Are you sure you know everything about planning an effective Christian youth conference?
There are several Christians who often feel deprived of learning about the contemporary adult issues which are usually discussed in church. This feeling of detachment can be reduced by conducting a Christian youth conference and connecting the young generation to the church and God in various applicable ways. Not only do the youth get to connect themselves with God but these conferences are also an ideal way of connecting with friends and establishing new relationships among the peers.
With prior planning and dedication, you can ensure planning the most engaging Christian youth conference that can change the lives of the youth. It has to be affordable, well-promoted, relevant and enjoyable for the kids or the youth who attend the conference.
The planning process – Few steps to remember
- Analyze and plan the budget
The first step before conducting a youth conference is to determine the budget. What is the amount that you can afford to spend on the conference that you’re planning? Is there a way you can seek the help of local businesses who could sponsor the event? Can you find out a local resource that could help you with surplus finds? All these should be decided before you begin the planning process so that you know how much money you have at your disposal.
- Choose the location and date
The next thing is to decide on the location and the date of the youth conference. How about planning the event on a long weekend when kids and youth get their time off of their daily school routines? In case you’re short on funds, you should watch out for a location that comes within your budget like a church. On the contrary, if you have enough money to spend, you may try booking a conference center or a hotel.
- Plan the food
Though food is not the most important thing to plan while conducting a youth conference yet you should plan whether or not you want the kids to bring their own food or appoint a caterer who can offer cooked food items to them.
- Choose a theme for the conference
What should you choose as the theme for the conference? Would you prefer coordinating with a host of sermons that cover forgiveness, love, and healing? There are other relevant themes like peer pressure, relationship burdens, substance abuse or sex for teenagers. However, all these topics have to be approached within the context of Jesus.
- Decide the activities for youth
What are the activities that you’re going to plan for the youth and for the speakers? In case you’re planning a large-group speaker event, this will be followed by breakout sessions in between. You should also include enough time for the kids to recreate. How about showing relevant movies as per the theme of the conference or hosting a pizza party?
- Create a list of responsibilities
Make sure you design a list of duties for all who are involved in the youth conference so that everyone is sure about his personal responsibilities. Before the event starts, pray together and ask God to help you complete the activities and give you the best results.
LDS Church announces a new youth conference
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) recently announced one of their strategies with which they will replace their Scout program. The Church has planned to expand its FSY or For the Strength of Youth Conferences to Canada and the United States. The LDS youth conference 2020 is based on Especially for Youth conferences which will be operated by the Brigham Young University, owned by the church for more than 4 decades.
The 5-day conferences will comprise of devotionals, activities and other educational classes which have been created to offer opportunities to grow socially, spiritually, intellectually and physically. The LDS youths are allowed to participate from the beginning of the year they turn 14 and can keep on participating until they graduate from their high school.
The Church also mentioned that it was going to detach and call ends to its age-old ties with the Boy Scouts of America as they’re now planning to design their own program. This has been a move that they’ve been planning for several years and the Church is more than happy to be able to succeed in making this fruitful.
From the start of 2021 and 2022, every Canadian and American stake will sponsor one FSY conference every alternate year. As a part of a program to be scheduled in 2020, more than 140 stakes in Utah have planned to participate and they have all prepared for total implementation.
Henceforth, with youth conferences becoming extremely popular these days, take into account the above-mentioned tips to plan the most engaging conference ever.
