Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about our AYM community, I mean, why work so hard to gather us as an Anglican Youth Community?

I know what it’s like in parish ministry, sometimes Diocesan events can feel like yet another pressure, and I get it. So why? Why does the church, the Auckland Diocese and our National church put energy, resource’s (both financial and people) into youth ministry? Why gather, and keep gathering? And how do our young people benefit?

Firstly is that together we deepen faith formation. AYM runs big events, for all sizes of youth group, from those who are the one or maybe two young people in their church, through to as big as any given youth group may become. All are welcome. And TOGETHER we create mountain-top moments, those times when we have stepped aside from our every day lives, and are on neutral ground, and we choose to dedicate our time to God and fun and community. Thus we open the doors to experiences of God that often transform our lives. These mountaintop moments nurture and fuel our parish ministries, offering two sides of the same coin. So, building Anglican Diocesan community deepens faith formation in partnership with our parishes. We compliment the day to day, week on week nurture of young people that parishes do so well.

The next reason is, together we are more, and this creates a sense of shared identity. The Anglican Communion is made up of local parishes, Dioceses & Hui Amorangi, and Provinces, I mean the Anglican church is massive! And that’s pretty cool, it means we can give our young people opportunities they wouldn’t necessarily get otherwise. In our province we have an added extra of being a Three Tikanga church, meaning we have Tikanga Māori, Tikanga Polynesia & our own Tikanga Pakeha, which also offers even more opportunities for growth, learning and discovery.

But all of this only happens when we are known, and that happens by firstly being involved at a parish level, being faithful, consistent and open to growing in friendship with each other, and exploring and going deeper in relationship with God.

Then when our parishes join in on the bigger picture of Diocesan or AYM ( as our Diocesan youth events come under) community events our young people get to know, and become known, by even more people, not just the leaders in AYM, but other leaders across the Diocese, sometimes other parents, other clergy and of course other young people. Opportunities can look like being part of the combined AYM band, taking part in leading worship, scholarships for study (particularly in faith development), and more.

Being known at a Diocesan level enables opportunities at a national level, and on it goes.

So, that’s another thing about being part of the AYM community that is great for young people, a shared identity.

Through the variety of opportunities available, and the diversity of our parishes, Diocese and ever larger contexts, we expose young people to diverse perspectives. They have the opportunity to encounter people with different backgrounds, experiences and understandings and this widens young people’s worlds. This helps them build curiosity, critical thinking and invites them into grace – given and received. Opportunities to be involved in bigger contexts builds communities around young people giving them options they might not encounter in their everyday context. Some young people never leave their communities, it is possible to be born into a community and stay in that community not leaving it until forced to for work or higher study. Drawing our young people into youth events outside their own communities is great for building confidence and resilience in preparation for that season. Another example could be, our creative arts people being invited into the new APTUS weekend for going deeper in using the gifts of music, dance and drama in faith and community. Connecting with the AYM community and beyond widens young people’s worlds.

One aspect of the Christian faith is that in order to build trust, we have to step out in faith. The old adage ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’ is well quoted for a reason. In parishes across our Diocese many young people have the opportunity to become involved in worship, from carrying in the cross, to reading the Gospel, being part of the worship band, to serving as vestry members and more. And that is amazing… and not the experience of all young people, some by their own choice, others by the decisions of their parishes. Being involved gives more opportunities for exploring gifts and talents and discovering the God is faithful helps young people add more pieces of the puzzle of their life and faith. Going to bigger events can be really hard for some people too, so the opportunity to break through those anxieties are also helpful, particularly when escorted by their own community where they are known and loved. Being part of the AYM community builds resilience in life and faith.

While there are probably many, many more reasons, I’ll close with this one… Leadership!

Our leaders need connection, community, collegiality and support. Be they volunteers or paid, full time or part time, the only one, or part of a team, all need to regularly connect with others who both understand their heart for young people and the pressures that can come their way. Youth Ministry is unique, there are challenges and joys that are often unseen and even less understood.

We now live in the shadow of the Abuse in Care report, which adds to the levels of compliance that we need to tend to, and we, as parishes and communities of faith, are particularly challenged. More often than not we invite our own people to lead our young people. People who we have worshipped alongside, perhaps served together weeding the parish garden or feeding the masses, or moving chairs. We instinctively want to trust one another, and to be true communities we should do. But that’s also how we have unwittingly exposed our young people to deep harm, and sometimes not even realised what was right in front of us until much later. Youth leaders need to gather to train, to talk, to be posed questions and be challenged. Youth leaders need to work with others sometimes and to be leaders in a bigger context too. Being part of the AYM community supports youth leaders.

Encouraging our young people to not only be deeply connected, beloved and supported in their faith and life in their parishes and in the AYM youth community opens the opportunity for them to deepen their faith formation, live into their shared Anglican community, it widens their world, builds resilience in life and faith, and supports youth leaders.