The Message: Youth and Children's ministry for the 21st century
The Bible-centred youthworker 6: A mid-week residential conference for children's & youth workers

High Leigh, Hertfordshire, 21-24 January 2008

Our job as youth and children's workers is to communicate the Gospel of God: that powerful, beautiful and life-giving message about Jesus Christ. But often we struggle to find ways to express it effectively to a new generation, with new interests and ways of thinking and speaking. Has our way of speaking The Message become old fashioned and inappropriate? The first stage in putting it right is always to make sure we have understood it properly.

That's why, at the next Bible Centred youthworker conference, we will be spending our time getting back to the basics - re-experiencing the wonder and joy of the gospel message that is the answer and the future for the young people we are working with.

Over the four days of this popular and growing conference, we aim to feed the minds of participating youthworkers, hone our Bible-handling skills, encourage our souls with the nourishment of God's Word, and spur each other on in the vital task that we have before us.

what's in this year's programme?
The morning Bible readings by Mark Ashton will set the agenda for the conference, as we work through Paul's classic explanation of the gospel in Romans 1-3. More relaxed evening forums, led by Trevor Pearce, will look at three critical priorities for those working full time in youth and children's ministry, and how we work them out in practice in our busy lives.

Part of each day will be spent in fellowship groups wrestling with how we apply some of the teaching we have received. There will be a wide range of practical seminars on offer to meet specific needs for both experienced youthworkers and those who are new to children's and youth work.

A unique feature of this conference is the time we spend each day in Know and Tell Sessions, (our new name for what used to be Gobbet groups!) where we get down and dirty with the basics of understanding, applying and teaching God's Word. The feedback and insight from others that these sessions provide will be invaluable in helping us to improve our Bible-handing skills and communication techniques. This year we are offering three options for these Know and Tell groups:

A: Newcomer. If you have never been in one of these groups before, then this is the one to choose - a gentle non-threatening start!

B: Group practice. You will be asked to do some preparation on one particular passage, but the group works together to produce talk programmes, outlines and presentation ideas.

C: Advanced. Participants will be asked to present a full talk for critique.

Please indicate on the booking form which type of group you would like to join.

who's it for?
We expect that most of the people attending this conference will be full-time children's and youth-workers attached to a church, but we welcome anyone involved in other aspects of youthwork on a part-time or voluntary basis, particularly those who are new to youth work, or those who may be wondering about whether they are called to youth work as a ministry.

Our passion as an organisation is to get the Bible to work in people's lives and ministries. We do this mainly through our publishing programme of teaching and training materials for churches, but increasingly through organising events where we try to teach and model Bible-centred Gospel ministry. This conference has grown out of our popular series of Youth and Children's leaders day seminars 'The Big Issue', which has also spawned other initiatives, such as Sorted: a Bible teaching day for teenagers in London.
Call us or visit our website for further info.
Tel. 0845 225 0880
Web. www.thegoodbook.co.uk
Email. admin@thegoodbook.co.uk