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November 2003, Page 2.
Index of articles.
In this issue:
(November 2003)
What's a wedding?
Sorted,
CAP,
Christ the King.
Sorted
SORTED is a new youth initiative happening across Greengates, Idle, Thackley and Thorpe Edge. "We want to let young people know that God loves them and wants them to get to know him as a friend. We want to do this by getting to know them in the places they hang out! In short, we want to see God build his Church amongst young people in a way that they can relate to and enjoy."
So says Andy Milne, the new Church Army Youth Worker who is based at Holy Trinity Idle and who has just moved into Eccleshill parish (Mount Terrace). Andy became a committed Christian while living in Bradford, and is very pleased to be back here trying to reach people who are like he was only a few years ago.
Why this way? Because Jesus said so. In Luke's gospel (chapter 10) it tells how he sent out 72 disciples in pairs to hang out with the people living in the nearby towns. He told them to look for a "person of peace". That means a person who is willing to talk with you and be friends with you.
As the disciples met "people of peace" they were then able to hang our with them and their friends. No doubt people asked the disciples why they had come to their town, and this gave the disciples the opportunity to tell them about Jesus and what he meant to them.
How will it be 'sorted'? In a similar way, the hope of Andy and those who will work with him is to "do church" by looking for people of peace, hanging out with small groups of young people and sharing God's love with them. Eventually they hope to go on a set up a regular youth service and become a youth church.
"We might have a game of football with them, catch a movie with them or anything else the young people want to do - but whatever we do or wherever we are is not that important! It is more important to get alongside hurting kids and kids with no hope, so we can help them out or tell them about the Jesus who heals and gives us hope and peace. Jesus wants everyone to come into a friendship with him and experience these blessings themselves, but he needs people who are willing to go with him and get alongside those who don't yet know him," says Andy.
If you're interested in joining Andy in this venture, give him a ring on 772862 or drop him a line c/o Holy Trinity Church or e-mail him at andy@htidle.org.uk . You don't need lots of experience working with teenagers, and you might be scared stiff - join the crew! But God wants people who love him and care about young people - so if that's you, get in touch!
John Hartley
The following is copied from "Newsbytes", the Bradford Diocesan News Service:
New Evangelist as Bradford Diocese Focuses on Youth
Andy Milne has been appointed as a youth evangelist across the three parishes of Greengates, Idle and Thorpe Edge in Bradford as the diocese puts greater focus on work with young people. It is hoped that his work will lead to the creation of the first youth church in the diocese - a church run by young people for young people.
Andy, who is 28, says, "I'll be getting alongside young people and hanging out with them - I'm a keen skateboarder and that's always good for making contact. I'll also be working in Immanuel Community College, with the chaplain, the Revd Stuart Hacking. After a while it's hoped that small groups will form which young people will run themselves with a bit of help from us, and that will hopefully lead on to the formation of a youth church."
The vicar of Holy Trinity, Idle, the Revd Dr David Johnson says, "It's crucial that we actually start where young people are - rather than being constrained by the way churches traditionally operate - and see what kind of church might emerge in those circumstances with the appropriate guidance. There are several similar experiments in other dioceses and Andy will be able to draw on the best practice from models elsewhere."
This initiative marks a greater emphasis on youth work in the diocese. In his presidential address at the Diocesan Synod in March, the Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Revd David James, expressed his desire to see the number of paid youth workers in the diocese rise from around 30 to 100 - nearly one youth worker per parish - in the next 5-7 years.
Andy adds, "The youth church will be called 'Sorted', which is a bit of a play on words, because as well as being a trendy, youth culture word, 'soter' is Greek for salvation. So instead of saying to teenagers, get to know Jesus and get saved, we might say, get to know Jesus and get sorted!"
Andy has just completed three years training at Church Army college in Sheffield. He was born and bred in Bradford and formerly worshipped at Holy Trinity, Idle. He is married to Tracy - who will be licensed as a reader to Bradford Hospital Chaplaincy at the end of September - and they have a three week old son, Sam. Andy was licensed by the Bishop of Bradford on 20 July at St Cuthbert's, Wrose during a celebration to mark the Bishop's visit to the Calverley Deanery over the weekend.