100 young people gather for worship and mission workshops

The Salvation Army’s annual worship and mission workshop event for young people took place yesterday (9 October) at Thetford Academy, attracting more than 100 young people from their churches across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Organised by The Salvation Army’s Anglia Division, ‘Youth Councils’ aims to encourage and inspire young people within The Salvation Army to play active roles in their local churches.

Ben Winton, 21, from Felixstowe Salvation Army, said: “It’s was great meeting up with people my own age, having fun and worshipping together.”

Alongside morning and afternoon worship the young people took part in a range of workshops led by Salvation Army mission specialists – Major Andrew Vertigan led a session exploring the Fresh Expressions movement, Rob Moye looked at the role of sport in mission, and Greg Waters challenged his group to discuss how music and creative arts is used to enhance worship and community life within the church.

Ben added: “I did the sports workshop and then music and creative arts – both were really useful in getting me to think about how I use and how my church uses these things in worship and mission.”

The morning and afternoon worship featured The Salvation Army’s Anglia youth chorus and brass band as well as guest speaker Andy Frost from Share Jesus International. Andy spoke about the need for Christians to ‘breathe’ – as we breathe God in we discover who He is and who we are, and as we breathe out we have the opportunity to share God’s love and peace.

The Salvation Army’s newly appointed Anglia Youth Specialist, Ruth Beattie, said: “I was so uplifted and encouraged by an amazing day worshipping and exploring our Christian mission with the young people. They are the church of today and we want to get alongside them, equip and empower them to follow God’s calling.” 

The Salvation Army is an international Christian church and registered charity working in 128 countries worldwide, offering friendship, practical help and support for people at all levels of need. In the Norfolk and Suffolk this work includes 35 community churches and social centres.