Senior church youth leaders from across south London came together at St John’s, Waterloo, for a morning of collaboration around youth support and engagement. Representatives came from the Anglican diocese, Apostolic Pastoral Congress, Church of God of Prophecy, Greek Orthodox Church, Ichthus Christian Fellowship, London Baptist Association, Methodist Church, New Testament Church of God, Power of the Living Word Ministries International, Roman Catholic Church, Salvation Army, Ukrainian Catholic Church and the United Reformed Church.
The event was conceived during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, when senior church leaders in South London met for a reflection over lunch at the Salvation Army HQ in Denmark Hill. They released a joint statement for children and youth and asked Churches Together in South London to bring together their most senior youth ministers to pool expertise and share opportunities to better love our young neighbours.
The focus of the event was on resourcing youth leads to:
- Build relationships with local schools
- Support the most vulnerable young people
- Engage more of the church community in youth work
- Create long-term partnerships
The founder of Oasis UK, Rev Steve Chalke, set the scene for work with young people in South London. Rachel Gash, Salvation Army London Youth Specialist, then facilitated networking to build relationships and share the expertise in the room and Imani McEwan of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark spoke on volunteer encouragement.
Prosper Karatunga and Andy Gill introduced the Oasis 360 Mentoring Programme. This aims to restore hope and love to those young people most in need. The programme is available to churches of any denomination and builds a new connection between young people with a reliable, trusted adult volunteer mentor, while strengthening the existing relationships in a young person’s life by positively engaging with their home, community and school networks.
Claire Crowley, Ecumenical Officer for Churches Together in South London reflected on an ecumenical highlight when a Methodist and Anglican lead connected and said, “let’s align our youth priorities for the LEP congregations in South London and do more together.”
The Youth CoLab event forged new relationships, profiled key resources, and made space for diverse denominations to collaborate and create new ways to reach some of the most vulnerable children and young people in the nation’s capital city.