. Unsurprisingly the point that people set about grounding their values and viewpoints is the point they make a decision concerning their faith. The value of youth work is incredible and critical in the faith development of young people. Unfortunately this statistic is accompanied by another one, 72% of churches have no young people. Yet even if they all had young people there would still be a huge number of young people who would have no contact with the Church whatsoever. There are around 175,000 young people aged under 25 in Gloucestershire with a large expected increase over the next few years. There has never been a greater need for the work of Youth For Christ. This is the reason behind our drive to become YFC Gloucestershire. As is the way with these things the process has been a little slower than we had hoped but we have now applied to the Charity Commission for the creation of YFC Gloucestershire as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. We hope to hear in the next few weeks and will begin the process of transferring our work from Cheltenham YFC to YFC Gloucestershire. In the short term this will not make a significant difference to our work but gradually over time we will be developing work in new areas. Already we have Michael based in Tewkesbury where he is working with the local schools team and we aim in the coming months to see a gradual increase in our work in the Gloucester area. Already Paul has spoken at one youth event in Gloucester in 2015 and is booked to do another in March. We are also very excited to be partnering with the Diocese of Gloucester to provide support and advice to churches looking to develop youth work. It would be wonderful if we can reduce that statistic of 72% of churches who have no young people. This may in turn open up possibilities of developing work in the city in partnership with local churches. Already we are investigating a few possible areas of work as we begin to look at the wider needs of the county. The need is great and the possibilities are many. We believe that young people need an opportunity to hear about the gospel and to have an opportunity to see it being lived out. For an organisation our size we already do a large amount of work. To be able to push on and develop the work further we need to grow the team. This is growth through volunteers but also we need to recruit another paid member of staff who can be a senior worker to build on what is already being done and to help develop things in Gloucester and beyond. This will not be an easy Treble top for Gloucestershire Update February 2015 After 13 years with YFC , 6 as National Director, Gavin Calver has announced that he is stepping down to take on the role of Director of Mission at the Evangelical Alliance. Gavin will be missed greatly by us all as he has brought strong leadership and passion. A testimony to his leadership is the healthy state of YFC and the platform he has built for his successor to take the organisation even further. We wish Gavin, Anne and the family all the best as they prepare for the change and move into new things. “I used to say I was an atheist but now I am not sure.” A member of a Rock Solid group. Gavin Calver Gavin Calver having completed the London Marathon, one of the many challenges he has undertaken in aid of YFC.
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Transcript
86% of people become Christians before 25 years
of age. Unsurprisingly the point that people set
about grounding their values and viewpoints is the
point they make a decision concerning their faith.
The value of youth work is incredible and critical in
the faith development of young people.
Unfortunately this statistic is accompanied by
another one, 72% of churches have no young
people. Yet even if they all had young people
there would still be a huge number of young people
who would have no contact with the Church
whatsoever. There are around 175,000 young
people aged under 25 in
Gloucestershire with a large
expected increase over the next
few years. There has never
been a greater need for the
work of Youth For Christ.
This is the reason behind our drive to become YFC
Gloucestershire. As is the way with these things
the process has been a little slower than we had
hoped but we have now applied to the Charity
Commission for the creation of YFC
Gloucestershire as a Charitable Incorporated
Organisation. We hope to hear in the next few
weeks and will begin the process of transferring
our work from Cheltenham YFC to YFC
Gloucestershire. In the short term this will not
make a significant difference to our work but
gradually over time we will be developing work in
new areas. Already we have Michael based in
Tewkesbury where he is working with the local
schools team and we aim in the coming months to
see a gradual increase in our work in the
Gloucester area. Already Paul has spoken at one
youth event in Gloucester in 2015 and is booked to
do another in March. We are also very excited to
be partnering with the Diocese of Gloucester to
provide support and advice to churches looking to
develop youth work. It would be wonderful if we
can reduce that statistic of 72% of churches who
have no young people. This may in
turn open up possibilities of
developing work in the city in
partnership with local churches.
