Over 100 young people turned up from local schools and youth groups for a free concert hosted by Christ Church W4. At one point in the evening, 25 of them responded to the Gospel message.
Last Friday was a memorable milestone in the development of a Capital Youth Minster.
The Beating Heart Youth Collective, based at Christ Church W4, hosted a free concert for 11-16 year olds at their under-redevelopment church building, St Albans Acton Green.
The gig lined up with the #LiveLife1010 Lent mission into Church of England schools and as a result, over 100 young people turned up from schools and other youth groups on the night.
During the two-hour event, young people from CCW4 opened and introduced local artists from London, who warmed up the atmosphere with Christian-centred music presented in a familiar format for young people – a mix of hip-hop and epic DJ sets – providing an ample build-up to the central climax: Soulbox, an electic three-piece hip-hop/soul trio who use beatboxing and lyric videos to innovatively address the issues and decisions young people face every day.
During the Soulbox set, a short talk was presented and as a result, 25 young people stood up and talked to stewards as a decision of faith.
Zoe Phillips, Church Liaison at the Beating Heart Youth Collective said:
“It was amazing to see so many young people respond to the message – we’re now doing our best to ensure those who were completely new to church get plugged into local youth groups and nurtured in their newfound faith. We can’t wait to meet with local youth workers and get feedback to keep improving these events moving forward.”
Capital Youth is investing in six key churches to be innovative in reaching new young people from London and help other parishes to do the same. They are focused completely on young people who are not in church; pioneering new ways for them to become part of the church.
Each Youth Minster is accountable for growing large numbers for their context and resourcing others to reach young people.
● St Andrew’s Enfield: leading in discipleship and transitions from children’s to youth work in a traditional liturgical context. Looking at how to be intentional in relational work.
● St John’s Hoxton: working creatively in an urban deprived area making particular use of art to engage young people.
● St Peter’s Harrow: seeking to model serving one specific deanery, where there are already several churches with youth groups, as a resourcing hub.
● Holy Trinity Brompton: an already-large church seeking to grow and provide models of resourcing others.
● Christ Church W4 (Turnham Green): a partnership with The Message Trust and Latimer Minster as part of a multi-site church with one venue given totally to youth work.
● St Saviour’s Sunbury: a minster based on mission to secondary schools.
Find out more about Capital Youth here.
