Thrive organised an area-wide weekend away recently to bring young people from local churches together.
70 young people came from 10 different churches from across Leamington Spa, Warwick and the surrounding area, with each church sending along at least one adult in a youth leader capacity.
It was a wonderful weekend with a mixture of fun, friendship and encountering God together. The mood was positive throughout our time together and it was encouraging to see how well the young people got to know each other, and didn’t stay within the safety of their existing friendship groups.
It was impressive to see unity in action and it would have been difficult for a visitor to work out who was in which church as everyone got on so well together.
The activities, organised by the Pioneer Centre, were enjoyed by all. There was a range of activities on offer from archery and abseiling, to fencing and zip wire. Individuals were able to choose which they wanted to do and they experienced three different activities over the course of the weekend, as well as a very dark night walk.
There were teaching sessions exploring our relationship with God. We looked at how we are accepted by the Father, secured by the Son and significant through the Holy Spirit.
On the Saturday evening, having taken part in a giant, competitive version of ‘Guess Who?’, we took part in the five chair challenge – an opportunity to consider where we are in our journey of faith and to consider with others why we are where we are. There seemed to be particular resonance with some as they thought about how they can ‘repent and believe’ as well as others who felt an inward desire to share their faith with their friends more.
Each session included a time of sung worship, led by different young people from across the churches.
It was wonderful to be able to organise this weekend and we hope that there will be more opportunities to work across the churches. Monthly, there is First Sunday at Leamington Baptist Church, which is ideal for anyone 13 years or older. We are also looking to go to Soul Survivor in the summer with those in year 9 and above. To find out more do get in touch!
To see some highlights of the weekend, watch the video below, or you can see more photographs on our Facebook page.