Andover Youth Church’s slogan is ‘for young people – by young people’. The Sunday evening service is imagined, planned and run by teenagers for their peers. It involves eating snacks together, playing games, leading worship, listening to a Bible reading, sharing thoughts and praying together.
The Youth Church meets at St Paul’s Church which is part of Andover Parish. It’s aimed at young people aged between 12 and 18 years old, giving them an opportunity to explore and grow in their faith.
15-year-old Taiya Jones said, “Youth Church is just like a community. There are not many Christians at our school so it’s nice to come here to know that there’s Christians our age and just have that friendship. I just want to make it grow so it can have a big community feel.”
16-year-old Olivia Maxfield added, “I started going to church in January so I’m very new to faith. I find the bible can be confusing so it’s good to be able to express that confusion and you just feel more comfortable with people your own age. I’m still exploring what I believe but I love it here. We have people who’ve been Christians for ages, we’ve got people who’ve never been to church and it’s just nice for you to all learn together.”
Around 20 to 30 young people have attended Youth Church since it started at the beginning of November.
Taiya’s 17-year-old sister, Khyanna Jones, said, “It’s going really well and everyone seems to enjoy it and we have a lot of people come back week after week which is really good. We get some who come from other churches and some who don’t go to church regularly but who come along because they’re curious which is really nice. I’m hoping that this will be somewhere that people can just come every week and have their own time with God. I have quite a heart for evangelism, so this is really important me.”
They take turns at welcoming, hosting, giving the talks, leading prayers and the group discussion. There’s a different theme each week.
Zach Pelham is 15 years old and said, “I go to St Mary’s in Andover. At the start, I was unsure about coming to Youth Church, but I came to the first one and I really enjoyed it and have come back each time. It’s more casual than church and I think it will be more enticing for young people to come and enjoy. The talks have been helpful and taught me a lot such as today’s talk about prayer. It really helps me with my faith.”
Andover Parish runs a Wednesday night youth club and the vision for Youth Church came from that.
Youth worker Veronica Brewer explains, “We had this group of Christians coming to the youth club who formed deep friendships, and we thought maybe we could start a youth-led church. So, we prayed a lot about it and we did a OneLife leaders’ course with them. We had planning sessions about what it could look like, with lots of flip charts and whiteboards. So, it really came out of a vision that we had as adults but then they have taken it forward and it’s become their vision. It’s really nice to work alongside them because I’m learning so much from them. We’re just in awe of their boldness and their courage to step up. We just say, ‘who wants to do the talk?’ and they’re all so keen to have a go. They’re just incredible.”
Many members of the Youth Church say it’s helped them grow in faith and in confidence, with learning new skills such as talking at the front and leading the worship. Adult leaders keep an oversight of the Youth Church ensuring safeguarding, purchasing food, giving advice and encouragement.
Revd David Roberts said, “It’s been exciting to watch them to grow and develop. I think I really grew in my discipleship when I was about their age by having some responsibility and it’s lovely to watch how they’ve taken it and owned it for themselves. I think it’s life-changing really. We’ve had people who’ve come who haven’t had any sort of Christian experience before and they’ve begun to experience God on their own and suddenly they’ve got a community that they can do that with. It’s been fun to watch them grow in their discipleship but also in leadership and confidence. I think that the best people to reach their generation is their generation and it’s great to watch.”
Veronica added, “I hope for it grow. I would love to be for it to be a resource as well. I’ve had talks with some of the village churches who don’t have youth work and they’re quite keen to start inviting one or two youth to come to the services. I’d like to see it expanding but also for it to be missional and really attractive to people that have never been to church. We’d love our Wednesday night youth group, which is mainly non-Christian, to come along and to invite the schools that we work with too.”
Andover Parish is also planning to run a Youth Alpha after Christmas giving young people a further chance to explore their questions on life and faith.
