It was great to see so many people at the Early Day who had been there last year – especially big shout out to James Bell who I got to know better this year and who now based in Chelmsford is just down the road from us. This year was slightly different, in that because Rob Bell was leading, it had gone from 40 people together in the basement of a hotel, to 200 people in a large conference room. The Early Day is such a good concept – a chance to receive teaching (which I never normally get), a chance to catch up with old friends, and generally just relax. I hope that it continues in the same vein as it has done.
Throughout the weekend it was great to spend time with James Edwards, the Youth Associate from Sawyers Church. I have known James for a while and it was great to spend time bouncing ideas and sharing our thoughts from the sessions. James also gave me a lift home – which turned into quite a long trek given all the road works etc., but I made it back in time for our evening session at church.
I spent a reasonable amount of time, being in the same lovely hotel, with Mark Massey, from Rayleigh Baptist Church, and Gary Bott, from Billericay Baptist Church and some of their volunteers. I first met Mark last year at the conference and we kept in touch and met up every couple of months and it is a relationship that I value, the chance to tap into his wisdom and experience. I also spent a bit of time with Simeon Whiting, the 11-14s co-ordinator for YFC. Simeon and I grew up in the same youth group when we young and we use some of his resources so it was great to spend some time catching up and it gave me an opportunity to watch Match of the Day with a whole load of football mad guys.
You have focused on short-term recruitment here, Chris, but there is also the more strategic “grow your own” option. Although many of the young people will head off to Uni and break the chain of their involvement as a young leader, we would hope to see some of them return to the youth work afterwards (and should probably be doing more to nurture and build those who are staying around).