This year in Sunday afternoon youth growth groups we have introduced a new initiative we’re calling ‘feature weeks’. These events are once per term, designed to tackle some of the bigger topics our youth are encountering; letting them ask the hard questions and exposing them to things they haven’t considered before. To help us with this, gracious members of our church community with experience and knowledge in particular areas have generously given of their time and expertise to love our youth in this way – giving talks and sitting on question panels in front of our community’s high school students.

Last Sunday, Matt Ventura and Danae Woodward were able to give some invaluable wisdom, advice and insight into this term’s topic of gender, identity and sexuality. Questions ranged from, ‘What do the letters in the LGBTQIA+ acronym stand for?’ to ‘How does the concept of sexual and gender fluidity fit within the Bible?’. The youth were challenged within their growth groups to think on these questions together, and were able to hear Matt and Danae’s thoughts too.

We are thankful to God for the way the youth engaged with this topic and were able to grow through it. We are also so thankful for Matt and Danae, and for the blessings we receive from such a diverse church community with people of different knowledge bases who give of themselves so that we can all grow together as God’s children.

Chloe Neville