Southampton YouthFest is now in its fourth year and saw young people joining together from nine churches across the city.
The residential took place at a Christian campsite an hour outside the city, and was a weekend of fun, games, worship, teaching and ministry.
Friendships were formed and strengthened, and young people had the opportunity to explore and grow in their journey of faith. See all the photos here.
14-year-old Kezia said, “We’ve just been having fun, getting to know Jesus, worshipping and hanging out with friends. We have had seminar sessions and there was a particular one on leading bible study which was really engaging. I think I’ve got a lot closer to Jesus because I felt like I was struggling a bit. I feel like I know a bit more now about what I need to do. A lot of people have been coming over to me and asking me if they can get to know Jesus through me, so I feel my calling is to help people with that.”
Her friend Chloe said, “I started going to church in October last year because I was sat next to Kezia in English classes and she told me about Jesus and I just thought ‘wow’. Then she told me about YouthFest and I said ‘I want to come. I want to be with Jesus.’ Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been struggling with my faith and then during Saturday night’s session, we all sang and I just broke down sobbing. It was beautiful because the Holy Spirit was with us. It reminded me that, even when I feel like I’m alone, Jesus is always next to me and that he always will be and that one day I can rule with him and that he loves me.”
15-year-old Daiha said, “I grew up in a Christian household, going to church all the time. During a very rough patch with my family, I just prayed and everything got fixed reasonably quickly. So, I got baptised and I think I’m a strong follower of Jesus. It’s really nice to be here because there are so many other people who are struggling or who want to know Jesus and it’s nice for me to be able to go around and pray for them and comfort them. It’s very important to me that everyone gets a chance to know Jesus.”
Southampton YouthFest is organised by Ascension Church, Highfield, New Community and St James by the Park each June along with WinterFest which is an evening event in January.
It’s supported by a team of around 77 adults from different churches who help in many capacities from main youth leaders who are there with their young people, to those helping to cook the meals or man the bonfire.
The idea behind YouthFest was to create something local and affordable for youth groups of all sizes, and to work collaboratively as churches in Southampton.
Josh Cook, Youth Work Lead at St James by the Park in Southampton, said, “It’s wonderful to be part of the YouthFest weekend and to see lots of churches in Southampton coming together, and young people who might know each other from different walks of life and seeing each other in this context is wonderful. It’s an opportunity to worship and just spend time with God in a really intentional way. To see the next generation growing and developing in their faith, is the most wonderful part of this weekend. So, as tiring as it is, it’s fantastic to be a part of and to enjoy together with other youth workers or youth leaders from across the city, as we serve our young people.”
The weekend involved wide games, water fights, seminar sessions and group meetings with times of worship, prayers and guest speakers. The highlight for many was the Saturday evening gathering.
The meeting finished at 9pm but many young people stayed beyond that time, sharing, worshipping, praying and ministering to each other in small groups.
Luke Shutler, Youth Worker from Ascension Church, said, “We got to about 9 o’clock and we said, ‘the session is over, but we’re going to continue playing’. Some of the young people drifted off, but many stayed and worshipped until gone 10 o’clock. Seeing young people praying for other young people was amazing. I do the job basically to see those moments.”
He continued, “Some of the boys from my church are friends with some lads from Highfield Church and I don’t think they see much of each other outside of YouthFest and occasional events, but on Saturday evening, they were all huddled together in a prayer circle, really comfortable just being with God”.
Michael Shorey, Head of Youth at Highfield Church, added, “One of my highlights of being a youth pastor is seeing young people put their hand up for prayer and recognising that it’s God that they need to go to for whatever their struggles might be. Something I love even more is when young people see those hands raised and then step forward to pray for them.
“One of our biggest desires is that our young people know that their prayers are equal to ours, that the leaders have no more power to pray than our young people do, and to encourage a culture where our young people know that they can reach out to God at any moment.”
Over the last 4 years, more churches have brought their young people to YouthFest. For many young people, who have attended each year, the weekend has become a reunion, discovering perhaps school friends who they didn’t know were Christians and building friendships that they can take back to the city.
16 years old George Rogers, who worships at St James by the Park, said, “I’ve been coming to this weekend for the last four years. It’s helped me connect with other people and connect with God on a different level because I’m able to just stand there or sit there, listen to the music and kind of zone out and try to find God in the chaos of the world we live in, which is just amazing. I feel able to talk to people around me, especially the leaders, and to ask questions to help me understand.”
This year YouthFest was at capacity and prayers are being said as to what happens next year. There are exciting times ahead.
Luke Shutler added, “I think I just want to keep seeing God meet young people. I want to keep seeing churches work together. I want a Kingdom of God that isn’t divided but is unified across generations and locations and somewhere all young people know they can find God. I want them to take God out with them to all their different churches, that they can be part of the generation that is raising up new disciples, that they’re going out with a passion for God, into their schools and into their churches. I want to see a Kingdom of God that sows seeds that God can then use.”
