Kirralee Nicolle
1 June 2022
Ridley College is offering children’s and youth ministry workers the chance to build practical skills and find mutual encouragement.
The college is set to host a children’s and youth ministry training day on June 18.
The event offers both in-person and online attendance options, and features 18 presenters speaking on the theme ‘For the joy set before us’.
Ridley Centre for Children’s and Youth Ministry director Dr Graham Stanton said that ticket costs were intentionally low to encourage entire ministry teams to attend.
The topics to be covered include information on how to answer tricky questions about sex and sexuality, how to thrive as an introverted youth leader, and surviving the long haul in youth ministry.
Dr Stanton said that he wanted the event to help leaders to know that what they were doing was worthwhile.
“We really want those who are currently working in children’s and youth ministry to be encouraged and equipped in the task,” he said.
“There is joy in seeing children and young people take their part in the church.”
Dr Stanton also said that he hoped the event would give the message that long-term vocational ministry with children and young people was a viable option.
He said he believed there was an attitude among some that children’s and youth ministries were a stepping-stone rather than a destination.
“We have a real shortage of people who have given themselves to long-term vocational ministry with children and young people,” Dr Stanton said.
The program has been running for the past three years, and Dr Stanton said that it was a sell-out the only other time it ran in person, in 2019.
He said that during COVID-19 it had attracted attendees from across the world due to its online format.
To register for the event or to find out more, see here.
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