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'Quality Youth work never happens without quality training,' says Roz Stirling, Youth Officer of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and as part of that quality training over 250 Presbyterian youth leaders will be meeting at the University of Ulster this Saturday, 13 June from 10am until 5.30pm.
Working through the title 'Close Enough to Whisper,' the major theme of the training day is that youth leaders must take more time to listen to young people and not spend all their time talking to them.
'It is more and more essential that we begin to listen to the young people around us, to hear what really concerns them, and then apply the word of God to their culture and become relational in our ministry so that we do get "close enough to whisper",' added Roz.
The day begins putting the views of young people centre stage with the screening of a 30 minute video 'From the Edge to the Centre.' Commissioned by the Presbyterian Youth Board, the video features Noel Thompson chairing a discussion between an invited audience of 50 teenagers putting their questions to six Presbyterian Church Leaders on issues such as drugs, alcohol, homosexuality, the role of women and young people in the church and the clash between Christianity and youth culture.
In follow-up seminars a range of speakers will consider how effective relational youth work can be developed in Youth clubs and uniformed organisations while others will address practical problems faced by youth leaders like I'm too old... or too young... I don't have enough time... I'm a parent... or perhaps most difficult of all, I'm a minister.
Also addressing the conference will be Terry Dunnell who works for the Frontier Youth Trust in England and he will be advising Youth leaders on overcoming some of the problems faced in getting in touch with young people who never come near church, while Derek Poole of ECONI will consider the opportunities and difficulties faced by Youth workers within the Northern Ireland context.
As much as 50% of the Presbyterian Church's ministry concerns its youth and the church has now 40 full time youth workers in various congregations in addition to the thousands of volunteer leaders.
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