Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. Matthew 9.35 (NIV)

If you are in secondary school, and go to a church with hardly any other young people, how can a tiny number of you become strong disciples of Jesus? Surely it’s not possible in such a setting? Don’t you need big churches with paid youth workers, lots of resources and endless energy to grow as committed young disciples?

In Bishopthorpe, we have discovered, over the last 16 years or so, that those assumptions are not necessarily true. Yes, it can be great to have all those resources, but it’s also possible to grow as young Christian disciples, and leaders of the next generations, with far less.

And so we invite you to join us for our ‘Dare to dream’ weekend. We would love to share the story with you of what we have discovered, and encourage you to dream about what could happen in your church or small communities. Jesus took his message of the kingdom to villages as well as towns, and still cares that people of all ages should have the chance to respond to that message in villages today.

For those who are church leaders, volunteers and parents, we have a responsibility to grow young disciples – God is calling people of all ages to follow Jesus and we can do our part where we live.

Our story in Bishopthorpe is of lots of ups and downs over the years since a couple of teenagers decided to run a youth Alpha course. Some have come to faith, others have travelled a little way then decided it’s not for them, and others have gone on to grow and lead others to faith. We have sent young people out to four continents to work in various ways to grow God’s kingdom, and we have also had moments of real discouragement. It’s all been a lot like the parable of the sower.

We would love to explore dreams and possibilities with you over the course of the weekend. It will be led by young people and their leaders, with a mixed-age worship band, and lots of activities.

We are really excited about the dreams that will come out of this weekend together and are praying for God to meet with us, inspire us, restore us, and give us new hope for the future.

THE DETAILS:

  • Friday 1st March 2019: 6.00pm - 10.00pm
  • Saturday 2nd March 2019: 10.00am - 10.00pm
  • Sunday 3rd March 2019: 10.00am - 3.00pm
  • £20 per person
  • The cost includes hot meals on Friday and Saturday evening. Please bring packed lunches for Saturday and Sunday.
  • Venues: St Andrew’s Church, Bishopthorpe; Bishopthorpe Methodist Church
  • Age: Secondary school aged young people upwards

Unfortunately we are unable to offer accomodation, but there are lots of B&Bs locally.

St Andrew’s Bishopthorpe PCC is responsible for safe recruitment, DBS checks and implementing diocesan safeguarding policies for the Dare to Dream weekend, but participating churches are responsible for safeguarding arrangments in relation to travel to and from Bishopthorpe and must ensure their leaders/accompanying adults have the appropriate level of DBS clearance etc - please check our website for further information.

Book online at www.standrewsbishopthorpe.weebly.com/daretodream or contact the Parish Office on 01904 700088 and ask for a paper form.

For further information please contact us:

Dare to Dream ~ a Conference for Young People in small churches