Coronavirus: A youth ministry liveblog

Stories from Isolation is a project run by youth workers, to encourage young people to tell their stories during this pandemic. Do you know some creative young people who could get in touch and share their stories? You can find a guide here to tell you a bit more and some resources for youth workers here.

Check out the video of Dr Lucie Shuker below, here to tell you about the launch of our newest research report, "We do God".

"Youth workers know how to create an experience: whether it’s choosing the right music, taking young people to new places or creating some ritual that only your youth group will ever understand. But when it comes to faith, much of church culture focuses on learning about ideas rather than direct practice.

This new report from the Youthscape Centre for Research highlights the experiences of youth workers who invite young people within and beyond the church to experiment with Christian faith. Through case studies, interviews and survey data we identify which practices are being used and what people are learning about practice-based ministry."

We'll be going live on our Facebook on Tuesday 12th May at 11am to unpack the findings and apply it to the current context we're living in. Don't miss it! You can pre-order the hard copy of the report here, and a digital download will be available for purchase (alongside a free sample download) upon release.

Mission Academy Live is a 10-week, youth Alpha style video series, with a focus on peer-to-peer evangelism. Dan Randall mentions this resource in today's podcast episode, so give it a listen if you'd like to hear more about that! You can find out more about Mission Academy here.

Do you know any young people who want to learn how to be good communicators? Soul Survivor have uploaded their "Loud & Clear" course on their website - you can download materials and watch videos for training in public speaking and communication. This could be a great way to help develop some of the young people you work with. Why not go through the course together?

Our local YS team are giving young people across Luton an opportunity to learn to cook, try out new ingredients, experiment with new recipes, and cook a delicious, fresh and healthy meal for the whole family.

Families can sign up for ‘Cook With Youthscape’, every week they will receive a recipe bag which includes all the ingredient they will need to make a tasty meal for everyone in their home. Every pack includes a recipe card and a link to our tutorial video on Youtube - with tips from our very own professional chef!

Trying to find creative ways to stay connected to the young people in your area? Why not get in touch with your local authority and see if they need any help distributing food? There are some ideas in this blog post by YS Luton Director, Jemimah.

Are you drafting volunteers in to help with your youth group? Trying to get people up to speed with online youth work? Or maybe you're still looking for some help and support. Youth for Christ has a whole range of resources, including sample sessions, video tutorials and physical resources you can get on their website. Check it all out here.

Girls Brigade Ministries hosts an online blog for teenage girls, called "KoKo" (Keep on Keeping on). They've just released a new spoken word poem on their YouTube channel, titled: "A new normal". It's aimed at teenage girls and could work for parents/youth workers to use as a discussion starter.

We're throwing it back to a few years ago with this little video from Schoolswork UK - "Easter: inside the egg". This is a fun, simple video to get young people talking about what Easter means to them.

Movement have just launched a new filmed podcast series that you can watch on YouTube or listen to on platforms like Spotify. In Series 1 of the new Movement Podcast, they will be focusing on "Creative Ways To Make An Impact".

Throughout the course of this series, they will talk to friends who are leading the way in various aspects of creativity, including Dan Blythe (Hillsong London), Tearfund (We Are Tearfund youth team), Elle Limebear (Worship Artist), Paul Nelson (Bright City) and Tom Smith (Soul Survivor).

At the end of each episode, there are three questions, so that no matter how you’re listening or watching, you can engage further and press into the things God may be stirring up in your life - as you make a creative impact wherever God’s called you.

Our friends over at Intro Outro have an excellent, youth-facing YouTube channel that you could point young people towards. Their latest video features the highly practical "24 things to do in isolation". Check it out below!

Mike Pilavachi and Andy Croft, two of the key leaders from Soul Survivor Watford (and the long-running Soul Survivor festival which ended last Summer), are producing daily Biblical reflection and encouragement videos for teenagers. The first two are already online on the Soul Survivor YouTube channel here, and further episodes will appear each day. You can also find them on Spotify.

You could share these with young people as a regular bit of good quality input during the current period of social isolation, either by sharing the video each day or pointing groups to the channel.

If you’re looking for resources to send to young people, you might want to point approximately half of them to a new video/audio podcast from Youthscape’s Martin Saunders. Based on his recent book The Man You’re Made to Be, this eponymous new series is an attempt to make the book’s content accessible to a wider range of young men, including those who struggle with reading. New episodes are released each Friday on Spotify and Apple podcasts, and a video version is available on YouTube. The first instalment is now available below.