Already we are investigating a few
possible areas of work as we begin
to look at the wider needs of the county. The need
is great and the possibilities are many. We believe
that young people need an opportunity to hear
about the gospel and to have an opportunity to see
it being lived out. For an organisation our size we
already do a large amount of work. To be able to
push on and develop the work further we need to
grow the team. This is growth through volunteers
but also we need to recruit another paid member of
staff who can be a senior worker to build on what is
already being done and to help develop things in
Gloucester and beyond. This will not be an easy
Treble top for Gloucestershire
Update February 2015
After 13 years with YFC , 6 as
National Director, Gavin Calver
has announced that he is
stepping down to take on the role
of Director of Mission at the
Evangelical Alliance. Gavin will
be missed greatly by us all as he
has brought strong leadership
and passion. A testimony to his
leadership is the healthy state of
YFC and the platform he has
built for his successor to take the
organisation even further.
We wish Gavin, Anne and the
family all the best as they
prepare for the change and move
into new things.
“I used to say I was an atheist
but now I am not sure.”
A member of a Rock Solid
group.
Gavin Calver
Gavin Calver having completed the London Marathon, one of the
many challenges he has undertaken in aid of YFC.
Paul’s thoughts
Every three years YFC across the
country take an audit of our work.
This audit looks at how many
contacts we have with young
people across a single week, the
age ranges of young people, the
length of contact and the depth of
the interaction. This gives us a
snap shot of our work and helps
us to stay focused on what we do.
The audit was undertaken
between 2nd-8th February. As I
write this a day later I have yet to
have chance to look at all the data
but we did have over 220 contacts
with young people throughout the
week. Last week was not an
exceptional week, in fact we had a
few groups we were unable to run
so numbers were a little lower.
This is a significant rise in the
number of young people we
engage with and means that in a
month we have approximately
1000 contacts with young people
per month, or 12000 per year.
Whilst these are big numbers they
are dwarfed by the huge numbers
of young people in
Gloucestershire. I firmly believe
that we cannot be content with
these numbers, the need is too
great and we are far from fulfilling
our call. As we stand alongside
the churches of Gloucestershire
we desire to see a season where
God does something significant in
the lives of young people. We
know the life changing power of
the Gospel and want to see it
impact the lives of young people.
Please stand with us as we seek
to go and take the Gospel to a
new generation.
task but we believe God has called
us to take this step and we are
convinced He will provide.
As a teenager I had a dartboard at
home. I will confess I was no darts
player and whilst I aimed at a
number the reality was it was more
a case of throwing the dart and
hoping for the best. The elusive
target was the treble twenty which
meant you could score sixty points
with one dart. Occasionally I
achieved this, though more by luck
than skill. Getting one treble
twenty was a feat but the ultimate
was to get it with all three darts
earning you a top score of one
hundred and eighty. As I have
thought of the challenge of
developing Gloucestershire it has
occurred to me that once again I
have the challenge of trying to
score one hundred and eighty!
Fortunately I don’t need to score it
with darts this time but between us
we can do it. In order for us to
move the work forward and to
develop our work in Cheltenham,
Gloucester, Tewkesbury and
beyond we need to have one
hundred and eighty people or
churches who are willing to sign up
to donating £10 per month or
more. Already we have had one
church agree to give £50 per
month and four new individual
donors meaning we need another
171 people. Would you be willing
to be part of that number so that
we can take the gospel to young
people who may never hear it
unless we tell them? Your gift
could make the difference in the
lives of the young people we work
with. Please join with us as we
seek to make an impact on the
huge number of unreached young
people in Gloucestershire by
completing the enclosed form.
Each year we see lots of team
members move on as they are
often on short term placements
with us from University or as part
of a gap year. Flik Foster has
been with us for four years as part
of a gap year and also as part of
her placement from the University
of Gloucestershire Youthwork
degree.
Flik has now finished her hours
with us and has the opportunity to
do more at her church so has
stepped down to concentrate on
that. Flik joined us as part of a gap
year and it has been great to see
her grow and develop as a youth
worker over the last four years.
She is on track for an excellent
degree result which reflects her
hard work and commitment to her
studies. We would like to thank
Flik for all that she has given to our
work over the years and wish her
well as she completes the final
stages of her degree and look
forward to hearing how she gets
on.
In January YFC ran a free training
weekend for Youth Workers at the
Pioneer Centre, Cleobury
Mortimer. Volunteer youth workers
from our supporting churches were
offered to attend the weekend
which was designed to bless and
equip them in their youth ministry.
