Youth Councils 2013

On 24^th February, over 50 young people and their youth leaders gathered together to share in the Anglia Division Youth Councils 2013. The day was spent looking at the Holiness, and how this can be applied to our lives in the 21^st Century.

Major Cliff Allchin (Divisional Director for Evangelism, Anglia) spoke to the young people about the 2 parts of holiness, and how it can be like a horse and cart. First comes the horse – accepting Christ as saviour and receiving the Holy Spirit make us holy before God. Then the cart can follow, full of acts of holiness. The young people were reminded how important it is to get the horse and cart the right way around; performing the acts of holiness are meaningless if we have not accepted Jesus. The young people were given ideas on how they can undertake these acts of holiness which included reading scripture, praying and actions.

In the afternoon, there were a number of seminars for the young people to attend. Deeper Lives allowed them to ask explore the mornings teaching to a deeper level and find ways of putting the acts of holiness into practice when they got home. Anglia Youth Band and Youth Chorus taster sessions gave young people an opportunity to sing and play before they joined, increasing interest in the groups, which also performed with the new attendees in the evening session. Young people also had the opportunity to relax in the Café Zone, and Youth leaders where given space to meet and get to know one another.

In the evening worship, the young people spent time at various prayer stations based on the ALOVE theme of ....Water. Each prayer station focused on one of the different 'streams' of the theme; Refreshing water (to be refreshed), Pure water (holiness), Hard water (tough questions), and Deep water (theology). God’s presence was felt by many and allowed young people to experience new ways of prayer. A time of testimony after the prayer stations showed how they valued this experience and has enjoyed the day. One young person said “I really didn’t want to come today. I just didn’t feel like coming. But I’m so glad I did and it’s helped me become much closer to God and better in my faith”.

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