Diocese of York / News & events / News

Would you go out and spend your savings on a second-hand bus? That’s what Emily Finch, 23, from York, did this year. Emily, who is supported by Scripture Union, bought the 10 meter long vehicle to help rural churches reach out to young people in their villages.

Emily had just completed a degree in Christian Youth Work from St John’s College, Nottingham, when she moved to York. She attends G2, a café church offshoot of St Michael le Belfrey, and felt God telling her to buy the church’s youth work bus. She said, “It felt really rude! As far as I knew, the bus wasn’t for sale, but I strongly felt God calling me to buy it. So I approached Lee Kirkby, the Belfrey’s youth worker, and asked if I could buy the bus. Lee asked me how I knew that they wanted to sell it!”

Emily is now setting up her own charity to help manage the project, called 'The Bus Stop'. Originally from Filey, Emily ran a youth group there while studying her degree, which gave her a passion for working with rural churches.

“The plan is make the bus a resource for smaller village churches that don’t currently have any young people at church on Sunday, to help them reach out to the young people in the area. The bus is a transportable youth space – young people are really drawn to it, and want to find out more. So I can come and help churches build relationships with young people, or if those relationships are already there, lead Alpha courses. I don’t want to dictate what will happen with the bus – I will always work with congregations, as the young people will be part of their church.

“I hope the bus will be a real help for churches that don’t yet have children or youth groups. If you don’t know how to start, I hope I can help. You need to build a place for young people to come to before you invite them, and the bus is a resource to help people connect with young people. Then, when those relationships are built and the church can run its own youth groups, I can go somewhere else with the bus!”

The Bus Stop will be going on the road in January, and in the spring it’ll get a paint job and be fully refurbished. Emily’s going to hold a competition with young people to design what the outside of the bus will look like, and she’s currently taking lessons to learn to drive it.

Emily said, “So many people have helped me so far – Christian bus drivers have been giving me free lessons to learn to drive the bus, and a Christian farmer is letting me store it free in one of his barns. It’s a bit of a risk to buy a bus like this, but I prayed about the money I had in my savings, and felt it wasn’t mine, it was Gods. God isn’t a safe God. We need to take risks in following him. I’m a bit scared people will know me as the crazy bus lady, but if it helps young people come to know God, it’s all worth it!”

If you would like to talk to Emily about how she and The Bus Stop can help your rural church reach out to young people, you can contact her on emilyf@scriptureunion.org.uk or 07854 931603. Emily also needs help funding this mission. She wants all churches to be able to afford to host the bus, so won’t be charging a fee from churches, but asking them to donate towards its running costs. If you can help, please do get in touch.