A number of local church
volunteers attended the weekend
and came back saying that it had
encouraged and inspired them.
They came back from the weekend
with fresh ideas for their youth
work which they were looking
forward to implement.
Farewell Flik We love Youth Workers
Praise for
Sarah and the other trustees for
the incredible work they do.
A successful and enjoyable
auction.
The many volunteers serving
young people in Churches.
The growing numbers of young
people coming to the CU at
Tewkesbury.
The prayer space opportunities
in Tewkesbury.
Prayer for
Our application to the Charity
Commission for YFC
Gloucestershire that it will go
smoothly.
For the increased income we
need to enable us to develop
our work.
Opportunities to share the
Gospel at Easter.
Our new volunteers as they
settle into their new roles.
The development of the
partnership with the Diocese of
Gloucester.
Flik as she comes to the
conclusion of her studies.
Gavin and Anne Calver as they
prepare for their move.
For the National YFC Board as
they recruit a new Director.
.Every year the Christian
Youthwork Awards take place to
celebrate all that is good about
Christian Youthwork and to
recognise the work that people put
into it.
Besides the expected categories
such as “Best Youthworker” and
“Volunteer of the year” there is also
a category for the “Unsung Hero of
the Year”. This is an award for
those working in the background;
the often unseen facilitator who
shows exceptional commitment and
dedication. Last June we
nominated our Chair of Trustees
Sarah Stone for the award. Sarah
has been a trustee for six years and
during her time has made a huge
impact on our work. She faithfully
serves and shows incredible
dedication and commitment to our
work with young people through her
behind the scenes service. As an
exceptional administrator she made
a superb job of being Secretary to
the Trustees before becoming
Chair where she has made an
equally terrific contribution. She
has given up much time over the
years and thoroughly deserved her
Latest News: Come to the auction on 9th November for a great night of fun. Free entry.
nomination. She much prefers the
back stage and always shy's away
from the limelight and therefore
seemed an obvious person to
nominate as the Unsung Hero
Award. To our delight at the
awards ceremony at London
School of Theology in November
Sarah was revealed as the winner
of the award. We would like to
congratulate her on the
achievement and thank you for the
dedication and professionalism she
has shown over the years. The
award is very much deserved.
Unfortunately Sarah is stepping
down from the board of trustees as
we launch YFC Gloucestershire to
take a back seat. She will still be
supporting our work and we look
forward to her returning to the
board of trustees in future years!
We talked earlier about the 72% of
churches that have no young
people. Many other churches feel
ill equipped in their youth work and
unsure where to take it. It is easy
to be despondent but we believe
there is always hope.
Through an exciting new
partnership with the Diocese of
Gloucester we are able to support
churches in a new way. Anglican
churches are able to get in touch
with us or the Diocese Mission
Department to ask for a
consultation and review of their
youth provision or to look into ways
to develop a work with young
people. This will be funded by the
Diocese as part of their
commitment to mission and young
people.
The time will be spent looking at
possibilities for youth provision in a
way that is relevant to the
congregation and the needs of their
community. This might involve
training for volunteers, suggestions
for developing youth work, building
on existing work and looking at
funding option for youth work.
Both we and the Diocese hope that
through this partnership we will see
more churches equipped in their
youth work and being able to make
an impact on their local community.
If you are not an Anglican church
then please contact the office to
discuss how we can support you in
your youth ministry. We are
currently talking with two churches
about their youth ministry and
looking to support them as they
develop it. We can also provide
resources for your youth ministry
that also make life easier for
volunteers and allow them more
time to focus on the young people
whilst still providing an excellent
youth curriculum that will equip
them in their walk with God.
Exploring youth work
Unsung Hero of the Year 2014
“I never knew what love was but
this Jesus fella has got it
sorted!”
A young person in school.
“The work you do is so
valuable”
A teacher’s comment about
our work in their school.
“I love Christian Union”
A young person in school.
Quotes
The Flat, The Pavilion, Hatherley Lane, Cheltenham. GL51 6PN [email protected] 01242 524408 Charity Number 1059805
Ways to give
To make a one-off or regular donation to our ministry you can give via our Virgin Money Giving page. You
can also set up a fundraising page if you wish to do a sponsored event. Visit www.tinyurl.com/give2cyfc